If the only way you want to spend time away from your own garden right now is in places where you can look at and think about other gardens (preferably with some science thrown in), now鈥檚 the perfect time 鈥� in London, at least.
I enjoyed the newly relaunched science section at the , which ran from 20 to 24 May. The clunkily named 鈥淕reenSTEM鈥� area had five small exhibits, with two of the most interesting being more agricultural than horticultural. There was a demonstration of aeroponics, a method of irrigating plant roots with mist generated using ultrasound, and a set of special solar panels that can be placed on top of a greenhouse or polytunnel to help power a farm, while hopefully boosting plant growth by letting through the most beneficial wavelengths of light.
Perhaps the most interesting science at the show, though, was out in one of the major show gardens, the Avanade Intelligent Garden. In this beautiful, urban forest garden, every tree was kitted out with the arboreal equivalent of a smartwatch, tracking growth, lean angle, temperature and humidity. A dashboard at the back of the garden monitored each tree, ready to advise on any concerning trends or warning signs.
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I鈥檓 normally reluctant to involve electronic gadgets in gardening, but there is good reasoning behind this idea: increasingly, studies suggest that perhaps the majority of urban trees die 15 years or less after planting, before they have even become carbon neutral. We know these trees can have big benefits for air quality, wildlife and well-being, but many of them are stressed, poorly cared for and dying far too young, a problem exacerbated by climate change.
Gadgetry has always been a part of gardening. I鈥檇 seen some historic examples at the British Library a few days earlier, at its exhibition, which runs until 10 August. Its scope is wide and a little woolly, examining the role of gardening in everything from colonialism and land rights to medicine, therapy and community.
But it does do a great job of showing how gardening has long been a practice for everyone 鈥� not just the most distinguished designers and growers who are celebrated at events like RHS Chelsea. It was the artefacts that excited me most, however, as the exhibition includes one of the only surviving Wardian cases (a mini greenhouse used to transport live plants on ships back to Victorian England) and a 600-year-old predecessor of a watering can: a simple perforated pot that was plunged into water and sealed with a thumb.
