Down to Earth
In this series of articles staff, students and graduates of Burnley College
share their views with Global Garden readers on a range of topical horticultural
issues. Burnley College is
part of the University of Melbourne’s Institute of Land and Food Resources and
enjoys an esteemed reputation as one of Australia’s premier horticultural
institutions. Click
here for a list of other articles in the series.
Plant Labelling
The quality of the information provided on plant labels plays a vital role in ensuring a high degree of success in plant selection. This information may also have wider implications.This month we talked to Roger Spencer from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and Dr Peter May, Deputy Head of Campus, Burnley College on the subject:
How well do plant labels convey information about what’s in the pot and where to plant it?
How well to plant labels convey information about what’s in the pot?
Roger Spencer:
Nurseries and labelling companies have an obligation to be responsible in
their attitude towards the labelling of plants. Many nurseries see labels as primarily
marketing devices rather than sources of accurate and useful information about the product
being sold. At their worst, these labels are very superficial - a pretty picture, a few
appealing words and nothing as intimidating as words written in Latin!
Does it matter? It certainly does. In other industries, consumers expect to be provided with accurate labelling. When we go to the supermarket we expect to be able to see from the label exactly what we are purchasing. We have every right to expect that a plant label faithfully indicates what is in the pot as well. Plant producers who continue to regard the providing of accurate information on their labels as an annoying limitation on profit-making need to reconsider their attitude.
In some cases, carelessness with the accuracy of the species being offered for sale can have life-threatening implications. Recently there was a case where a poisonous Solanum species was being offered for sale as a pepper. Accuracy about what's in the pot is essential, and every consumer of plants has the right to expect that the botanical name is included somewhere on the label. It doesn't have to be in huge letters but it should be there. Botanical names provide the customer with the opportunity to seek additional information about the plants they have purchased. Common names are not nearly as satisfactory and "made-up" trade names lead to all kinds of confusion.
Accuracy and truthfulness in labelling may not always suit the marketing objectives of plant producers, but consumers have the right to know if the plant they are purchasing is an environmental weed. We have had instances where, deliberately or otherwise, noxious weeds have been sold as garden plants under a benign marketing name (not even their more recognisable common name). Such practices have serious implications for the survival of our native flora and for rural industries plagued with the cost of dealing with introduced weeds.
Responsible, accurate labelling is necessary so that consumers can be absolutely sure that what's in the pot is a suitable plant for their garden and their environment.
How well do plant labels convey information about where to plant what’s in the pot?
Dr Peter May:
In an ideal world, good and comprehensive information on plant tolerances and requirements would be readily available. In the real world, good information does exist, but it is often in disparate and inaccessible places. Most often, purchasers of plants have to rely on the information provided on plant labels, as it is the only information available to them. Unfortunately, the information provided on plant labels is often relatively general and while there may be good reasons for this, is not really satisfactory for the consumer.
Some of the more basic information about plant location, eg the amount of sun required, soil requirements, etc. is relatively easily handled, but there are other critical things that are often missing completely from information provided on plant labels. Three of the most vital of these are:
North America is divided into zones that indicate the degree of winter cold (many gardeners will have seen these maps in American books). All plants sold have a label that indicates the hardiness of the plants for specific zones (eg hardy to Zone 5). While we don’t have the same urgency to label plants for hardiness to winter cold, this is something that could relatively easily be adapted to the Australian situation. Digger’s Seeds have already made substantial headway with this idea in their catalogues by adapting the US cold hardiness zones and also heat zones (based on the number of days a year when mean temperatures exceed 30 degrees) to the Australian situation, so this is something that is clearly achievable. A detailed data base of plants and their tolerances needs to be created. It is important to develop a structured approach to plant labelling, otherwise the information is likely to be vague and subjective - what one person thinks is ‘warm’ someone else may think is ‘cold’.
The question of water requirements for plants is one that goes beyond the bounds of satisfying gardeners’ needs for plant information. There is a national imperative to reduce the amount of water we use in gardens and the best way to do that is to change the type of plants we grow. We need a mechanism to convey to people how much water a particular plant requires, so that they can make informed decisions. This is complicated by the fact that the same plant will have different requirements in different areas depending on rainfall and evaporation rates. We need to think about how best to present this information to plant consumers, both domestic and professional.
People will always want to grow plants that provide a challenge - it is part of the skill and satisfaction of gardening. Hopefully, if gardeners are provided with good information about how much water specific plants require, they will at least take steps to locate all the plants that demand regular watering in one area of the garden, so that water is not wasted irrigating other plants unnecessarily.
We owe people better information about the plants they grow in their gardens. Not only does good information lead to higher levels of satisfaction with plant choices, but the industry must shoulder some responsibility for the environmental impact of the plants they sell.
Profiles:
Roger Spencer
Dr Peter May
is Deputy Head of Campus, University of Melbourne - Burnley College. He is a soil scientist with a range of horticultural interests including plant performance in the landscape, turf and viticulture.Copyright
protected - refer all copyright enquiries to Global
Garden
Global Garden http://www.global-garden.com.au
RETURN TO GLOBAL GARDEN HOME PAGE