Mary Keen on good gardens and great gardens
What makes the difference between a good garden, and a great one? More importantly, who decides? It is a divisive topic, and Mary Keen has views, and some of them would shock an estate agent.
I love the James and Joe show, because they always manage to say some quite profound things, while being seriously silly. Back in April they talked about what makes a great garden and who decides what makes a great garden.
I meant to write something at the time, partly because I think it was around the moment when I heard Monty Don claiming that the one vital element a garden needed was charm. The dictionary definition of charm seems to beg the question when it says ‘to delight or please greatly by beauty, attractiveness, etc’.
‘Beauty, attractiveness etc’ are obvious givens. Or are they? For Prospect Cottage, Levens Hall, or the assembly of pots at the front door of Great Dixter is charm the best adjective? All these are counted as great garden experiences, but the right reaction to them is perhaps that they are more original and surprising than charming.
