An impact that can only grow

As a landmark report reveals the impressive environmental, social, economic and health benefits of gardening, Ursula Buchan hopes policymakers are taking note

- Ursula Buchan

AS A MEMBER of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) for half a century, from the time when I worked as a gardener at RHS Garden Wisley in 1975, I view the organisation with the kind of fond exasperation that one reserves for a much-loved but periodically wayward member of the family. I am always prepared for disappointment — the dumbing-down of the Society's magazine, The Garden, and the often joyless worthiness of its pronouncements, for example — but take a corresponding pleasure when things are done well.

This is why I have so enjoyed reading The RHS State of Gardening 2025, which was published last October. Here, at long last, is an in-depth report, couched in comprehensible language, on the impact of gardening on the nation’s health, economy, communities and environment. It has been assembled by the people most likely to know: leading horticulturists, plant scientists and ecologists, aided by existing research results, public polling and some super-duper, Al-supported satellite imaging and mapping of the UK’s biodiversity.