A balancing act for gardens

摘要

High numbers of visitors may damage the environment that attracts them. Alys Fowler asks what garden staff can do. A public garden without visitors is a pretty soul-less place, but a public one with too many people and no secluded niches is a gardenhaving its genius tool trampled on. These days, amenity gardens are having to find a way of balancing the need for high visitor numbers for revenue -- so vital for maintenance and restoration -- and the need for quality experience. This is not always easy. So, why have any visitors at all if they can cause physical damage and spoil the experience for others? There's an argument for restricting numbers, but, for most gardens, visitors are the reward for all the hard work -- gardeners have egos too. Often,wider public benefit is the main justification for a garden existing at all. And gardens have become dependent on their visitors.