Review by Annabel
Melville House’s ‘Futures’ series are short pocket-sized paperbacks that explore their subjects in essay format. I’ve previously reviewed two others for Shiny – The Future of Trust and The Future of Energy; both were thought-provoking reads, which is the aim of the series, taking where we are now and extrapolating ahead to the future.
The latest addition to the series is on Gardens, written by Mark Lane, who may be familiar to some as the BBC’s Morning Live Gardening expert. In the Foreword, he begins provocatively by considering the effect that AI is already having on gardening – be it identification apps or lawnmower bots to helping with plant breeding behind the scenes. He has an optimistic view of AI in gardening though, hoping that the benefits of gardening to our mental and physical health will stay to the forefront. Lane has, in his own words, ‘a unique perspective’ on the subject, having been an enthusiastic young gardener with his grandparents, but then, decades later he was in a serious car accident and became a wheelchair user, and has had to embrace techniques to promote inclusion.
The main part of the book looks at smart gardening and sustainable practices. Many of these come from agriculture and commercial horticulture, filtering down to individual gardeners, from gadgets to water-saving techniques, to drought-resistant plants and using solar power in the garden. He stresses the importance of using native plants which helps maintain biodiversity, and soil health – both of which are important to a resilient garden. Resilience is the major word in the future of gardens. Gardens in cities are changing too, planners are taking on the challenge by going vertical for instance.
Surprisingly, a short section considers gardening on Mars and the Moon which, as you can imagine, presents a different set of challenges: lesser gravity, poor soil, lack of water and so on – but they do grow a few veg now on the International Space Station, and cotton seeds have successfully germinated on the Moon.
The last section before his conclusions is about plant communication, a fascinating subject that we’ve only recently begun to comprehend. From the fungal mycellium that spreads its tendrils in the soil linking up plants, to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that plants give off, ‘creating a biochemical language that neighbouring plants can interpret.’
There is a future for gardens. We should embrace technology, but not forget to get our hands dirty. It’s a potent message, and The Future of Gardens is a thoughtful and enjoyable read, and the Futures Series continues to delight.
Annabel is one of Shiny’s founders and editors.
Mark Lane, The Future of Gardens (Melville House, 2025). 978-1911545774, 160 pp., flapped paperback.
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