I have had a letter published in the RHS magazine, The Garden, before. In that case, it was singing the praise of some trees on the north Oxford bypass that one of its columnists had been a bit sniffy about. That was probably the best part of a decade or so ago so it is probably my turn to be gently sniffy. We’ll see if this one gets published in the magazine but, in case not, I’ll post it below. Unless expressed as a percentage (ie. small numbers distorting statistics), I don’t think my regular readership has significant crossover with subscribers to The Garden.

In the August book reviews (p96) I noted that Jane Cumberbatch has a “limitation” in the form of a garden that is only 22m x 11m. My garden has less than half the area and is still a generous suburban slice compared to the postage stamp patches of many modern builds. I don’t know what the RHS Small Garden Handbook (also reviewed) counts as small but more content in The Garden on truly tiny plots would be appreciated. Those ideas can always be used to create rooms in situations with larger boundaries.

Unpublished submission to the letters page of The Garden, July 2021

That isn’t to suggest that the magazine – or the organisation – do nothing for the owners of properly small gardens but they do spend a good proportion of time on gardens of the size I’d love to have rather than what I’ve actually got the privilege to possess.