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Want better plants? Talk to them in a Geordie accent
If you want your plants to thrive talk to them in a Geordie accent – a leading expert has claimed.
12:03PM BST 10 Oct 2012
If you want your plants to thrive talk to them in a Geordie accent – a nursery owner has claimed.
Chris Bonnett, who has a four acre nursery in Essex and his own online garden centre spent the summer researching which accents plants respond best to.
Mr Bonnett isolated groups of plants and let them listen to regional accents. They were played DVDs and CDs of regional soaps and pop stars to help reinforce the different dialects.
Each group was placed in a different area of the nursery near Colchester and staff took great pains to ensure the accents were never mixed up.
The Geordie plants growing [sic] almost 10% more than those in some other groups.
Mr Bonnett said: “It’s long been thought that plants thrive if you talk to them so we decided to find out once and for all which dialects they respond to best.”
There were ten separate test groups, each consisting of a mix of around 100 different bedding plants.
The first was dubbed the TOWIE group. Mr Bonnett, and his team spoke to this group in their own accents and the plants were played episodes of the Essex reality show along with Blur and Depeche Mode CDs.
The second group became known as the Chelsea set. These plants were spoken too in an upper class accent and played episodes of the TV show Made in Chelsea and records by privately educated pop stars such as Florence Welch.
The third plant group became known as Emmerdale. These were spoken to in Yorkshire accents and played DVDs of the soap and music from Pulp and the Kaiser Chiefs.
The Welsh group of plants were played CDs by Tom Jones, Charlotte Church and Kathryn Jenkins and a DVD of Welsh soap Pobol y Cwm.
A fifth plant group became known as Scousers. These were tended by staff speaking in Liverpudlian accents and played episodes of Desperate Scousewives and classic DVDs of Brookside. Music from The Beatles, Echo and the Bunnymen and The Zutons was also pumped in.
The Coronation Street group were spoken to in north-west accents and played DVDs of the Street and music from Mancunian stars Oasis, New Order, The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.
The Tyneside group were played Geordie Shore DVDS and spoken to in a north-east accent. They listened to Cheryl Cole and Ant and Dec’s PJ and Duncan album.
The Scottish group of plants were talked to in Glasgow accents and played music from The Proclaimers and Susan Boyle.
The ninth plant group was known as the Australian group. These plants were talked to every day in Aussie accents, and played CDs from Kylie Minogue and Rolf Harris, and DVDs of classic episodes of Neighbours and Home and Away.
Finally a tenth plant group were tended to by staff speaking with American accents and played TV shows such as Desperate Housewives, Friends and music from Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson.
Mr Bonnett said: “At first we played the DVDs and the music in each area just to remind the team which accent they should be using but soon we realized it was an easy way for us to keep the plants listening to a particular dialect.
“After just a few weeks we started to see differences emerging with the Geordie and Welsh groups shooting up while the Chelsea and Mancunian plants seemed to particularly struggle.
“We kept all other variables as constant as possible. So the plants all had the same amount of sunlight, water and nutrients.
“By the end of the summer it was clear that the accents had a huge effect. There was, more or less, average growth across the Australian, Liverpudlian, Yorkshire and American groups.
“The Geordie and Welsh groups visibly thrived and displayed enhanced growth while the Scottish, Chelsea and Mancunian plants were stunted.
“We measured and weighed the best performing group against the worst performing and discovered an average of between nine and ten percent more growth.
“We were able to compile a league table of dialects which we hope will assist plant lovers everywhere to help their plants thrive.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/95 ... ccent.html
Words fail me! :shock:
If you want your plants to thrive talk to them in a Geordie accent – a leading expert has claimed.
12:03PM BST 10 Oct 2012
If you want your plants to thrive talk to them in a Geordie accent – a nursery owner has claimed.
Chris Bonnett, who has a four acre nursery in Essex and his own online garden centre spent the summer researching which accents plants respond best to.
Mr Bonnett isolated groups of plants and let them listen to regional accents. They were played DVDs and CDs of regional soaps and pop stars to help reinforce the different dialects.
Each group was placed in a different area of the nursery near Colchester and staff took great pains to ensure the accents were never mixed up.
The Geordie plants growing [sic] almost 10% more than those in some other groups.
Mr Bonnett said: “It’s long been thought that plants thrive if you talk to them so we decided to find out once and for all which dialects they respond to best.”
There were ten separate test groups, each consisting of a mix of around 100 different bedding plants.
The first was dubbed the TOWIE group. Mr Bonnett, and his team spoke to this group in their own accents and the plants were played episodes of the Essex reality show along with Blur and Depeche Mode CDs.
The second group became known as the Chelsea set. These plants were spoken too in an upper class accent and played episodes of the TV show Made in Chelsea and records by privately educated pop stars such as Florence Welch.
The third plant group became known as Emmerdale. These were spoken to in Yorkshire accents and played DVDs of the soap and music from Pulp and the Kaiser Chiefs.
The Welsh group of plants were played CDs by Tom Jones, Charlotte Church and Kathryn Jenkins and a DVD of Welsh soap Pobol y Cwm.
A fifth plant group became known as Scousers. These were tended by staff speaking in Liverpudlian accents and played episodes of Desperate Scousewives and classic DVDs of Brookside. Music from The Beatles, Echo and the Bunnymen and The Zutons was also pumped in.
The Coronation Street group were spoken to in north-west accents and played DVDs of the Street and music from Mancunian stars Oasis, New Order, The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.
The Tyneside group were played Geordie Shore DVDS and spoken to in a north-east accent. They listened to Cheryl Cole and Ant and Dec’s PJ and Duncan album.
The Scottish group of plants were talked to in Glasgow accents and played music from The Proclaimers and Susan Boyle.
The ninth plant group was known as the Australian group. These plants were talked to every day in Aussie accents, and played CDs from Kylie Minogue and Rolf Harris, and DVDs of classic episodes of Neighbours and Home and Away.
Finally a tenth plant group were tended to by staff speaking with American accents and played TV shows such as Desperate Housewives, Friends and music from Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson.
Mr Bonnett said: “At first we played the DVDs and the music in each area just to remind the team which accent they should be using but soon we realized it was an easy way for us to keep the plants listening to a particular dialect.
“After just a few weeks we started to see differences emerging with the Geordie and Welsh groups shooting up while the Chelsea and Mancunian plants seemed to particularly struggle.
“We kept all other variables as constant as possible. So the plants all had the same amount of sunlight, water and nutrients.
“By the end of the summer it was clear that the accents had a huge effect. There was, more or less, average growth across the Australian, Liverpudlian, Yorkshire and American groups.
“The Geordie and Welsh groups visibly thrived and displayed enhanced growth while the Scottish, Chelsea and Mancunian plants were stunted.
“We measured and weighed the best performing group against the worst performing and discovered an average of between nine and ten percent more growth.
“We were able to compile a league table of dialects which we hope will assist plant lovers everywhere to help their plants thrive.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/95 ... ccent.html
Words fail me! :shock: