Having read all of the above, the futility of attempting to please all of the people all of the time springs to mind
Quite
Monty is a journalist and writer and an amateur gardener. Personally I think that makes him a good 'link' presenter - he never gives one the impression that only people with a horticultural qualification should attempt to grow things (unlike one of the previous presenters). GW is a programme aimed at amateurs, so having someone in a lead role who doesn't know everything but still has a very attractive garden (albeit not to everyone's taste) is a Good Thing.
Whilst I concede that his poor advice on (for example) his tree fern recently is probably not great, I'd also say that anyone who has a tree fern probably knows what they are doing and doesn't look to MD for advice. I'd be more inclined to question why he talks about it at all really, it's a bit 'niche' for the UK. But then he is probably just following his enthusiasms, as he does.
It is very apparent that the more experienced you are as a gardener, the more your 'taste' in the presenters shifts, from those that are just enthusing without telling you much (Flo) to those that are trying to convey some of the more technical stuff (Carol). I'm struggling a bit to know who finds the Mark Lane sections useful - they seem a bit 'stating the blindingly obvious' to me, but that may be just where I am in my gardening experience.
To those wanting a bit more hands on how to do stuff, I suggest you watch Beechgrove.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Don’t know, I went off the programme when it went to an hour, as you say, too much ‘other stuff’. If I want to visit other gardens, I can do that. Maybe some people cN5 though, so it would be good for them. Do they still do a weather forecast, and have they told us anything different.
No, they quietly stopped doing the weather. I'm still learning new stuff and seeing plants I've not 'met' before, but then I'm a relatively inexperienced gardener. And I can't visit gardens because I have dogs, hardly anywhere will let me take them and I won't leave them in the car.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Once again this week he was planting from pots and made no attempt to tease out any of the roots first. I thought that was standard practice with any plant, or at least good practice.
I wish thar occasionally he would go back and tell you what to do next when he shows something, for example last year he planted a climbing rose, which he has never been back to show how it's getting on and how you should tie in the new growth. I appreciate that we can have different levels of experience so often it may be teaching your grandmother to suck eggs but if nothing else this forum demonstrates the need for clear consise information for new gardeners
The problem is that bbc needs to cater to the masses. If you get a classical or priffesionaly trained gardner to present gw most of what they say will be lost on most people as they are unlikely to have the presentation and or likeability of MD.
I take MD for what he is a likeable garden journalist with a passion for gardening.
Think about like this we could have mark lane or joe swift as the main presenter.....shudders
I get bored by the new garden designs where you can guess that they have just gone to the local nursery and bunged in a load of acers and flowering plant etc etc that are not really a balanced garden for the future. I learn lots from the interviews with people with established gardens and do like Monty - its his enthusiasm and genuiness that wins it for me - very hard to pull of when looking at a machine I imagine
I remember him planting some lavenders a few years ago, and lining the planting area with rubble, bits of brick etc. To my knowledge he has never done a follow up. I would be interested to know how they turned out.
I remember him planting some lavenders a few years ago, and lining the planting area with rubble, bits of brick etc. To my knowledge he has never done a follow up. I would be interested to know how they turned out.
They're not there any more, so I guess they died. I remember when he did that " preparation" and saying to my Hubby, " all that rubble is just going to act as a sump for all the excess water around which will find its way there and not drain any further"
Posts
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Monty is a journalist and writer and an amateur gardener. Personally I think that makes him a good 'link' presenter - he never gives one the impression that only people with a horticultural qualification should attempt to grow things (unlike one of the previous presenters). GW is a programme aimed at amateurs, so having someone in a lead role who doesn't know everything but still has a very attractive garden (albeit not to everyone's taste) is a Good Thing.
Whilst I concede that his poor advice on (for example) his tree fern recently is probably not great, I'd also say that anyone who has a tree fern probably knows what they are doing and doesn't look to MD for advice. I'd be more inclined to question why he talks about it at all really, it's a bit 'niche' for the UK. But then he is probably just following his enthusiasms, as he does.
It is very apparent that the more experienced you are as a gardener, the more your 'taste' in the presenters shifts, from those that are just enthusing without telling you much (Flo) to those that are trying to convey some of the more technical stuff (Carol). I'm struggling a bit to know who finds the Mark Lane sections useful - they seem a bit 'stating the blindingly obvious' to me, but that may be just where I am in my gardening experience.
To those wanting a bit more hands on how to do stuff, I suggest you watch Beechgrove.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I appreciate that we can have different levels of experience so often it may be teaching your grandmother to suck eggs but if nothing else this forum demonstrates the need for clear consise information for new gardeners
I take MD for what he is a likeable garden journalist with a passion for gardening.
Think about like this we could have mark lane or joe swift as the main presenter.....shudders
I remember when he did that " preparation" and saying to my Hubby, " all that rubble is just going to act as a sump for all the excess water around which will find its way there and not drain any further"