National Gardening Week will help us grow!
A new National Gardening Week aims to get Brits sowing, hoeing and mowing next spring.
Set to take place on 16 to 22 April 2012, nurseries, garden centres, gardening clubs, charities, schools and the media are all being urged to get involved. The initiative was devised by the Royal Horticultural Society, which will offer 20,000 gardening starter packs containing free seeds.
Gardeners will be shown how to make horticulture their career, and daily gardening question and answer sessions will take place on the social networking website Facebook (see panel). RHS director-general Sue Biggs (pictured) said National Gardening Week would "open the doors to gardening and inspire everyone to give it a go. "Gardening is life-enhancing, it's vital for the environment, creates beautiful spaces and best of al is great fun. I hope the week encourages even more people to benefit from this wonderful pastime," Sue said.
ITV's Love Your Garden presenter, Alan Titchmarsh, was quick to back the event. "This week is about highlighting the importance of gardeners and gardening," said Alan. "I hope that all areas of the gardening world, from horticultural colleges to charities and gardeners, embrace the opportunity and use it to promote the importance and joy of growing plants."
BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time panellist Chris Beardshaw National Gardening Week the thumbs up, too. "None of us want to see our gardening heritage under threat, so taking part in National Gardening Week is a great way to celebrate, learn and pass your knowledge on. Just think, in just one week you or someone you know could start a lifelong passion." Go to www.rhs.org.uk/nationalgardeningweek for details.
