Just Dig It Up”: The Refreshing Wisdom of John Cushnie

May 14, 1943

On this day, dear reader, we welcome into our world one John Alexander Montgomery Cushnie - a man destined to charm the gardening elite and common soil-tillers alike with equal measure.

Born on this lovely spring day in 1943, our Irish protagonist would grow to command attention not merely for his horticultural prowess but, as many were pleasantly startled to discover upon meeting him in person, for his rather impressive stature and dashing good looks.

One cannot help but wonder if Mother Nature herself had crafted this tall, handsome Irishman specifically to challenge the notion that gardeners must be weathered, stooping creatures. For years, his melodious voice traveled through radio waves across England, leaving listeners utterly unprepared for the striking figure who produced such horticultural wisdom.

Cushnie ascended to the pantheon of gardening celebrities through his 15-year tenure as a regular panelist on that most venerated of programs, Gardeners' Question Time. His presence transformed him into something of a household deity among the soil-worshipping classes of England, where his opinions on everything from pest control to plant selection were received with religious devotion.

Perhaps the cruelest twist in Cushnie's tale comes at its conclusion. Having recorded his final broadcast just before Christmas, he embraced retirement with the enthusiasm of a seedling reaching for sunlight. Alas! The fates proved merciless, allowing him merely one week of his hard-earned leisure before a heart attack claimed him on New Year's Eve in 2009, at the relatively youthful age of 66.

Let us not dwell exclusively on his departure, however. Rather, let us celebrate the wicked sense of humor that made him such a delightful companion through the airwaves. His disdain for poinsettias - those garish holiday impostors - revealed a man of discerning taste who refused to bow to seasonal horticultural convention.

When confronted with the eternal problem of canine contributions to the garden, Cushnie delivered what can only be described as horticultural candor:

"The dog is simply marking his territory... the only thing [the urine of] a male dog will not kill is a lamppost."

How refreshingly direct! No scientific euphemisms or complicated chemical explanations - just the unvarnished truth delivered with Irish wit.

And when anxious parents sought advice about lawns damaged by playing children, did he side with the precious turf? Absolutely not! With the wisdom of Solomon, he pronounced that children aren't young for long - let them play! The grass, after all, will recover long before childhood does.

Perhaps most iconic was his signature solution to the most vexing garden problems. While others might prescribe complicated regimens of treatments, feeding schedules, and protective measures, Cushnie often cut through the horticultural nonsense with three simple words: "just dig it up." What sublime pragmatism!

One imagines Cushnie surveying gardens from the great beyond, shaking his head at our fussy attempts to resurrect failing plants, muttering his mantra as we struggle unnecessarily with the dying and diseased specimens we refuse to surrender. The garden teaches us that sometimes, the kindest act is to acknowledge defeat and begin anew - a philosophy Cushnie embraced with characteristic forthrightness.

As we tend our plots today, perhaps we might channel a bit of Cushnie's irreverence, his pragmatism, and his understanding that gardens, like life, need not be approached with excessive solemnity. After all, if a tall, handsome Irishman can become beloved for telling people to "just dig it up," perhaps there's hope for all of us who speak gardening truths without unnecessary embellishment.