It should not matter what a gardener produces, as long as they don’t hurt animals doing so. That is the message delegates heard at the first vegan gardening event in the UK, which attracted 200 registrations when it was held in Hampshire on September 15 2018. The event showed there is a rising interest in gardening in alliance with nature without animal inputs and cruelty.
Leading garden designers Cleve West and Daryl Moore spoke, along with author Matthew Appleby, at the conference, held at the Hortus Loci nursery, in Hook, Hampshire. West, winner of an RHS Chelsea Flower Show best in show award, told delegates: “I believe that we as gardeners have a good understanding of issues that eff ect the environment and we have a genuine interest in biodiversity. It’s made me think that, for this reason alone, gardeners should be leading the charge with this movement.