Monty gets a fee for presenting GW. I suspect that, plus spin off earnings for articles written for GW magazine, other magazines and newspapers and books related to his series on French, Italian and Round the World gardens are sufficient to pay for such a greenhouse without the Beeb having to pay a separate sum.
Either way, it's immaterial. AT made a fortune from his books on How To Be A Gardener which allowed him to buy a new house and garden which he'd always promised his wife would not be invaded by cameras.
GH took a punt and bought the land which allowed him to develop many gardens for GW and other series such as Paradise Gardens and The Ornamental Kitchen Gardens. Luckliy for him it worked and his fees from GW, articles and books helped pay for it. The difference was that GW was then produced by an independent company and sold to the Beeb.
With Monty's versions of GW, and the subsequent Greenacres fiasco with Toby, it's been a BBC team that produces and I still don't think they do it as well as the GH lot did nor as well as the outside company that produces Beechgrove.
I wish the Beeb would have the foresight and conviction to set up a national garden like Beechgrove which has the scope for various styles and sizes of garden within it plus trials beds and greenhouses and polytunnels and an acknowledged team of permanent gardeners who keep things going when the presenters are elsewhere doing their day job. I'm still waiting for Monty to introduce us to his team and give them credit.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I think what Obs says makes a lot of sense - and I'm sorry if I upset/annoyed you, DK - but there are always going to be aspects of the TV programme which irritate all or some of us at any one time. If it's Monty and his greenhouse this time for David, it was Joe with that i-pad (or whatever it was) that irritated me!
p.s. I really do respect your knowledge & opinions, DK, but can't always agree with you about everything! Ma.
As for the weather when the programme is being filmed - it's been so changeable hasn't it?
Last Monday we were in south Lincs in really really thick fog - we got home to Norfolk at about 3pm to find our home basking in sunshine, the neighbours said it had been like it all day.
Apparently it had been dry here the day before whereas in Lincs the rain had come down in stair-rods all day.
80 miles and what seemed like a season away
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Just had a thought - after last summer's continual deluge, maybe the director, camera crew and everyone else clubbed together for a big greenhouse to shelter in
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I watched Friday's broadcast and enjoyed it. I like Monty, Carol and Joe and think that they all bring something special to the show. That's what it is..it isn't a course at a horticultural college...it's entertainment. I love gardening but if I need to research a particular technique or plant then I look it up or ask another gardener.
GW manages to impart some knowledge and gives me ideas...but cannot be expected to go deeply into a subject in 30 minutes. I think that they do very well actually, give good advice in a friendly and non-patronising manner. It's inspiration more than anything that I get from the show...don't forget that they have to aim at a very broad audience....people who are just starting out, as well as enthusiasts.
It used to make us howl with laughter when Sarah (another great favourite of mine) used to make massive flower arrangements using huge euphorbias, delphiniums and verbena bonariensis...they looked stunning but would fill my living room completely. Cutting garden? in our house that's just the garden actually.... BUT I did take something from Sarah's time on GW...I grow a lot of the plants that she recommended and she's right...some of them do look stunning in a vase (altho I scale my arrangements down a tad and tbh the flowers look better in the ground)...
I love Monty's new GH and am jealous as a jealous thing...it's a fantasy GH as far as I'm concerned...good luck to him. I look forward to seeing what he does with it
I like The Beechgrove as well and have been watching it (on sky) for years. I would have thought that GW could stand a bit of competition....won't they overlap quite a bit?
I was away at the weekend so still haven't seen the infamous greenhouse, I'll be catching up later.
I would imagine that GW is pretty cheap telly and as Monty's garden is effectively the studio and the set it seems reasonable that there is some input from the BBC.
If you read GH's biography, written after his death by his brother and Gay Search, it is evident that he took a great personal risk in buying Barnsdale. He had to get a letter from the show's producer which said that he was effectively permanently employed (when he wasn't) and took on what was then a huge mortgage. No doubt his BBC fees and resultant earnings from books and other stuff meant he was comfortable later on. As a very popular and successful person who would begrudge him that. If people like Monty and buy his books the same applies.
Alan Titch must have a very effective manager as I notice he now has a range of seeds, tools and all sorts of other endorsements. I would question the ethics of someone who builds up their name and profile and then ruthlessly cashes in on it. On the other hand, how many of us would turn down the chance in the same circumstances?
GH lived in a different era. Given his popularity and the numbers who watched GW in the 80's and 90's he would have been a multi-millionairre with the same sort of marketing people AT has. Having read about him and read his books I don't think he would have been that bothered though.
Posts
Monty gets a fee for presenting GW. I suspect that, plus spin off earnings for articles written for GW magazine, other magazines and newspapers and books related to his series on French, Italian and Round the World gardens are sufficient to pay for such a greenhouse without the Beeb having to pay a separate sum.
Either way, it's immaterial. AT made a fortune from his books on How To Be A Gardener which allowed him to buy a new house and garden which he'd always promised his wife would not be invaded by cameras.
GH took a punt and bought the land which allowed him to develop many gardens for GW and other series such as Paradise Gardens and The Ornamental Kitchen Gardens. Luckliy for him it worked and his fees from GW, articles and books helped pay for it. The difference was that GW was then produced by an independent company and sold to the Beeb.
With Monty's versions of GW, and the subsequent Greenacres fiasco with Toby, it's been a BBC team that produces and I still don't think they do it as well as the GH lot did nor as well as the outside company that produces Beechgrove.
I wish the Beeb would have the foresight and conviction to set up a national garden like Beechgrove which has the scope for various styles and sizes of garden within it plus trials beds and greenhouses and polytunnels and an acknowledged team of permanent gardeners who keep things going when the presenters are elsewhere doing their day job. I'm still waiting for Monty to introduce us to his team and give them credit.
I think what Obs says makes a lot of sense - and I'm sorry if I upset/annoyed you, DK - but there are always going to be aspects of the TV programme which irritate all or some of us at any one time. If it's Monty and his greenhouse this time for David, it was Joe with that i-pad (or whatever it was) that irritated me!
p.s. I really do respect your knowledge & opinions, DK, but can't always agree with you about everything! Ma.
As for the weather when the programme is being filmed - it's been so changeable hasn't it?
Last Monday we were in south Lincs in really really thick fog - we got home to Norfolk at about 3pm to find our home basking in sunshine, the neighbours said it had been like it all day.
Apparently it had been dry here the day before whereas in Lincs the rain had come down in stair-rods all day.
80 miles and what seemed like a season away
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Just had a thought - after last summer's continual deluge, maybe the director, camera crew and everyone else clubbed together for a big greenhouse to shelter in
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Those colour combinations were wonderful - like painting with flowers
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Ma, I don't expect any little irritation aired about Monty Don will have any affect on the mutual respect we share.
I watched Friday's broadcast and enjoyed it. I like Monty, Carol and Joe and think that they all bring something special to the show. That's what it is..it isn't a course at a horticultural college...it's entertainment. I love gardening but if I need to research a particular technique or plant then I look it up or ask another gardener.
GW manages to impart some knowledge and gives me ideas...but cannot be expected to go deeply into a subject in 30 minutes. I think that they do very well actually, give good advice in a friendly and non-patronising manner. It's inspiration more than anything that I get from the show...don't forget that they have to aim at a very broad audience....people who are just starting out, as well as enthusiasts.
It used to make us howl with laughter when Sarah (another great favourite of mine) used to make massive flower arrangements using huge euphorbias, delphiniums and verbena bonariensis...they looked stunning but would fill my living room completely. Cutting garden? in our house that's just the garden actually....
BUT I did take something from Sarah's time on GW...I grow a lot of the plants that she recommended and she's right...some of them do look stunning in a vase (altho I scale my arrangements down a tad and tbh the flowers look better in the ground)...
I love Monty's new GH and am jealous as a jealous thing...it's a fantasy GH as far as I'm concerned...good luck to him. I look forward to seeing what he does with it
I like The Beechgrove as well and have been watching it (on sky) for years. I would have thought that GW could stand a bit of competition....won't they overlap quite a bit?
I was away at the weekend so still haven't seen the infamous greenhouse, I'll be catching up later.
I would imagine that GW is pretty cheap telly and as Monty's garden is effectively the studio and the set it seems reasonable that there is some input from the BBC.
If you read GH's biography, written after his death by his brother and Gay Search, it is evident that he took a great personal risk in buying Barnsdale. He had to get a letter from the show's producer which said that he was effectively permanently employed (when he wasn't) and took on what was then a huge mortgage. No doubt his BBC fees and resultant earnings from books and other stuff meant he was comfortable later on. As a very popular and successful person who would begrudge him that. If people like Monty and buy his books the same applies.
Alan Titch must have a very effective manager as I notice he now has a range of seeds, tools and all sorts of other endorsements. I would question the ethics of someone who builds up their name and profile and then ruthlessly cashes in on it. On the other hand, how many of us would turn down the chance in the same circumstances?
GH lived in a different era. Given his popularity and the numbers who watched GW in the 80's and 90's he would have been a multi-millionairre with the same sort of marketing people AT has. Having read about him and read his books I don't think he would have been that bothered though.
Pleaching his limes, Monty looked a bit precarious on top of those super duper step ladders you've bought for him.