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How gardening changed during the years of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s reign

From spraying the banned pesticide DDT on Dig for Victory allotments in the 40’s, to the appearance of rewilded gardens at RHS Chelsea 80 years later, gardening changed hugely during our late Queen’s reign

After the war, the Dig for Victory campaign continued until rationing ended almost a decade later – with gardeners relying on pamphlets as well as TV and radio programmes for advice. Gardeners’ Question Time began broadcasting on Sunday afternoons in 1957.

The 1950s

Vegetable trials ground at RHS Garden Wisley, circa 1950. Straight rows of vegetables were very much order of the day

Some parts of gardening were seen as very much a man’s role – such as tending the vegetable patch, mowing lawns and double digging. Recycling and ‘make do and mend’ were established habits that led to a productive but utilitarian garden look.

Scarcity led to ingenuity, and gardening was a communal passion, involving much passing down of tips and advice on the allotment.

The RHS played a crucial role in the Dig for Victory campaign. The war finished in 1945, but rationing continued until 1954
The Vegetable Garden Displayed. This inexpensive softback booklet became the Society’s most successful publication ever

However, it wasn’t all about the veg. As wartime restrictions relaxed and incomes rose, flower growing and arranging became increasingly popular. The first garden centre opened at Ferndown in Dorset in 1955.

Constance Spry was a leading florist of the era. She arranged the flowers for our late Queen’s coronation in 1953
Flower crown from the Constance Spry archive
Rose pioneer David Austin started work in the 1950s. His first English rose, ‘Constance Spry’ was released in 1961

The 1960s

RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 1962

The era of ‘flower power’ directed us toward plants that were bright, bold and exotic, including ostentatious houseplants such as monsteras.

There was a newfound awareness of the environment, but it was slow to catch on in gardening circles, where pesticides and herbicides were used routinely.

Modern housing estates encouraged us to keep up with the Joneses, with regular lawn mowing and immaculate, well-regimented borders.

The late Queen Elizabeth II at Chelsea Flower Show, 1961
Bowes-Lyon pavilion on Weather Hill at RHS Garden Wisley

The 1970s

Roses were all the rage in the 1970s, the brighter the better, as seen here at RHS Garden Wisley

The 1976 heatwave has embedded itself into our national psyche, along with the perils of lawn mowing in flares, The Good Life on telly, the revival of gaudy

carpet bedding (perhaps influenced by 70s psychedelia?), and fashionable plants of the era such as pampas grass.

Few people had a colour television, so for them Gardeners’ World would have been in black and white. Roses were very much technicolour however, and were hugely popular.

Thanks to new propagation techniques, the range of plants available to home gardeners became wider than ever.

Summer bedding in the Walled Garden at RHS Wisley, 1978
Pampas grass was a classic 1970s plant

 


The 1980s

Striped lawns and conifers held sway into the 1980s

The 1980s saw the rise of the garden centre; with a building boom in the UK and home ownership rising, leisure gardening became even more popular despite domestic gardens getting smaller.

Another contradiction was the continued popularity of spraying pests and weeds, while

organic gardening (popularised by Geoff Hamilton on Gardeners’​ World) began to get a foothold among more forward-thinking gardeners.

Double glazed uPVC patio doors led to us seeing the garden differently; striped lawns, crazy paving, heathers, conifers, rhododendrons and gnomes remained popular. Domestic decking arrived in the UK.

Crazy paving was an eighties staple; its random patterns contrasting with straight-edged borders
Despite a burgeoning interest in organic growing, garden chemicals continued to be widely used

The 1990s

Water garden, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 1990

The 1990s ushered in an era of gardening transformations on TV with new emphasis on the role of domestic garden design; decking, gravel and architectural plants such as Fatsia japonica along with bolder use of colours – for example Alan Titchmarsh’s famous ‘Barleywood Blue’.

Heathers, conifers and roses were swept away by the rise of the exotic garden, inspired by the likes of the late Will Giles in Norfolk and Christopher Lloyd and Fergus Garrett at Great Dixter in Sussex.

Alan Titchmarsh MBE, ‘The man who painted everything blue’
The hugely influential Exotic Garden at Great Dixter

The 2000s

In the ‘noughties’ planting became softer and the use of perennials increased, as shown in the Daily Telegraph Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2007

A new millennium and the growth of the internet led to establishment of new online plant retailers. We began sharing our thoughts on social media platforms Facebook and Twitter; writing emails instead of using the phone, and using Google and Yahoo to find gardening solutions.

Climate change and global warming became household words; the gardening world responded by seeking out drought-tolerant plants and sustainable planting ideas.

The New

Perennial Movement gathered pace, its plantings of perennials and grasses inspired by natural plant communities exemplified by Piet Oudolf’s High Line in New York.

Drought tolerant perennials such as Phlomis russeliana were suddenly in demand
Grasses such as Stipa tenuissima also enjoyed a surge in popularity

The 2010s

The New Perennial Movement gained further momentum in the 2010s
The teenage years of the new century saw an era of smartphones, Facebook and Instagram, drone footage and virtual reality headsets, YouTube and podcasts.

The New Perennial Movement still held sway, along with the rise of naturalism in garden design at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which included recognition of the role weeds play in sustaining pollinators. Native plants were increasingly promoted to avoid the biosecurity risks associated with imported exotics.

Environmental consciousness went up a gear with recycled pots and plastics and the push to ban peat-based composts. Gardeners took a renewed interest in artisanal/cottage gardening and unusual heritage fruit and vegetable varieties.

Wildflowers such as cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) became mainstays at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in the 2010s

The 2020s

Showing love for nature, wildlife and the environment

It was a tricky start to the new decade – an era of climate change awareness and Covid-19. During the pandemic, garden centres eventually became considered an ‘essential service’ and garden visiting increased with restrictions on indoor gatherings, while talks and workshops were forced to go online during lockdown.

New legislation seeks to protect bees and peat bogs; Brexit turns EU Directives into British law… Wildflower meadows have become even more popular and have begun to evolve into ‘rewilded’ spaces to make habitats and improve biodiversity.

A massive growth in growing your own during lockdown has dovetailed with increased recognition of the wellbeing benefits of gardening. So while the way we garden may have changed dramatically in the last 70 years, what it can do for us – feed our stomachs and nourish our souls – remains very much the same.

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.