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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2008 21:11:19 GMT
...growers and seed companies new marketing ploys.
Quote from John Cushnie - Telegraph gardening section
New varieties? TV spin-offs? Don't get me started, says John Cushnie
How many "new varieties" and celebrity-named plants have you been buying? It seems to me that the gardening industry is wise to the fact there are more gardener suckers out there than rose suckers. Every year another wheelbarrow-full of new plant varieties is put on the market. They are never just as good as the established varieties. They always claim to be better.
Gardeners' ForumadvertisementThe latest craze is tomato plants that produce, in the course of the summer, more than 2,000 small, juicy fruit from a single plant. They are lovely, but you can't buy one plant. They are sold in threes. That's 6,000 fruits over 15 to 16 weeks - more than 50 tomatoes a day, every day, all summer. Just as well that tomatoes are supposed to be good for you.
Growers and seed companies have adopted strong marketing methods. They vie for that all-powerful adjective that will convince us to buy their plants. But take care: "Outstanding flavour" means it has some taste. "Compact" means it will spread like a weed but is only 18in high. "Incredibly fragrant" is another way of saying that on a calm day with your nose buried in the petals it smells of something. Remember when it seemed natural for a rose to have a wonderful perfume?
And what does "highly resistant" really mean? Is it the same thing as "almost immune"? If the plant has a high level of immunity will it die much later than a variety with no immunity? The sad thing is that excellent, tried and tested, firm favourites are being left off the lists to make room for inferior but lucrative new varieties.
Then there is the in-store labelling of plants that tells you only what you want to hear. To print that a Leyland cypress will "quickly grow to 6ft making a fine evergreen screen" may well sell it. But by neglecting to state that it will continue to grow to 90ft in height, could land the gullible gardener in court for blocking the neighbour's light, or will simply ruin the garden and cost a fortune to remove.
Annual bedding plants go on sale at the end of March. Surely there should be a sign saying that if planted outside when there is the risk of a frost, these will die? There is a cynical school of thought that growers produce three crops of bedding plants: the first early crop is for the suckers, the next for risk-takers and the final crop for gardeners.
Manufacturers have also cottoned on to the power of celebrity connections. When a lupin, petunia, sweet pea or pelargonium is named for a gardening celebrity, the makers couldn't care less whether the proud recipient takes the plant home after the cameras have gone. If the product has Alan, Charlie or Monty in its title, that will ensure rocketing sales for a season. Try naming it Fred Bloggs and see if it will sell.
Don't get me started on seed companies. Granted they do a great job and I wouldn't be without most of them, but there is a "but". Some of the seeds offered in catalogues are little better than weeds - even a dandelion takes a good photograph. After a year they've disappeared into the compost heap.
And why do we all accept paying £1.99 for a packet of 2,500 seeds? Foxgloves for goodness sake! Why would any amateur gardener want to capture the global market for foxgloves? If you are not careful, by the end of the second year you will have 2,500 seedlings in your garden. How about 100 seeds for 10p or even 30p with 10p going to a charity?
Don't sink to ranting and raving like me. Simply make it a habit not to buy new varieties until they have been on the market for a year. You might not keep up with the neighbours but your compost heap won't be overflowing. Let the other suckers, sorry gardeners, try them out.
And wise up to plant names, labels and catalogue entries. You can't beat the plants that are bred for quality rather than profit. Many of them are still out there selling well after donkeys' years. Oh they may be prone to a bit of American gooseberry mildew or black spot, but no one claimed they were almost immune...
Well said John. ;D
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Post by Weeterrier on Jul 3, 2008 7:53:11 GMT
Do you think they are copying the marketing techniques that Estate Agents are well known for? ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2008 10:01:49 GMT
I dunno, I'm expecting great things from my 'Drunken Gardener' range of seeds next year, aimed squarely at the inebriated gardeners of Britain...a stunning mixture of Convolvulus arvensis, Heracleum mantegazzianum, Fallopia japonica and Equisetum arvense...in a shop near you soon!  |
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