Dark Side Gardening

I've never heard of Monty Don before, but I like his new take on gardening:

Garden writer and television presenter Monty Don has called on gardeners to stop their diligent digging and weeding in favour of letting nature take its course.

The 53-year-old former presenter of Gardeners' World claims his epiphany was brought about by a stroke in spring last year which stopped him from tending to his Herefordshire garden.

Before long, the expanse he and his wife Sarah had spent months transforming into a traditional British garden in the style of horticulturalists such as Vita Sackville-West had run riot.

Instead of despairing, Don decided to change tack. From now on, he has announced, his intention is to create "land art", altering the wild landscape as little as possible to create a more natural garden with paths winding through long grass and hedges left to grow bushy rather than being clipped.

“Fighting nature is a losing battle, whether you are growing wheat or wisteria,” he said.

Regular readers will know that the vast gardens of Orgle Manor got completely out of control this year, primarily thanks to the doings of Kong the Butterfly Bush and its progeny. I had resolved to dig the whole damned thing up and start over again and, since the weather has cooled down, have been trying the summon the energy (and find the time!) to get started.

Have to admit that an article like this - which advocates honorable surrender instead - presents a huge temptation to abandon my scheme.