Friday 28 December 2012

Two Years Retrospective

It's two years since I started blogging at ernieandi, and it's whizzed by. The best part of blogging is making new friends and sharing ideas and opinions. It's a funny old world we're blogging in now, we have to be so careful what we say or we may find ourselves with a legal action against us! That's why I tend to keep some of my stronger opinions to myself. I don't mention gardens that I visit but do not think are very good. And believe me there have been many over the years. The worst kind for me are charity village openings where one garden has been allowed in that is clearly not in the same league as the others. I find it embarrassing to walk around gardens such as these when the owner is following you around, waiting for you to say nice things. Such as what? 'Do you tend these weed beds by yourself, or do you have help?' Or 'I do think it's nice to see a garden that's used by all the family.' (ie what a load of junk there is lying around) It's lovely that people want to open their garden for charity but there should be something to see of interest to the public. I wouldn't dance for charity because I'm not a dancer. So why do gardens open for charity when clearly there is no gardener in residence?! I appreciate not all gardens are to everyone's taste, it would be dull if all gardens were the same. And I enjoy visiting gardens different to my own to get new ideas. But a messy or unloved space has no place as part of a village opening. Dare I suggest that sometimes it is because the garden owner is a person of importance in the village or on a certain committee?! Tricky situation I know. On the bright side, however, I've never been to an open gardens event and come away disappointed, and the odd low-point here and there just serves to highlight the success of the other gardens.

I may not be able to visit quite as many open gardens in 2013 as I will be spending more time looking after Harvey the puppy.

However, I'll be posting some news about upcoming open gardens in the UK and USA / Canada (where 50% of my readers are based!) so hopefully you will find my blog a useful source of information. Go visit some gardens in 2013 - but only blog about the good ones!!!

My next retrospective post will look at some of my most-visited posts. Some of these are quite surprising....see you next time!






4 comments:

  1. Freedom of speech means you can say as you find. I call the messy bits in my garden projects or work in progress! I love going round the gardens of ordinary people; you never know what you might find. Rant over. Wishing you a happy new year, continued good blogging and gardening/visiting.

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  2. I agree entirely, L, and my garden is sometimes a disaster zone! When it's like that, I couldn't justify charging money for people to see it though...!

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  3. Hi Martin, we find that as well, that there are things you simply cannot say or mention on ones own blog (out loud anyway)...

    Looking forward to seeing your updates on the coming New Year :)

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  4. arh but sometimes you can say much without actually saying it if you know what I mean.

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