Tackling our ‘plant blindness’

Ask any eight-year-old where pasta, sugar or chocolate come from, and they probably won’t say plants. This may seem a trivial thing in a world where technological knowledge is the future, but it highlights a key deficiency in our increasingly urbanised society, a phenomenon called ‘plant blindness.’

This phrase was originally coined in 1999 by two American botanists who highlighted the increasing disconnect between humans and nature, especially plants. This blindness begins with our kids who, without a connection to plants from an early age, grow into adults who don’t care about the natural world that sustains us.

Faceless plants

One explanation suggested for plants’ poor profile is that they lack the strong visual cues that demand attention for our visual cortex filter. Unlike animals, plants don’t have faces, they don’t move and they aren’t threatening. From the perspective of a simple human, when compared to animals, plants are basically ‘green wallpaper’, a backdrop for all the action in the world. Animals might be cuter or more threatening, but the truth is that plants play a far greater role in our lives than animals ever can. After all, what do animals eat? Plants, or other animals that eat plants. Without plants there would be no hope for critically endangered cute critters like Leadbeater’s Possum and Helmeted Honeyeaters that rely on habitat that is comprised of plants.

Whilst all that green plant-life may be relegated to elevator music for some of us, the reality is that plants sit in the engine-room of the carbon cycle that regulates our planet’s climate. Plants are also the basic component for all agricultural production and the base ingredients for most pharmaceutical products. While animals might be more obvious to our inattentive minds, when it comes to ecology, agriculture and medicines, plants do the heavy lifting!

Rebranding plants

Part of the problem we face here is that gardening is considered to be somewhere between a nuisance and a service.

Growing plants and tending a garden is so much more than trimming the hedges and mowing the lawns, but this perception pervades the mainstream image of gardening.

I get annoyed at advertisements that cast gardening as a battle or conquest where we need the latest high-tech gizmos to tame the wilds. The common functional perception of the profession of gardening as ‘landscape gardening’ doesn’t help here either. Landscape construction is biased heavily toward the construction element with ‘hard landscaping’ dominating professional training courses pitched at tradies more interested in getting the right retaining wall footing specification than creating a harmonious planting combination that brings a garden to life.

This functional view of gardening taints the community’s approach to a pursuit that brings such joy and fulfilment to so many. Many of us are supposedly time poor in this fast-paced world we live in, but gardening is only seen as a chore if it’s framed in the same way we see mopping the kitchen floor – an essential but mundane task. It’s really more a question of priorities and perception.

Think about how much screen time we indulge in these days. It’s hard to argue we are time poor when we spend an average of 5.5 hours a day (!) doomscrolling on our smartphones. It really all comes down to how we choose to spend our time. There is an abundance of emerging research showing that people who regularly garden report improvements in mental health. Gardening is an energising and rejuvenating activity when you come at it from the perspective of participation and learning – this is the essence of gardening.

Be proud to be a gardener

Overcoming ‘plant blindness’ is something we can all play a part in, and it all starts with celebrating gardening and plants in our everyday lives. If you’re reading this, chances are you are a Diggers member, one of 87,000 gardeners across the country who advocate for ‘plant visibility’ simply by talking about your gardens and the plants in them. This is a powerful community of passionate people, and we can all play a role in building greater awareness for greenery. Encourage your kids to get their hands dirty and grow things so they can connect the dots from flower to seed to fruit and finally to their lunch box. Get involved in your local community garden, arrange to meet your friends at your local botanic (or Diggers) gardens, but most of all be proud to be someone who notices plants and their contribution to our lives.

Written by Tim Sansom, Diggers CEO.