Obelixx, they are tied to a tight schedule, they are having to take weather into consideration, and the Gardener I referred to was also in his own garden and made no secret out of showing his thoughts when guest gardeners appeared to plant in his garden. I would bet all of that came out. He said once, he got sick of pushing a spade into the ground many times whilst camera angles were altered and then finally he would get a hole dug, not as we would dig one straight in and out. When I was contacted they told me a Crew would arrive from London would spend one day with me?? One day it will only take half an hour to tell the story!!!! I wondered why the Lady on the phone laughed, It took them five and a half hours in two close together locations, they still wanted some more until my Daughter chipped in, "he is cold Hungry and fed up" the Director said enough, the camera man argued, the presenter asked me for a little more on tape, so we went back to the house and grasping a pie and pint of tea most of what was said then was dubbed onto the original tape. Working on a TV documentary is not easy plus I was not getting paid.
Monty and the crew are professionals used to filming schedules, angles and the like and with budgets and filming schedules to follow. It only takes a second to cut off a plant tie and another to tease out the roots. He should be doing it properly and explaining it properly because inexperienced gardeners will do as he did and then wonder why it fails to thrive.
It doesn't have to be a performance or a palaver.
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)."
It only takes a second to cut off a plant tie and another to tease out the roots. He should be doing it properly and explaining it properly because inexperienced gardeners will do as he did and then wonder why it fails to thrive.
I agree. The producers may think that they've shown teasing out of roots a hundred times before but they need to remember that new gardeners will be coming to GW for the first time. As Obelixx says, it only takes a few seconds to show what to do properly. This time could easily be recovered by reducing the long shots of Monty walking down a path, or the dogs playing with a ball.
I do suppose thinking about it, all us people who never made a mistake in our lives (pause for long belly laughs) cannot understand some one trying to do his job to the best of his ability being hassled and harried by a diverse crew each wishing to shine in his her own light sometimes getting it wrong. a long day, camera people more interested in what the dogs are up, I did notice they cut to a dog when Monty was speaking, trying to stick to e pre-ordained script , things are bound to get missed and the people who cut and splice the finished half hour would not notice as they do not have to be gardeners, just make a pleasant half hour that will keep the Audience half asleep. Of course there will always be the eagle eyed among us who spot the deliberate mistake, (here I must admit I missed it), the rest of the vast number of viewers probably just saw, dig a hole drop it in and water, as I admit I did apart from thinking that is in the wrong place I would not have put it there but "hey" that is me. BBC make some right bloomers in News and Educational programmes, last weeks chaos being for me a huge mistake all round from the news point of view, then we are all different. At least we are not in a huge muddy field with a Presenter who did not look after his tools or water in, well it was muddy, or use it to the utmost as they could well have done. OK I will get my coat.
Thing is Frank, they set MD up as the nation's favourite gardener and a guru. He can make big mistakes when trying something new - we all can and should extend our limits of knowledge and experience - but not something so basic and so every day for a professional gardening presenter.
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)."
True Obelixx, I think Monty was pushed into the position though, I have some of his books and he never claimed to be the expert in fact says he did learn much from his travels. In the opening Speel on my few minutes of fame with a couple more, you would have thought us experts on the subject we were not, we each told it as we saw it at the time and how we felt, discussing it later we all thought it over the top and not our doing, I wonder how Monty feels sometimes.
He's been writing gardening books and columns for decades. He's been presenting gardening on TV for decades. He surely isn't so naive that he thinks people don't expect him to know what he's talking about.
He should get the basics right and this was basic.
He can do it. His performance on the BIg Dreams series this year was so much better than previous years with sympathetic handling and understanding of the people concerned and some good ideas and guidance for their gardens.
Maybe he doesn't think about the basics any more. Too mundane?
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)."
Maybe it's nothing more complicated than vanity ... he wears his specs for sowing seeds ... maybe, like me, he needs to wear them for dealing with slightly bigger things too nowadays?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
Maybe he's waiting for someone to tell him not to leave plant ties buried, and it's a good idea to tease out roots???
Just a thought.
Obelixx, they are tied to a tight schedule, they are having to take weather into consideration, and the Gardener I referred to was also in his own garden and made no secret out of showing his thoughts when guest gardeners appeared to plant in his garden. I would bet all of that came out. He said once, he got sick of pushing a spade into the ground many times whilst camera angles were altered and then finally he would get a hole dug, not as we would dig one straight in and out. When I was contacted they told me a Crew would arrive from London would spend one day with me?? One day it will only take half an hour to tell the story!!!! I wondered why the Lady on the phone laughed, It took them five and a half hours in two close together locations, they still wanted some more until my Daughter chipped in, "he is cold Hungry and fed up" the Director said enough, the camera man argued, the presenter asked me for a little more on tape, so we went back to the house and grasping a pie and pint of tea most of what was said then was dubbed onto the original tape. Working on a TV documentary is not easy plus I was not getting paid.
Frank.
Monty and the crew are professionals used to filming schedules, angles and the like and with budgets and filming schedules to follow. It only takes a second to cut off a plant tie and another to tease out the roots. He should be doing it properly and explaining it properly because inexperienced gardeners will do as he did and then wonder why it fails to thrive.
It doesn't have to be a performance or a palaver.
I agree. The producers may think that they've shown teasing out of roots a hundred times before but they need to remember that new gardeners will be coming to GW for the first time. As Obelixx says, it only takes a few seconds to show what to do properly. This time could easily be recovered by reducing the long shots of Monty walking down a path, or the dogs playing with a ball.
I do suppose thinking about it, all us people who never made a mistake in our lives (pause for long belly laughs) cannot understand some one trying to do his job to the best of his ability being hassled and harried by a diverse crew each wishing to shine in his her own light sometimes getting it wrong. a long day, camera people more interested in what the dogs are up, I did notice they cut to a dog when Monty was speaking, trying to stick to e pre-ordained script , things are bound to get missed and the people who cut and splice the finished half hour would not notice as they do not have to be gardeners, just make a pleasant half hour that will keep the Audience half asleep. Of course there will always be the eagle eyed among us who spot the deliberate mistake, (here I must admit I missed it), the rest of the vast number of viewers probably just saw, dig a hole drop it in and water, as I admit I did apart from thinking that is in the wrong place I would not have put it there but "hey" that is me. BBC make some right bloomers in News and Educational programmes, last weeks chaos being for me a huge mistake all round from the news point of view, then we are all different. At least we are not in a huge muddy field with a Presenter who did not look after his tools or water in, well it was muddy, or use it to the utmost as they could well have done. OK I will get my coat.
Frank.
Thing is Frank, they set MD up as the nation's favourite gardener and a guru. He can make big mistakes when trying something new - we all can and should extend our limits of knowledge and experience - but not something so basic and so every day for a professional gardening presenter.
True Obelixx, I think Monty was pushed into the position though, I have some of his books and he never claimed to be the expert in fact says he did learn much from his travels. In the opening Speel on my few minutes of fame with a couple more, you would have thought us experts on the subject we were not, we each told it as we saw it at the time and how we felt, discussing it later we all thought it over the top and not our doing, I wonder how Monty feels sometimes.
Frank.
He's been writing gardening books and columns for decades. He's been presenting gardening on TV for decades. He surely isn't so naive that he thinks people don't expect him to know what he's talking about.
He should get the basics right and this was basic.
He can do it. His performance on the BIg Dreams series this year was so much better than previous years with sympathetic handling and understanding of the people concerned and some good ideas and guidance for their gardens.
Maybe he doesn't think about the basics any more. Too mundane?
Maybe it's nothing more complicated than vanity ... he wears his specs for sowing seeds ... maybe, like me, he needs to wear them for dealing with slightly bigger things too nowadays?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Frank may well be right. He might have done it all but the editor left it out to make room for the weather forecast
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”