WHEN you talk to gardeners from other parts of the world as I did a few weeks ago, one theme seems to show up in the conversation – ‘you are so lucky to live and garden in the UK.’

What is it about living and gardening in the UK that makes us and our gardens what we are?

It’s the ultimate question to pose to your guests as they consume another mouthful of Christmas turkey – wait until they are on their second glass of wine if you want to get some interesting views!

Here are some thoughts of my own to help get the subject underway.

Temperate and climate – a mixed and generally balanced climate that allows us, with a little help from protected growing structures, to grow a wide range of plants.

Good soil – because of our climatic and geological history, our soils, post Ice Age, are generally deep, stable and fertile. Their variability only adds to our ability to grow a wide range of plants.

Eclectic tastes based on a diverse origin – the British race is perhaps one of the most diverse on the planet and this diversity brings with it a wealth of ideas and experiences.

Strong sense of caring – from our primitive post Ice Age beginnings in small communities, we seem to have a strong sense of caring for our land, our people and our possessions.

This includes caring for anything that grows and is reflected in our desire to have neat, tidy gardens that show our caring nature.

It is also what seems to make us one of the most generous nations on the planet when it comes to charitable works and donations.

Inventive – probably out of need and a desire for success, our ability to invent is legendary and still makes us one of the most inventive nations even today.

In our gardens this has led to techniques, tools, new plants and machinery being added to our army of ways of developing and managing our landscapes.

Many of the world’s grass-based sports were invented in the UK and it may be this that has given us our love of lawns!

Sense of control – once we began to develop as an apparently superior race, after the Greek and Roman empires had collapsed, we seemed to feel that everything British and Christian was sacrosanct and this helped to develop our ability to control a wide variety of things, including, if you look at Victorian history for example, nature – hence our love of lawns, show standard vegetables and flowers, pruning and hedging.

Over the centuries it also brought us a vast range of plants, people and wealth. Thankfully many of those old-fashioned ways have passed on, leaving us to re-learn how to work with nature rather than fighting against it.

Love of beautiful things – as a nation’s wealth increases, it’s ability to make, buy and hoard non-utilitarian objects increases and so, through the skills of craftsmen and women and the affluence of the upper levels of society, we gradually developed a love of all things artistic, architectural and sculptural – the garden marries these three together very well and so allows the wealthy to show off their money – now, despite the fact that many of the country mansions are no longer privately owned, we spend a lot of time and money admiring them and trying to copy them!

_ What do you think? Write to me at Graham’s British Gardens, Features Department, Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Pennine Business Park, Longbow Close, Bradley Road, Huddersfield, HD2 1GQ and let me know your thoughts on this complex but fascinating subject.