This typology of suburban gardens in Hobart, with its focus on species composition
and richness, needs to be complemented by insights into the profiles and identities of
the gardeners who formed my research community. The presentation of the profiles
of my gardeners will provide a reference point for understanding their motivations
for being involved in the craft of gardening. The profiles will also give substance to
the following three chapters where I explore gardeners’ engagements with their
gardens and examine how the foundational and extended qualities of stewardship
have found expression through these engagements.
Most of the gardeners involved in the project were volunteers who contacted me as a
result of a newspaper article in The Sunday Tasmanian (see chapter one). Many of the interviewed gardeners regarded themselves as ‘real’ gardeners (see chapter four).
As volunteers and ‘real’ gardeners their input into the project cannot be
underestimated. I identified interviewed gardeners as researchpartners as an acknowledgement of their willingness to participate in and a tribute to their
involvement and commitment to the project. For some partners, particularly those
involved in the participatory action research (and numerous others who participated
in the interviews only), their involvement was personal, extensive and intensive, and
and immersion into their gardens; their engagement in gardening practices that
resonated with a sense of stewardship, and their interest in pursuing a range of
themes associated with gardens and stewardship provided extensive information and
insights into the project. These findings and insights are borne out in the next three
chapters.
Within the total sample of 134 gardens, gardeners’ ages ranged from 26 years to 86
years. There were five gardeners who were aged below 30 and 19 were over 70 years
of age. Seventy six gardeners were aged between 30 and 50. Seven of the ‘senior’
gardeners were over 80, and four of these had been gardening for over 60 years.
Consistent with other studies (Bhatti and Church, 2004; Kirkpatrick et al, 2007; Sanders, 1984), where the average age of gardeners was in the range of 50-60 years,
the mean age of the 134 gardeners in this project was 51 years. A total of 34
gardeners indicated they were retired from full time work (two were young retirees at
the ages of 52 and 54 respectively), and six were unemployed. Significantly
gardeners who were involved in the extended interviews ranged from the youngest
(26) to the oldest (86). It would appear that gardening appeals to people of all ages.
This was borne out in the interview material presented in the following chapters.
The gender mix of female to male gardeners was 2:1. Of the total of 134 gardeners,
80 were females, 44 were males and there were 10 couples. These statistics are at
odds with one other study relating to the gender mix of gardeners where Bhatti and
Church (2000, 189), utilising data from a broad survey of attitudes to gardening in
Great Britain by Mintel (1999), showed the proportion of female to male gardeners
to be about 1:1. The reason for the difference may be that the current project used a
different research design to that of Bhatti and Church. I was unable to determine any
The background profiles and identities of gardeners were diverse: ordinary people
from ordinary walks of life. There were teachers, horticulturalists, single parents,
airline pilots, students, unemployed, dancers, administrators, fishermen, factory
workers, naturopaths, professionals, farmers, geomorphologists, forensic scientists,
ecologists and many more. Culturally diverse, there were gardeners whose ethnic
origins were Austrian, Chilean, Croatian, English, German, Greek, Dutch, Irish,
Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Polish, Scottish, South African, and Swiss. The cultural
diversity presented itself as a distinct feature of their understanding and practices
within their gardens. Some were practising Christians, some Buddhists, others New
Ageists; one made the point of identifying himself as a Marxist. Some were
‘eccentric characters’, some were reclusive, others extrovert in the expression of their
garden, as evidenced in their selection of species and the way they structured their
gardens. One considered herself as having specific insights into gardening because
she conversed with the Divas in her garden. She said she was influenced by the
‘Findhorn Miracle’ (The Findhorn Community, 1979). There were story tellers, some
lonely people, and a few, though suffering illnesses, still keen to be involved and
have their story told. One gardener insisted that her two young children be present in
the interview as part of her educating them into the world of nature and gardening
(Susanne). Most however, intimately involved in their garden were enthusiastic and
generous about contributing their experiences of the garden.
Some gardeners expressed a passionate attachment to the garden that was
demonstrated in numerous ways. Three identified themselves as ‘native purists’ (see
‘native purists’ in Plumwood, 2005) in their pursuit of certain gardening ideals and
practices and appeared to be on a crusade to convert others to their mode of
responsibility27. There were other research partners who voiced strong convictions about other gardening attitudes and practices. Many admitted to having a loving
relationship with their gardens, sometimes expressed as an attachment to certain
plants, or styles of gardening (cottage garden) or even practices (earth friendly
practices). That relationship was often translated as a desire to share the stories of
their gardens. Stories characterised by many levels and contexts, by dreams and
desires, frustrations and challenges. Many shared the physical make-up of their
gardens, and the reasons for that make-up. Sharing of their knowledge and skills was
as common as their admission of ignorance about gardening and gardens. The
meaning and roles of the garden in their lives and throughout history was a theme
that filtered in and out during the interviews. Many expressed reasons for the
maintenance of traditional gardening practices as a critique against the current
commercialisation of gardens. The attachment to their gardens was also a reflection
of their strong relationship with the greater garden of the Earth. This greater garden
which they saw reflected in their own small patch of paradise (Cynthia). One 86 year old female gardener summarised the connection of the gardener to the garden thus:
If more people took up gardening, all sorts of gardening, we might very well have a more peaceful and harmonious planet. Gardening not only brings people of all races, creeds and classes together, it also puts us back in touch with our origins and the mystery of our relationship to nature (Gwen).
27
In a recent paper, Osbaldiston & Sheldon (2003), explore motivations that bring about responsible environmental behaviours. Results of a study they conducted indicated that internal motivation rather than external motivations accounted for behaviours that were environmentally responsible.