Adam's Garden

During the last couple of weeks the lunchtime television news has been doing a series of short items about what we might expect in the coming millennium. It has covered the most diverse subjects imaginable ranging from family life to technological advancements and all number of supposed experts have been wheeled out to pontificate about this and that. But one topic that has been neglected thus far is, you guessed it, gardening. Not that I would expect it to be top of the list, you understand, because there are far more grand subjects in the great scheme of things, like communications and interactive television. The new millennium is apparently to be a giant techno-fest with our lives revolutionised by the internet, video, and broadband.

Terms like multimedia, geode, and system-on-chip now roll quite naturally off the tongue, words that a decade ago would sound as if from an Arthur C.Clarke novel. Well I prefer words like trowel, trug and truss! Or what about compost, cucumber and chrysanthemum; grass, geranium and goatsbeard. These too can be things of the new era. Let's not sweep out the old when we bring in the new. Remember, they have served us well for aeons past and can do so into the distant future.

Okay, okay. Maybe I am putting the point a little too forcefully but I do so only to make my point, namely that in the brave new world of the third millennium AD there are probably still a few uses for the relics of the past. Not only that but in fact gardening and horticulture will play a much bigger role in certain aspects of technology than hitherto. For example, the search for drugs and compounds from rare and common plant species, for the use in medicine and manufacturing. There are now fully funded research programmes delving into far-flung regions looking for exotic plant species and local knowledge about their medicinal properties. The burgeoning organic movement is driven to a large extent by the reaction to chemical pesticides and the resulting search for pest controls leads us back to ancient gardening practises surviving from the time before there were any alternatives.

Genetic modification is a subject I have covered before so I shall only note it here to continue my theme because it could well play one of the most important parts in changing our lives. It may one day be the case that everything we eat, animal and vegetable, is modified to some degree or other, and the day may come when nothing is grown in the 'dirty' soil but in sterile hydroponic conditions, controlled with artificial light, and regulated with climate control. The natural progression from this could be complete synthesis of biomass for human consumption, but I am once again going down the route of gross exaggeration to make my point, at least I hope I am!

Seriously though, whatever we imagine the future to hold there is one thing that we can be sure about - the most revolutionary of these are going to be the things we haven't even thought about. A hundred years ago the television hadn't even been conceived of, yet a world without it now would seem unthinkable; likewise the silicon chip. It is nice to speculate however and I do have a few ideas of my own. What follow are a few of these.

Firstly, I believe that there will be a blurring of the boundaries between plant species. This has happened already to a certain extent by the use of traditional horticultural techniques which have produced oddities like the loganberry, but I feel that a combination of transgenics, refined techniques and improved knowledge will result in the most marvellous and fantastic creations. How about a melon plant with clematis blossom and perfumed like a jasmine, or a hardy apple tree producing mangoes! Whilst developments like these, preposterous as they seem, may one day actually come to pass, will future generations come to regard them not as a marvel but simply run of the mill, and will the joy of gardening in fact be dulled by the lack of a challenge? If plants can be designed to order what will be the point of crossing different varieties in the hope of new forms when the most unimaginably exquisite specimen can be 'built to order' anyhow? Maybe gene therapy is not so bad when I think that there may one day be a slug that eats weeds growing around lettuce plants, or aphids that prefer nettles to roses. The phrase 'dream on' comes to mind!

A smart gadget using the Bluetooth protocol would come in handy. A gadget that instantly recognises when we approach different parts of the garden and issues information accordingly, like 'Don't dig there, there are corms and bulbs under the soil, not to mention an alkathene water pipe.' Or 'How about cutting that Forsythia back now?' It could prompt on elusive names and to order seed, or give instructions on plant care. In other words it would be a cross between a text book and a handyman. This is a little far fetched and looking well into the future.

Closer to the present I believe that interactive TV could be of great use to the gardener. The internet has made research far easier, but taking that a step forward it would be better to see gardening in action and have direct two way communication between the viewer and the host. How many times have you seen something being demonstrated and wished to follow up with a question or comment, maybe even a suggestion? On second thoughts that could cause mayhem with everyone wanting their say! Television bedlam would ensue!

Gardening supplies and equipment will no doubt continue to improve. New, more durable and user friendly materials should become available which will make even the most amateurish enthusiast more adventurous. Light, easily assembled, structures can be used to transform gardens, and covered areas will be possible with more flexible and forgiving materials like Kevlar and composites. Imagine a flatpack greenhouse made of lightweight unbreakable glass, or a wheelbarrow that can ascend steps and empty itself. How about large plant containers that are cheap and light? I am fond of large containers but they are usually exceptionally expensive and very heavy. The plastic variety can look quite tacky. The best thing would be something that looked substantial but was still lightweight.

I could go on like this until the cows come home, but I think you get the idea. I hope it stimulates some ideas of your own, and in another century or so maybe someone will have a good laugh at my expense! I hope that the lunchtime news presenters had fun putting their ideas together, I certainly have with mine, and at the start of a bright new millennium I wish everyone who reads this every success with everything gardening.

You can find more articles in the archive under Soiled Hands.

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