I’ve always hated giving guided tours of the garden, and in order to thoroughly put people off the idea I charge extra for it. I’m rather shy, so opening the garden and welcoming visitors or doing our introductory talk for coach parties, always unnerves me. Charles is less bothered by it but we do try to share our opening efforts.
And, in my defence, I’m partly uncomfortable about the whole idea of a guided tour. It rather undermines my idea of a garden, as a peaceful place for reflection and pleasure, turning it perhaps into a series of incidents. And, of course, it involves lots of plant naming which I have always found problematic. Altogether it raises the question which Rory Stuart addressed in his book ‘What are Gardens for?’ which I thought was in some ways just a begining of discussing the issue. So – what are you wanting when you visit a garden?
Do you want to wander at will and, if you feel like it, sit down in front of an appealing scene for a while? Have a gossip with whoever you came with?
Or have someone talk you through what you’re looking at as you go? (and tell you the plant names).
I confess my dislike of being shown round was confronted once when I visited a National Trust property and enjoyed the guide’s contribution a great deal. I realised I was noticing things which I would otherwise have simply missed, and that I was learning things that I would otherwise have had no idea about.
Anyway, hurray, it seems as if this discomfort at Veddw may possibly be resolved for anyone who has a smartphone, tablet or similar. Thanks to a useful new app called Candide:
There is a tour of Veddw on it, (search on ‘Places’) which consists of me and Charles standing at various points in the garden and discussing them. These points are located by GPS so that they should pop up for you in the garden if you want. (Or you can do the tour, minus pouring rain, at home in bed). Best of both worlds – you can shut it up any time you’d like and switch it on when you fancy. Has anyone used one? What did you think? Any good?
An awful lot is missed out, inevitably, but that is probably true of an ordinary garden tour. And the app also includes a plant identifying bit. Phew! (if it works). I think for all of this you will need to get our WiFi password, since we have not yet been blessed with a mobile signal.
I hope it’s going to give everyone what they have always wanted. Do you think?
The whole tour lasts for nearly an hour. The two of us in dialogue about each part of the garden we are discussing. Most people would never get this. And it’s free!
That app seems like a very good idea! ideally I would like to mooch round a garden on my own for first impressions, then with the owner or creator (one and the same for best results) then another mooch to my favourite bits for a nice sit down.
I went to The Newt with another garden designer last September. I am going again on a Garden Media Guild outing, with a tour. I will report back as to the difference in the experiences and the understanding of the garden.
I absolutely agree with this: look around by yourself, then get the gardener’s expertise and ideas, and then be able to wander around again. My ideal is to be able to stay overnight in the garden and make friends with the owner/gardener! (Dyffryn Fernant does this) So. Airbnb?
But the app looks good…
Nice idea, the overnight stay, but for borderline hermits, a bit intimidating!
Yes I can sympathise with that!
I look forward to hearing what they all have to say. Xx
We had an interesting talk under the auspices of Treborth Botanic Garden this weel from Prof. Hamlyn Jones of Dundee U. He has researched on plant identification apps. Although the talk was about wild flora, the same rules apply – apps quite good at genus level , not too bad a species, not so good at subspecies – making horticultural apps especially difficult. Seek was highly thought of- and Google Lens for those with Android phones. His own work http://visual-flora.org.uk/ relies on human rather than artificial intelligence.
There re times I like people to explain things to me and times I like to wonder/wander. Sometimes I visits and thinks, and sometimes I just visit.
It makes sense that plant id in gardens is going to be very problematic……. Hope your visiting needs have a good year!
Unfortunately this app is not available in Canada
Ah – now that’s a shame. How many gardens open to the public there – do you think one day it may be?
This is brilliant. The “banter” approach you’ve taken is way better than the more clipped commentary that Roy Strong delivers through little gizmos at Lasket.
Some form of intro is often useful when visiting somewhere for the first time but, these days, you can usually get that from the Internet in advance. I suppose my ideal would be to be left alone but with the knowledge that someone, somewhere, is around to answer questions. Might be gardeners working or owners hanging around somewhere like your conservatory.
What you’re offering fits me nicely.
OTOH, I hope you’ve thought through all the implications of giving people access to your WiFi. I think you’ve got some sort of cable connection out now so there’s no risk of a coach load of smartphone users all gobbling up your satellite data?
Thanks John and glad you like it. (and good to hear better than the Laskett. Little gizmos??) Re WiFi – we’re now on fibre and unrestricted. I do feel slightly uneasy about giving that access but I’m not sure what the risk might be.
I agree with several of the comments above… What works best for me, in a garden or in a museum exhibition, is to walk around first on my own, then to go around with the garden maker or head phones supplied by the museum, then to go around a third time to see how, or if, my thoughts and responses have been modified by explanations and additional information. The trouble is, I rarely have time or the ability to do this. So if I have to choose between a guided or an un-guided visit of a garden, I choose to go around by myself.
Would the app help then, giving you a different choice?
It greatly depends on whose garden and my interest in it and the owner/designer. Wandering on your own will never give you the background/insights on the ideas behind the garden, what the influences were, etc. In touring some places like Dan Hinckley’s own garden or his old nursery Heronswood, of course I’d prefer a guided tour and opportunity to ask plant or design questions, but would still enjoy the gardens on my own. With historic gardens like the Huntington in San Marino or Lotusland in Montecito, the gardens have to stand on their own merits as the owners are long dead, yet one can always read books about them. So I definitely appreciate the opportunity to talk plants and design with other garden creators. And when I share my garden(s) with others, I grin and bear it with endless plant questions but also respect that we all start gardening with little knowledge unless well read or we have years of gardening experience. I love conversations with other plants people or designers whom I respect, and being able to share gardening experiences with knowledgeable folks. When visiting a garden with the owner, I try to interact at a deeper level and not just bombard them with trivial stuff but ask about design intent or how the garden has evolved over time.
For garden owners who don’t like interacting with the public yet feel the need to attract the public in order to keep the garden going, it’s a real conundrum. If the garden is popular via word of mouth or being well regarded via publicity/books/etc, there’s less need to make oneself available. But doing an introductory video available beforehand or as an adjunct seems a good approach. Plus a plant list to handle the inquisitive, and the public can do their own further research.
A plant list would be totally impossible, sadly. If all our plant name were identified/identifiable/remembered we wouldn’t go bonkers trying to name them for Charles’ photographs. And were I to hide away, as I would like to, I would miss the really interesting, enjoyable visitors like I imagine you would be. Garden opening, for me, is full of irreconcilables. Love your thoughts – thank you. Xx
My first thought is no – I do not wish to stare at a screen in a garden, beyond that of my camera here and there. But I think that I would be interested in viewing the app before I went into a garden, and perhaps afterwards. The best possible option is to tour with the owner in an extremely small group so that the pace suits all – but this takes valuable time that the owner may not have (or want to give!). An intro then, and the ability to walk around, noting down questions for later, is perhaps my second choice.
I’d just like to ask: what is it you want to hear from the owner which would be preferable to hearing it from a screen? The possibility of asking questions, maybe?
But the owner could be just as intrusive as a screen – well, more, because you can’t easily turn a person off. Which I suppose leads me to wondering what the problem is with the screen in the garden?