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.
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.
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?”
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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?”
Well I’m off up to the plot now with my night visions specs, have a good day all