Sir, – I visited the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin a number of times recently. Having been a student there almost 40 years ago, I was amazed at all the new buildings, the newly refurbished glasshouses and staff whizzing around in golf buggies. It looked like no expense had been spared the taxpayer.
I was further amazed and shocked to see both their main herbaceous borders riddled with bindweed. Two large family beds, devoted to the Cotoneaster genus and Chaenomeles genus were similarly afflicted. Some of the shrubs were completely enveloped by the bindweed.
I also could not believe the heavy-handed and often unnecessary staking of many of the border plants – amateurish would be too kind a word to describe it. Has nobody there heard of dead- heading? This is completely unacceptable for an establishment run by professional horticulturalists, and doubly unacceptable as it is one of the main centres for the training of horticulturists in this country. I have never seen anything like this in similar institutions in Europe or North America.
It is either that the authorities don’t know how to rid their borders of bindweed, in which case the students are being badly instructed (one of the selling points of the Botanic Gardens horticultural course was always its practical “hands-on” dimension) or they have the know how but couldn’t be bothered – which is nearly worse. It is certainly not for lack of manpower.
Anyway, it is a poor showing for all the public money lavished on Dublin’s beloved “Bots” – which should be a jewel in our horticultural crown – and an example to me of the low standard of craft gardening in this country. – Yours, etc,