First Issue Review – NewEden
Banish images of garden gnomes, swampy ponds and steel iron furniture from your mind before you delve into the fruits of Neweden, as this new title from IPC does for gardening what the Spice Girls and All Saints did for pregnancy – makes it ‘cool’. Think minimalist, think Zen, think ‘Daahhhhling!’. This glossy cacophony of colourful flower snaps, chic garden arrangements and green-fingered features has a distinctive spiritual ambience to it, to be savoured by those afforded the time, the inclination, and of course, the money.
Neweden does stand out as something of a novelty in its field. Aimed at ‘people who are not practised gardeners, but who are interested in the end result and who want to know the basics behind adopting styles’, the focus is as much on design as the right light needed for Zantedeschia (Arum Lily) to flourish. Hence the stylish use of photographic images throughout the magazine, and the emphasis on planning and placing as well as preening and watering. It looks at gardening in the context largely of (affluent) urban dwellers, rather than fanatics living in rural country towns or estates.
One would think that there is a limit to the angles one can take when looking at gardens and their close counterparts, but quite the opposite is true it seems. Neweden features items for first time gardeners and growing organic products, through tours of the gardens of both Seville and Venice (ah, Venice!), to Zen gardens and one chap’s relationship to Osteopernums (that’s daisies to you and I!).
Bruno Loubet simply can’t imagine life without a herb garden, and Melanie Molesworth is rather taken by the notion that old, knackered furniture can look quite charming in the back garden! The idea that ‘Someone who puts a ready-meal in a microwave and gives that to the family – it is not an act of love – it is an act of hate’ by chef Raymound Blanc might come up against some opposition, though to be fair I doubt that Neweden will wander into the hands of many who can’t afford to do their weekly grocery shop at Harrods or the more modest Marks & Sparks, priced at an exhorbiant £3.50.
Neweden genuinely is a beautifully produced magazine, with excellent design and stunning photography. The editorial is informed and professional, and I daresay (although my experience of general gardening magazines is limited) a break from the norm. It even manages to squeeze in a female breast – like nearly every single magazine on the news stands these days – under the guise of finding the best leaves to wear as accessories. Hmmmmmm! However, the title is not general in the sense that it is obviously targeting a specific audience, the ad ratio of 24:136 aims at the more affluent sectors of the population, with cufflink manufacters and traditional garage builders adorning its pages with promos.
The fruits of Neweden are therefore pretty to look at and even fun to read about, but a little too high on the tree for many if not most people to get at. Published every month, no doubt its contributors will come up with more abstract and marginal types of gardening and gardens and where and how they can fit into our busy lives. With an inital print run of 70,000 and a target circulation of 30,000, the big question really is ‘do enough people care?’