The first Gardeners' World - Page 4

I must agree with Verdun. I don't have room for great swathes with  long paths and hedges seperating them, I need to know what's going to look good in small groups close together in a garden which has to look attractive all year round.  

I enjoyed GW on Friday- and managed to stay awake! I usually fall asleep in it (I think it's due to being Friday, relaxing etc). So, I'm not sure if it's a compliment or not, that I managed to watch it all. I'm just hoping that they do include some simple, cheap ideas as well, as others have said- not sure I can dig 2-3 ft and lay the sort of path Monty had, even though it looked good.

Toby was not to bad. It was Joes allotment that really brought the show down.

square foot wrote (see)

Toby was not to bad. It was Joes allotment that really brought the show down.

was that the same allotment that was abandoned by him once the filming stopped? Talking of abandoned stuff, remember 'greenacre' that toby and the crew were planting up? It isn't very far from me, like a mile or so, and when the Beeb decided to reboot GW they just abandoned the whole damn lot, lovely waste of money there!

http://www.amateurgardening.com/home/horticultural-vandalism-gardeners-world-garden-greenacre-goes-to-seed/

Such a shame, and that greenhouse was lovely too, maybe I should make them an offer!

BrummieBen

It is a shame I like all the small gardens front and back and veg plot it was all looking lovely and would of kept growing nicely

That is a terrible article they should make it a community garden or something not take it all apart. I liked Toby really liked watching them all there.

Maybe they need to use the garden and get new gardeners in and make another garden show maybe call something like - The gardening bug

Apparently (according to Amateur Gardening) Greenacre has now been resurrected as an urban veg growing project. I love the idea of using it as the basis of a new gardening programme. Perhaps Toby Buckland should be the presenter!

verdun highly doubtful since good gardeners and good garden tv do not always go together.

This is undoubtedly true, square foot. Popular appeal obviously counts for a lot, since viewing numbers are all-important for the survival of a programme. Toby was just not flamboyant enough and he was also the victim of other things, such as the fact that Joe's allotment was (apparently, I could not watch much that year) not popular and the format of the programme was not up to Toby, either. He's a good gardener though, and I like him and wish he had a niche somewhere.

Any suggestions regarding new topics/presenters for GW?

maybe they should try tyre planters, I have it would be enjoyable to watch them trying to turn them inside out don't you think

How about a five minute segment for more experienced gardeners?

The gardening channel folded because of lack of advertising. Presumably, advertisers don't think enough people watch them and that might be enough to put off ITV.

I'm repeating things I've said on other threads here but there seems to be a consistent theme emerging, so here goes;

When GW moved to Monty's country estate a great deal was made of the value of it being the presenter's "own" garden, as opposed to a created one like Greenacre.  This is entirely bogus in my opinion.

The GW garden should feel as if it belongs to us (as licence payers it arguably does!).  As someone else says, Monty doesn't even like other presenters in his garden, so we are really there under sufferance!

Most (not everyone I admit) seem to admire Geoff Hamilton and Barnsdale, I certainly do.  However, Barnsdale was no more Geoff's personal garden than Greenacre was Toby's.  It was created on agricultural land adjacent to Geoff's house and garden.  It was very much a "set" as any visitor will readily appreciate.  That is however no criticism, Barnsdale is inspirational because it focuses on small and diverse settings, which show what can be achieved in an average person's back garden.

The point is that it isn't about where the garden is, or whther it is the presenter's "personal" garden. What matters is their approach, ability to communicate and inspire and their empathy with people with average sized gardens, limited time and money. Geoff did it, Alan T to a lesser extent and Toby brought it back to earth (pardon the pun) once again  There seems to be a disconnect now between GW and this ethos, increasingly featuring large gardens but failing to translate it to smaller spaces. It's like one of those really posh gardening magazines rather than the weekly ones with the free seeds which most of us buy.

I find Monty very watchable but I don't feel the urge to rush out and start doing the things he does in my little plot.  Every time I watch Geoff I immediately see how I can achieve what he is doing.

GW was a bit embarrasing when it went to 1 hour with Toby as the new presenter.  They tried to make it like Top Gear for gardeners, which was never going to work.  Once they brought it back to a more familiar format I really liked Toby and thought that bringing back Monty was a victory for the sort of people who write to their MP when "Womens' Hour" is moved to a different time slot on Radio 4..

I think Beechgrove going national will give GW a kick in the pants, I hope so. 

There have been other programmes recently.One thing that no-one mentions is Alan Titch's recent ITV "gardening" programmes, which were pretty grim, a sort of Ground Force dumbed down (if that is possible) and the BBC one last year with Joe, Phil Tuffnell and Anneka Rice which was even worse.  OK, so they were entertainment and for worthy causes rather than primarily gardening programmes.  It just goes to show that however good the presenters the format needs to be right too.  

There is a saying " you can't please all of the people, all of the time " or words to that effect.

I find nothing wrong with the programmes format, whether it was at greenacres, gretna green or at jersey.  ( yeh, I'm taking the water ) Nor do/did I have a problem with any of its presenters - daft, petty things like that don't bother me in this world of s***.

I take from the programme the information it gives and create my own ideas through it.

Example,

Monty Don lays a path. There is 20 thousand ways of laying a path, it is a 30 min programme, only one example can be shown, he does it his way.

You like the path, but don't like how it was done. HELLOOOO, research and find an alternative on the internet - the outcome will still be the same. Long gone are the days when research was only limited to the books in the library. The WWW is a marvelously bit of technology.

I used to work in catering and you would always get people saying, don't like your choice of pizzas. Yet. On the menu was a make your own topping !! Says it all.

I couldn't bear Tony B's presenting style or his lackof care and repsct for plants and tools.  I also thought Greenacres itself was ill conceived and most of his projects like that pond stack and the fake front gardens were risible.

Barsndale may not have been Geoff H's own back garden but he made all the different sites within it feel as though they were and showed planting styles and designs that were do-able or adaptable by most people however large or small their plot.

AT bought extra land to accommodate new projects for GW and, whilsts most have us have neither funds nor space for a grove of tree ferns, he did other projects which were adaptable and informative.

I really do feel that Monty is not, and never has been, in touch with ordinary gardening mortals and the amount of time, money and psace they have so his gardnen projects do not lend themseves to ordinary gardens even when the advice is sound.

This new series has not yet got me excited about gardening again when the weather improves which is pretty damming given how long it's been sicne I could get out there.

Beechgrove is, like Barnsdale, laid out as a series of smaller themed gardens and it has a veggie plot with normal and raised beds plus polytunnels and greenhouses so they can show all the different planting and care techniques and the advantages of each.   They also have trial beds, give good practical info, ackowledge the gardening team behind the show and there's a fact sheet too.

GW - look to your laurels!

Just saw Friday's GW on catch-up tv this morning.  Thought it was fabulous.  Lots packed in there, happy relaxed looking presenters and plants, plants, plants. The couple with the fabulous garden in Cornwall was really uplifting as well.  Rock on GW - it hit my spot bang on.

Meant to say about the earlier programme and the subject of Monty's path.  Thought it was an amazing path and a brilliant job.  It must have been heartbreaking coping with the extent of the flooding which had been shown in the photographs in the programme.  I have a tiny garden with difficult path drainage problems and although all my digging and gardening is done with very basic tools and is a solitary interest - I'm inspired now to get to grips with my temporary paths and get down to a deeper dig and fight the drainage problem.  Har har!

I am afraid that I have always had an issue with MD...I just don't like his style of presenting. I admit that I have been spoilt by Percy, Aurthur, Geoffrey, Geoff,Alan(in his earlier incarnation only),Toby and a succession of ol' boys on the radio. All of them were good blokes who you wanted to meet in the pub afterwards, and gardeners to their roots. The acid test is who would you want working alongside you in your own garden? At present Carol can come and help me as can Rachel, and that is not intended tp be a sexist comment. In the last series MD had to own up to several "failures". A few years ago the very sound of the introductory music was an inspiration and the start of a must watch programme. Now I am underwhelmed and if I miss it it doesn't really matter. What a shame.