Articles
HORTICULTURE FOR THE PEOPLE
In former times such messages could reach only a small number of people, but today they can be broadcast to wider circles through television, radio and newspapers and the effect can be spectacular.
People within the public media are often very receptive to extreme ideas in order to get some program variation, and sometimes to evolve a shock reaction from society.
Horticulturists who want to spread information to the public do not meet the same willing staff as the extreme groups do.
Only 6 – 8% of the garden owners are so interested in horticulture that they are members of a horticultural society.
All of what we publish in our society magazines, books and pamphlets reaches only our own interior circles and has little effect on the 94% of gardeners who do not belong.
When we have contact with gardening people, it is the selected group we meet again and again, and the feedback we receive comes from a small group of well informed people, seldom from the general public.
This can mislead us in our activities if we want to widen the interest of horticulture in our countries, which is the topic of this symposium.
This situation was first made clear by a survey in Denmark which examined what gardens really meant to families – what effect does a garden have on the household economy, how much time do different age groups in the family spend in the garden, what is the feeling towards gardening work for physical exercise?
The survey showed that the garden really meant something to the national economy, as more than 1 billion kroner ($200 million US) was harvested in 1 million gardens – tax-free income! The purchase of seeds, pesticides, plants and fertilizers was in the same magnitude of 1 billion kroner.
We have had good use of these figures in our budget discussion with governmental and commercial agencies.
Home horticulture is important and we have facts to prove it.
We asked average garden owners from where they received gardening information.
As shown in Table 1, material from horticultural societies reach only 17% of the public.
In contrast, 65% received their information and ideas from commercial advertising magazines.
As house and garden owners are considered as first class customers, many advertising magazines and pamphlets are distributed frequently to all house owners free of charge.
These "magazines" look rather