I've just finished watching back to back editions of Gardeners' World and Beechgrove and have to say (IMHO) GW was very much second best in terms of what most people I know are looking for in a gardening program......well done Beechgrove!
Believe me Marinelilium...as I'm getting on in years and with disability and illness in the family at a reasonably young age (50's) - I would love to find myself in a cottage in the country with a flower and herb garden taking years to mature and develop things in relative quiet and relaxation. (Another favourite book of mine is Geoff Hamiltons Cottage Gardens which I read with longing on rainy days again and again.) But as with everything, we have to adapt to what is going on around us and everything in life seems to be a bit of a contradiction these days. Being in Scotland, I've watched Beechgrove since I was a child - watched it with my parents and it became a habit before I had any kind of garden. We are such an expanded population these days and in some ways grow farther apart or closer in some directions and then back again. Gardening sometimes seems to have been hijacked in ways we maybe don't like...and we lose some of the things close to our heart and make do or just strive to adapt and take whatever pleasure we can from things in life. But when we look at our own gardens, the glass is absolutely full with every ounce of pleasure we make for ourselves. The enthusiasm for everything is evident in forums like this. We are lucky. But I do understand everyone's feelings about the programme. We do need more gardening programmes and I really believe that gardening is one of the activities, physical and psychological which holds us together as a nation and as human beings. Look how gardeners communicate. Fabulous!
I skipped the last few long posts on this topic, but I shall admit I raised my eyebrows at the £700 heated mat, but don't forget in the very same show, Monty recommended us all head to the garden centres now to get primroses at reduced prices as they've stopped flowering, and then in a few years time you'd get many, many more plants out of that one little bargain... He does offer us money saving tips for those like myself, who are total novices, as well as those who take things more seriously.
Gardeners world has to cater to a lot of people, on a very specific topic, gardening. I think overall he does a great job. I just watched the great british garden revival, his own section being on wildflowers which was so much more informative than GW, but he got to talk at length about a specific topic, and how you can achieve it on a modest, and a grand scale.
Exactly SweetPea!! The Primroses feature shows Monty is aware of his audience. As he was dividing a clump of them,he held up a plant and said it could cost you as much as a fiver at a GC...and that dividing them was a way of getting free plants instead. No doubt he's dictated to by the programme makers to include more 'up market' gardens,but to claim he doesn't cater for less wealthy gardeners is in my humble opinion,inaccurate.
lol it may sound like I'm being paid as Monty Don's PR consultant,but I genuinely think he's a decent,honest kind of bloke trying to please all of the people all of the time
I think there is generally something of interest for me in any GW programme. It's certainly more relevant to the average gardener than Top Gear is for the average driver!
I do think that on occasion things are said on GW without thinking about how the comment will be perceived. This week Monty referred to his small greenhouse and then the shot revealed on which would probably be bigger than the average modern garden.
I do like the absolutely down-to-earth presentation on Beechgrove Garden but was irritated today when watching it to realise that they don't put captions up when showing plants. The section in question was one about plants for N, E, S & W facings fences. My hearing isn't great at times and I struggled to catch the names.
Posts
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I've just finished watching back to back editions of Gardeners' World and Beechgrove and have to say (IMHO) GW was very much second best in terms of what most people I know are looking for in a gardening program......well done Beechgrove!
Believe me Marinelilium...as I'm getting on in years and with disability and illness in the family at a reasonably young age (50's) - I would love to find myself in a cottage in the country with a flower and herb garden taking years to mature and develop things in relative quiet and relaxation. (Another favourite book of mine is Geoff Hamiltons Cottage Gardens which I read with longing on rainy days again and again.) But as with everything, we have to adapt to what is going on around us and everything in life seems to be a bit of a contradiction these days. Being in Scotland, I've watched Beechgrove since I was a child - watched it with my parents and it became a habit before I had any kind of garden. We are such an expanded population these days and in some ways grow farther apart or closer in some directions and then back again. Gardening sometimes seems to have been hijacked in ways we maybe don't like...and we lose some of the things close to our heart and make do or just strive to adapt and take whatever pleasure we can from things in life. But when we look at our own gardens, the glass is absolutely full with every ounce of pleasure we make for ourselves. The enthusiasm for everything is evident in forums like this. We are lucky. But I do understand everyone's feelings about the programme. We do need more gardening programmes and I really believe that gardening is one of the activities, physical and psychological which holds us together as a nation and as human beings. Look how gardeners communicate. Fabulous!
I did the same David and quite agree. I found my mind wandering during GW but not so during Beechgrove.
Goodness, opinions have certainly been stirred again!
Well said Scott (07.52) Marimelilium(09.54) Yarrow2 (09.55)
Let's keep things in gardening perspective
I skipped the last few long posts on this topic, but I shall admit I raised my eyebrows at the £700 heated mat, but don't forget in the very same show, Monty recommended us all head to the garden centres now to get primroses at reduced prices as they've stopped flowering, and then in a few years time you'd get many, many more plants out of that one little bargain... He does offer us money saving tips for those like myself, who are total novices, as well as those who take things more seriously.
Gardeners world has to cater to a lot of people, on a very specific topic, gardening. I think overall he does a great job. I just watched the great british garden revival, his own section being on wildflowers which was so much more informative than GW, but he got to talk at length about a specific topic, and how you can achieve it on a modest, and a grand scale.
lol it may sound like I'm being paid as Monty Don's PR consultant,but I genuinely think he's a decent,honest kind of bloke trying to please all of the people all of the time
I think there is generally something of interest for me in any GW programme. It's certainly more relevant to the average gardener than Top Gear is for the average driver!
I do think that on occasion things are said on GW without thinking about how the comment will be perceived. This week Monty referred to his small greenhouse and then the shot revealed on which would probably be bigger than the average modern garden.
I do like the absolutely down-to-earth presentation on Beechgrove Garden but was irritated today when watching it to realise that they don't put captions up when showing plants. The section in question was one about plants for N, E, S & W facings fences. My hearing isn't great at times and I struggled to catch the names.
Beechgrove provides a factsheet which can be downloaded each week so you can check plant names.