I think there must be so much competition of interest and deciding what to have on a tv programme must be a huge dilemma for any producer. I have a small city garden but lean towards cottage garden choices in most of my plants and do the garden myself. However, in these times of varying levels of austerity, I do notice daily the number of garden related commercial vehicles passing by and note that a huge number of people(new house buyers) take advantage of employing garden design people and plant companies to 'make' their gardens or do annual maintenance for them. The housing market seems to be a huge trigger with so many 'buy to let' companies for whom a huge selling factor is 'the look' of the garden. But, I am five minutes away from the botanical gardens and therefore a lot of the gardens nearby are furnished with plants from their shop...and plants which we all know will grow in this area. A half hour drive away are some really good specialist plant nurseries as well as your large B&Q's and so forth. I also notice that even on tv programmes you will hear someone say I have a very small garden but quote the size in acres! When you watch tv programmes where someone is helping people to find new houses around the uk, most of them have substantial gardens and an awful lot of the couples participating complain that the number of acres of the garden they are looking for is too small. So the impression tends to be given that there are a huge number of potential buyers these days who are indeed looking for and buying properties with larger gardens.
My answer to my own little gardening dilemmas is regular visits to the charity bookshops where you can find practically any gardening book from any era for as little as 25p and they tend to be the basis of my experiments in my own little garden. Or the library where I used to borrow Alys Fowler's book on budget gardening several times a year and I have a lovely collection of very very old traditional gardening books where annuals such as nemesia (my dad's favourite) and plants for small gardens were discussed in great detail, unlike in more modern books where many of the old annuals have disappeared into obscurity and don't get a mention. With available books and the internet - it must be a nightmare deciding what to include in a television programme which would provide consistent interest for the entire population.
I love them all. When you read Carol's, Monty's, Titchmarsh's or any other past or present presenter's books - where they have had time to express their own thoughts, it's great reading and you can read what they would never have the opportunity or be given the time to express on a tv programme.
It's all good news to me. Beechgrove of course is good for me as it's in Scotland and they very much present with a view to our contradictory and undependable Scottish weather. And I like how they give examples of simple bedding plants etc which the 'posh' programmes completely ignore.
But, I love it all. My little three-tier plastic greenhouse keeps me happy enough and I learn from everywhere, particularly this forum. And I do like to see the big gardens etc on tv for escapism and joy of seeing any kind of plants. For me it's just a case of using imagination and scaling down - sometime scaling down to practically zero!
I love visiting gardens on Open Garden days and always find that it is one of the smaller gardens that completely blows me away. I know that the owner has not simply paid a designer to create their garden or gone to the garden centre with a blank chequer but has put their heart and soul into their little bit of paradise. That always inspires me and I wish Gardeners World would include more of these in the programme rather almost always the larger gardens.
It's been interesting to follow this debate. Although GW (Monty) only occasionally provides tips that I can I can make use of, it's still a pleasure to watch something for half an hour that doesn't include sex, murder or war!
To be honest I watch any gardening programme! I,m much newer than many of forum members so I do find helpful tips on most things, but do wish thee was more step by step advice and more info on plants and 'normal' gardens
Geoffrey Smith, Percy Thrower, I grew up with and loved . For me its partly what Beechgrove has over GW, that comforting fatherly advice that makes me think I can do this.
Cant say i agree with you there Verdun.. Long Meadow is very herbaceous (if that makes sense) in design and is just well established. I think the one thing it trys to emphasise is that gardening is not an instant thing and you should plan way ahead and propagate to fill in the future. I never associate it with the impact gardening that Lord Alan T seemed to indulge in not only during his run on GW but then ever since.
Longmeadow is also nicely split into seasonal rooms which should mean there's also something to see. However where I do agree is that the whole format now seems to have lost its way and seems incapable of getting this across because of its current silly format.
Far to many silly articles from the other presenters that have at times little to do with gardening and just seem to be dull fillers.. Im guessing now they only spend one day at Longmeadow and the result seems to be getting Monty doing something that will crudely link into these fillers.
Posts
I think there must be so much competition of interest and deciding what to have on a tv programme must be a huge dilemma for any producer. I have a small city garden but lean towards cottage garden choices in most of my plants and do the garden myself. However, in these times of varying levels of austerity, I do notice daily the number of garden related commercial vehicles passing by and note that a huge number of people(new house buyers) take advantage of employing garden design people and plant companies to 'make' their gardens or do annual maintenance for them. The housing market seems to be a huge trigger with so many 'buy to let' companies for whom a huge selling factor is 'the look' of the garden. But, I am five minutes away from the botanical gardens and therefore a lot of the gardens nearby are furnished with plants from their shop...and plants which we all know will grow in this area. A half hour drive away are some really good specialist plant nurseries as well as your large B&Q's and so forth. I also notice that even on tv programmes you will hear someone say I have a very small garden but quote the size in acres! When you watch tv programmes where someone is helping people to find new houses around the uk, most of them have substantial gardens and an awful lot of the couples participating complain that the number of acres of the garden they are looking for is too small. So the impression tends to be given that there are a huge number of potential buyers these days who are indeed looking for and buying properties with larger gardens.
My answer to my own little gardening dilemmas is regular visits to the charity bookshops where you can find practically any gardening book from any era for as little as 25p and they tend to be the basis of my experiments in my own little garden. Or the library where I used to borrow Alys Fowler's book on budget gardening several times a year and I have a lovely collection of very very old traditional gardening books where annuals such as nemesia (my dad's favourite) and plants for small gardens were discussed in great detail, unlike in more modern books where many of the old annuals have disappeared into obscurity and don't get a mention. With available books and the internet - it must be a nightmare deciding what to include in a television programme which would provide consistent interest for the entire population.
I love them all. When you read Carol's, Monty's, Titchmarsh's or any other past or present presenter's books - where they have had time to express their own thoughts, it's great reading and you can read what they would never have the opportunity or be given the time to express on a tv programme.
It's all good news to me. Beechgrove of course is good for me as it's in Scotland and they very much present with a view to our contradictory and undependable Scottish weather. And I like how they give examples of simple bedding plants etc which the 'posh' programmes completely ignore.
But, I love it all. My little three-tier plastic greenhouse keeps me happy enough and I learn from everywhere, particularly this forum. And I do like to see the big gardens etc on tv for escapism and joy of seeing any kind of plants. For me it's just a case of using imagination and scaling down - sometime scaling down to practically zero!
I love visiting gardens on Open Garden days and always find that it is one of the smaller gardens that completely blows me away. I know that the owner has not simply paid a designer to create their garden or gone to the garden centre with a blank chequer but has put their heart and soul into their little bit of paradise. That always inspires me and I wish Gardeners World would include more of these in the programme rather almost always the larger gardens.
I didn't know that. Thanks very much.
totally agree scott
I agree with you, Verdun.
It's been interesting to follow this debate. Although GW (Monty) only occasionally provides tips that I can I can make use of, it's still a pleasure to watch something for half an hour that doesn't include sex, murder or war!
To be honest I watch any gardening programme! I,m much newer than many of forum members so I do find helpful tips on most things, but do wish thee was more step by step advice and more info on plants and 'normal' gardens
Geoffrey Smith, Percy Thrower, I grew up with and loved . For me its partly what Beechgrove has over GW, that comforting fatherly advice that makes me think I can do this.
Cant say i agree with you there Verdun.. Long Meadow is very herbaceous (if that makes sense) in design and is just well established. I think the one thing it trys to emphasise is that gardening is not an instant thing and you should plan way ahead and propagate to fill in the future. I never associate it with the impact gardening that Lord Alan T seemed to indulge in not only during his run on GW but then ever since.
Longmeadow is also nicely split into seasonal rooms which should mean there's also something to see. However where I do agree is that the whole format now seems to have lost its way and seems incapable of getting this across because of its current silly format.
Far to many silly articles from the other presenters that have at times little to do with gardening and just seem to be dull fillers.. Im guessing now they only spend one day at Longmeadow and the result seems to be getting Monty doing something that will crudely link into these fillers.