Talkback: Monty Don - Page 18

What a let down this all is. Please take Monty away and leave him in his garden. I will not be wasting my time watching Gw any more it is so dull without Toby.

After catching up on the first two episodes on iplayer tonight, what really surprised me was the lack of contrast between all the gardens shown. They were all enormous or really well established. Rachel & Joe were giving advice to a clearly knowledgable gardener with a large garden the first week, and the second week the Enid Blyton garden was much like Monty's. There were no new gardens, no town gardens, no containers, no patios, no window boxes. I'm sure things will change, but you can only divide your perennials or your snowdrops when you've had them a few years, and do you need 100s of gernaniums - not if you live in a terrace house you don't? And if you have space for 12+ redcurrants or an orchard full of fruit trees there's a fair chance you know how to prune them! What needs to happen is create an urban style show maybe for a more beginner/younger gardener who hasn't much space - with gardens like they were creating at Greenacre, and then a grander, more Monty style show for whoever it is who wants to watch that. My boyfriend has no gardening experience, but was getting ideas and confidence to give it a go from Toby, Joe and Alys, but felt that he learnt nothing in these 2 new episodes. Will be very keen to see what Toby & Alys do next - I just hope it's something we can all enjoy on the telly soon!

Week three and my wife and I agree we can't start our weekends like this anymore. We gave up on GW last time Monty presented it because he sucked all the fun out of gardening. He's not a patch on the knowledgeable Toby who was on a par with Geoff and Alan in my opinion. How can a gardening programme in the spring be so dead and depressing? I can seriously see GW coming to an end if the BBC don't sort it out.

What a wonderful change to have Monty back on GW. Real gardening, interesting visits and good honest advice.

"good honest advice" from someone who admits to clipping Buxus at the end of October, I almost fell off my chair laughing.

Well, I've given Monty's new style for Gardeners World a chance and I don't like it. Is this the BBC's gardening answer to Top Gear's motoring enthusiasts format, in other words it's no longer about real peoples gardens but is an entertainment. What I want to see is gardening tips that I can use in my own sub-urban garden not Utopian vision's of country house gardens on a lavish scale.

The BBC should return Catweazel to his writing hut, and throw away the key. The man is truly dreadful, and I will no longer be watching.

I gave up watching Gardeners’ World when Toby Buckland took over. I’m sure he’s a good gardener but no charisma. Not keen on Alys either so I’m really delighted Monty is back – he’s my sort of gardener! I’ve just been following his advice and planting out my self-seeded hellebores amongst my fritillaria.I wouldn’t normally bother to comment but I feel so pleased he is back that I feel obliged to comment to redress the balance of those who dislike him and to say that I have many friends who feel the same way as I do. Long live Monty!

Three times lucky? No!! Boring programme in a boring garden. Absolutely no spring colour - plenty of colour in other gardens visited on the programme. As for "gardening", how many ways are there to walk back and forth with a wheelbarrow, and how many times do we need to see him drinking a mug of tea/coffee? Is it really necessary to kill time in such a boring programme? I switched off. I'm waiting for Alan Titchmarsh on ITV!

Monty, the antidote…..Dig (no pun intended) out your old VHS tapes of Gardeners World! I like the time slot of Friday night, the start of the weekend, a glass of wine…mmmmm, the Gardeners World theme tune and then, JUST TURN ON THE VIDEO and watch Jeff Hamilton, its total Bliss. I’ve nothing against Monty he seems a lovely chap but he just doesn’t do it for me on Gardeners World. It’s like watching the weather forecast, I look at it and afterwards I think what was that all about? Give me Geff Hamilton any time and as I can’t have him sadly, God bless him, give me Toby Buckland, Alys Fowler, Carol Klein, Joe swift (on his allotment) or dear old Tich. Gardeners who can communicate through the lens and speak to me at home. Some people have that, dare I say “X factor” and some people just don’t. Good luck to Monty but take me back to the nuts and bolts of it, if you are going to do an allotment slot, show me how you did it from scratch, clearing the ground, setting up and making the raised beds, what to plant when to plant, before shots and after shots so that I can see where you’re going with it, A la Geff Hamilton, but I guess that takes planning (a year in advance). Don’t give me a phoney patch with a phoney looking allotment shed that I’ve just put there for effect with its water barrels and bench that I don’t really use and then cut to my nice authentic brick built gardeners bothy, with its row of nice antique trowels, which came with the hummugus house. The population of Britain is about 62 million, most of us live in cities or suburbs of cities, and according to the BBC the average garden size in the UK is 90 square metres, so give me a gardening programme that reflects the gardening that most of us do. Jewelled gardens, box hedges, Bah! Humbug! “Jeff, if you’re up there mate, can’t you pull a few strings at the BBC for us?”

Hell!...... I’ve just noticed what time you guys write your blogs! Well I’m off up to the plot now with my night visions specs, have a good day all :D

johnniekingdom2 - You've hit the nail on the head, as they say. Every single word you've said/written is exactly as it is. I think the majority of us G.World followers do feel this way. I watched this last Fridays episode (i am trying to get into it to change my way of viewing/thinking re it etc) but i too always find my self thinking what was that all about? I get side-tracked constantly c/o numerous close-ups of perfectly hanging, wall hanging trowels, secatuers etc etc, all looking new with smears of soil seemingly rubbed onto handles etc i can only assume that these numerous close-up shots are product placements as brand names are clearly visible sometimes. If it's "programme soul" and "programme character" that the producers are tying to create, well for me it would not happen via that route. It just happens when the whole package is right. And it just isn't with Monty. That X-Factor is simply not there. Carol has it,Alan has it,Toby has it,Chris Beardshaw has it & Christine Walkendon also has it, might i add. I met her once and she is lovely. Similar to Carol Klein in enthusiasm etc. I actuslly get lost with the G.World presentation as it is now, it's lost its soul. It is about feeling right as well as the mechanics & correct instruction not just about how it looks,camera close ups on well placed items etc. On Carols gardening series the only close-ups were of her hands-on perrenial dividing,seed collecting directly from flower heads and her garden robin-no products re brands. We got to hear the wind blowing, we were walking with her on her brick walkways, we were enjoying the chilly frosty early mornings & the stunning sunsets & almost holding her tulip net bags for her as she enthusiastically planted up her tulip pots etc etc and the music that was used was just right somehow-it all worked, basically because she was right-the pivotal pin within it.So all the rest simply & beautifully followed on. Interestingly i can remember so much from her series & likewise i can also from Chris Beardshaws' Flying Gardener series, which so inspired me re my north facing back garden, in his Winter Garden episode.I faithfully recreated some of his ideas & now have a garden that i love to wander in, on cold wintery days with a hot coffee in my hands to keep me warm, as there is plenty of evergreen structure & winter perfume to enjoy. These gardeners inspire & their instruction & ideas stay in the memory. That's not happening with the current g.world & i don't think it will. Sadly i do fall asleep watching it and cannot recall anything really, only what seems either a bit odd or I find myself thinking-"surely that's not right,is it?"

Well I hace given up Gardeners world. I listen to GQT and read any magazine that does not feature the amazingly silly Monty. I will return when they put a proper gardener on again.

I hgave been a Gardeners' World watcher back in the 90's when The late Geoff was a presenter. I started watching the program again when Toby was the presenter and I so much like his style, at last somebody who could also attract a younger audience. (He's talking about a "boys' thing last season" was great and finally my wife accepted this "boys' thing"). And now I try to get used to this Monty Don, but sorry...it's impossible. I don't like his style at all. Seems he feels as if he's the one and only who knows everything. His style of presenting is a very arrogant one, at least to me. Don't know how much longer I will be able to "cope" with him, but I'm afraid that I will stop watching the program. Don't know...he is so self confident about his superiority. I feel not comfortably when watching the program.

By the way...I also like Alys very much...and we named our youngest daughter Alys (6.5 months now) after her.

Only now I've started to read the other commentaries and I can only say that "307" expressed very much how I really do feel about this Monty Don...and I just know him from this years series!

Reluctantly watched GW on Friday because my husband, who is much more forgiving than I am, wanted it on. I have seen enough of the new series to decide that it is not for me. Monty was confidently instructing us to leave daffodils to go to seed and so spread themselves. Now, every gardening programme and gardening book I have ever consulted has advised dead-heading them to ensure that the strength goes back into the bulb and isn't wasted on seed production. Maybe Monty has good reason for advising against received wisdom and established practice, but surely he should explain why and justify his opinion when doing so? A typical example of the arrogance of which so many posters have been complaining!

I thought I would just give GW a go - did not want to as i liked toby and Alys so much. How ghastly can it get? Monty is pompous and arrogant. He gives astonishingly bad advice and is all over the media like a rash. Trouble with a rash is it usually irritates and he certainly irritates me. Why on earth did they get rid of Toby and fob us off with a very bad gardener. Awful show now and i will not be watching again.Is the BBC trying to kill the show off?

I've just finished reading some of the blogs since mine went in at (315). I can't comment on the programme content since my wife and I haven't watched GW since the first episode but it is obvious from what is being written that MD is still as unpopular as ever. I'd like to know how long the contract is between the BBC and MD. With luck it is for one year only, in which case we will see an end to this amateur in the not too distant future. If it's a two or three year contract, then at least we will have Alan to watch on ITV very soon. Chins up chaps. Enjoy the summer.

I would like to try and find out where Monty Don acquired his trench tool for planting potatoes. I have found one or two old relics of a similar nature in antique centres but will have one made to measure if i can establish the dimensions.