A Gardener Never Really Goes on Holiday

I've often been told that I should stop looking at plants when I'm away. The trouble is, I don't think that's how gardeners are wired.

I'm on holiday this week, but I already know that at some point today I'll find myself wandering around a local park looking at the planting. Afterwards, there's every chance I'll end up in a garden centre as well.

Some people might think that's a slightly unusual way to spend a holiday.

They're probably right.

Most people travel to switch off from work. They leave their jobs behind for a week and return refreshed. Gardening has never really worked like that for me because, somewhere along the way, it stopped being just my job.

It became the way I see the world.

When I visit a new place, I naturally start noticing the trees growing along the roads, the shrubs outside hotels and the flowers planted in public spaces. I find myself wondering why certain plants have been chosen, how they're coping with the climate and whether there are ideas I could bring home to my own part of the world.

It's not something I consciously decide to do.

It just happens.

In many ways, I think gardeners become lifelong students. We never quite reach the point where we know enough. Every garden, every season and every place has something new to teach us if we're prepared to look closely enough.

That's one of the reasons I enjoy visiting gardens and garden centres when I'm away.

I'm not usually looking to buy plants. In fact, getting them back to Gloucestershire would be something of a challenge. What I'm really looking for is inspiration.

Perhaps it's the way a group of plants has been combined.

Perhaps it's a species I've never come across before.

Perhaps it's simply seeing familiar plants growing in conditions completely different from those at home.

Every observation adds another piece to the puzzle.

Travelling reminds me that gardening isn't the same everywhere.

What thrives on a windswept volcanic island won't necessarily thrive in a Gloucestershire garden with heavy clay soil and winter frosts. Equally, many of the plants I work with every day would struggle here without a great deal of help. There's something fascinating about seeing how nature adapts to different places and how gardeners adapt alongside it.

I think that's one of the greatest gifts travelling gives us.

It broadens our perspective.

You return home with fresh ideas, new questions and, quite often, a greater appreciation for the gardens you already know. Sometimes it's a planting combination you've never thought of before. Sometimes it's noticing how plants are used to create shade, cope with dry conditions or soften a hard landscape. None of those lessons come from reading a plant label. They come from simply taking the time to look.

So yes, I'll probably spend part of my holiday wandering around a garden centre.

I'll almost certainly stop to photograph plants that catch my eye.

I'll make notes that won't make much sense to anyone else.

And I'll come home with ideas that will quietly influence my gardening for years to come.

Perhaps that's the funny thing about being a gardener.

You never really stop gardening.

Even when you're on holiday.

You simply find yourself learning in a different place.

Marcus

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Marcus Bergin

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