I don’t watch much television but I have been tuning into a programme called The Autistic Gardener over the past couple of weeks on Channel Four. The show concerns a Garden Designer fortuitously named Alan Gardner. Alan has Asperger’s syndrome and believes that his condition allows him to bring something unique to his work; microscopic attention to detail, methodicalness and precise perception of nuances in colour, shape, texture and atmosphere. He assembles a team of five fellow autists who, occupying varying positions on the spectrum, will also have unique design insights and abilities. Over the course of the series we follow the team as they tackle and make over a diverse collection of neglected gardens.
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| The Autistic Gardeners From the Channel 4 Show |
The team consists of Thomas, Charles, Victoria, James and Phillip. Based on what we have seen so far, Alan’s approach seems to be to develop a master plan and then pass it to the team members to deploy their individual aptitudes in the different areas to flesh out the details.
In episode one Thomas was tasked with setting out the design on the ground; essentially transferring the plan from paper to real life. This can be tough to get right particularly when the plan calls for a lot of curves and irregular shapes. We saw the team, propelled by Thomas’s mathematical skills and need for precision, working through the task, making mistakes and eventually arriving at a successful approach by sidelining ego and working together. Thomas was further tasked with the matrix style herbaceous planting beds. The aim with such planting is to achieve a natural look by avoiding symmetry and the emergence of patterns – difficult for a person with autism but a difficulty which Thomas overcame to execute the plan beautifully.
Creative touches are provided by Charles in the shape of a Gothic reimagining of a tree stump in episode one and a pair of coloured perpsex sunlight refracting screens in episode two.
On completing a skyscraper wildlife sanctuary for the first garden Victoria provided a poignant moment when she reflected that in normal daily life “my ideas don’t get listened to very much”. The stunning soil structure in the first garden was the brainchild of James. Phillip conceived and executed the planting in the second show.
Alan himself is responsible for the dominant structural elements and hard landscaping choices; the framework of the gardens. But it is the team of amateurs who provide so much of the garden’s personality. We have spoken of the need to go beyond the bland and expected; these guys do it as a matter of course.
What came through in the programme above all else was the role that horticulture and the garden has played in the entire lives of all of the team . It was telling that, as we went through the profiles of each of the gardeners, a recurring theme was the passion for gardening which emerged in childhood and has remained to the fore ever since.
This programme attests to how that interest does not wane but gets developed and refined over the years inevitably resulting in undeniable prowess . The challenge for the team is to successfully transpose what has essentially been a solitary pursuit into the collaborative environment. Given their varying degrees of social anxiety this will prove to be more difficult for some.
The point is that no matter what the condition, be it autism or whatever physical, developmental or emotional situation the garden has always helped, and always will. Programmes like this are living, clinical proof of biophilia and the transformative role that horticulture can play in people’s lives.
I’ve said it before and I’ll be saying it again; it’s time we exploited its power more effectively.
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