Friday, 07 February 2014
Journalist and Chelsea Fringe founder Tim Richardson has sparked a row by referring to some garden designers as “ladies who lunch”.
Writing in his column for the Society of Garden Designers’ Garden Design
Journal, Richardson said one perception of the profession is of
well-off, middle-class, middle-aged women who take up garden design but
do not need to work to survive.
He added that he does not think there is anything “necessarily wrong
with this model” and said the term is bandied about by “basically
jealous” designers who have to charge a professional rate.
But he called on the society to “get its house in order” and sort out
qualification and accreditation as well as publish professional rates
like the Landscape Institute.
At the Society of Garden Designers (SGD) Awards (24 January), attended
by Richardson, host James Alexander Sinclair made several barbed
references to the column.
SGD chair Juliet Sargeant said the diverse routes into garden design led
to a “rich mix of experience and background unique to the SGD” and
resulting in “an organisation of unparalleled character, creativity and
vibrancy”.
She added: “The SGD welcomes people who work flexible hours, ladies and
even those who eat lunch, provided that they are committed to providing
excellent service through continuing development and high professional
standards.”
Sargeant argued that garden designers and landscapers in general “suffer
from the misunderstanding that their work is simple, easy and unendingly
enjoyable, so they do not require proper remuneration” – something that
she said is at least beginning to change.
After the awards event, Richardson said: “Nearly everyone seems to
understand that I am not attacking ‘ladies who lunch’ – or indeed
‘women’ generally – but trying to initiate discussion about the reality
of the public and professional image of garden design.”
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