Gardeners’ World

[Neverknowinglyunderbold]

Will there be a 2023 series?

What gardening programmes are you watching now?

I attained that pattern independently as a result of over 40 years of gardening.
That's my gripe. You always feel that you too could have a garden like Monty's (for example his fantastic soil, in which he can plant anything) ... if only you had started 40 years ago!
It's not like most people's gardens which are designed around being sociable (lawn, seating, patio/terrace, etc).

I liked gardeners world when I was just starting to learn but it's a lot of the same to me now. I sometimes still watch just to find out what Monty is up to because he's just down the road from me so we have the same weather and temperatures.

I prefer the YouTubers for fun, Plot37, Emma's allotment Diaries, Homegrown Garden. What Vivi did next and Dainty Diaries are a bit more than just gardening as they show some more hobbies like sewing and general homelife stuff too.

Not getting the “ it’s Monty’s World” thing. They show viewers’ gardens every week which I like and also visit other interesting gardens and allotments. I love seeing Monty’s pad, it’s so peaceful, the garden of dreams. How to look after a dahlia isn’t going to differ if you have a Longmeadow type garden or a scratched out suburban garden.His dogs are better behaved gardening dogs than ours though.

I loved that series, always felt it was underrated and such a good idea. It was presented by Geoff Hamilton and Gay Search.

Don’t think it was ever repeated, I fortunately have the DVD, bought many years ago so don’t imagine it’s still available.

Me too . I loved that show

Also Down the garden path

@senua I expressed myself badly here. I didn't mean it would take 40 years to make a garden. I meant it's taken me 40 years to think about and refine a gardening philosophy. Over that period it's been my career as a garden writer and journalist as well as making and maintaining a large garden which (like Longmeadow) has been a career resource. Most people don't need a gardening philosophy other than practicality.
I think you can have a good garden in a couple of seasons but most people are more transitory and aren't going to wait for Monty's yew topiary nor plant trees that take 20 years to flower.
Of course I have what are known in Scotland as 'sitooteries' - terraces, play areas and barbecues. It's just that I haven't made them the starting point when laying out the garden, and, because its' large, they don't dominate. Got to take the outdoor consumption of alcohol into account whatever the garden style.
@Ca1mingC1arySag3 Completely agree with this. I think the point about GW is that it encourages people to take an extra step. Fabulous plants and delicious veg aren't just for the privileged few but for anyone who wants to have a go. It's as easy to grow something amazing as to settle for bog-standard garden centre offerings. And that's really obvious with some of the viewers' gardens. For me and for Monty it's all about making fantasy worlds and that seems as good a starting point as any.

I love Beechgrove and the BBC radio Hereford and Worcester gardening program on Sunday afternoons. (Despite living nowhere near there.)

I see Longmeadow as a collection of gardens, so people will identify with one part or several parts of it. I think Monty has great enthusiasm for gardening and it makes me want to get out and sort out my wasteland. He gives great ideas and suggestions and doesn't hide the plans that don't work.

Most people don't need a gardening philosophy other than practicality.
This is it. It's great to be Monty: to have the acreage, potting sheds, cavernous glasshouses, time and money to create a fantastic garden. But I don't have that.
I think the thing that jars the most is the absence of lawns, which is a large component of the majority of peoples' gardens.

I find The Middle Sized Garden much more relatable.

I think most magazines/programmes and so on are binning lawn advice. Not great for eco-diversity and as a result out of fashion. I have wide grass paths but no lawn despite the size of my garden; pretty usual these days. I know very many gardeners of all levels of commitment and don't know anybody who has the sort of lawn my father fussed over.
The problem is that wild flower areas are being pushed instead and, unless you garden on an actual South Down, they're not easy to set up and manage. They can be more time-consuming that the original high maintenance lawn in fact. I only have a tiny greenhouse as well, so Monty's greenhouses (various) do make me want to throw something at the television.
@longtompot My feelings exactly. I do like the fact that he admits his failures and things that he should have done but didn't.

And of course, there's a team of full time gardeners beavering away behind the scenes.....

The problem is that wild flower areas are being pushed instead and, unless you garden on an actual South Down, they're not easy to set up and manage

I am gardening on an actual South Down (well, on the edge anyway) and wild flower meadows are still a high maintenance nightmare! I have one, and my lawns are ten times easier.

I don’t feed, weed, scarify or aerate my lawns, I just have a healthy mowing regime and never cut too short or leave to get too long, and I have a lovely even green sward (dotted with clover and self heal, which I like). It’s a pleasure to sit on and run around on with bare feel. I know lawns are unfashionable but I love mine.

I prefer Beechgrove, because its style is much more realistic in terms of what is actually achievable where I live and on my budget. Gardeners World is very pretty, but not relevant to me. I don't really want to see other people's gardens on either GW or Beechgrove, but I realise that I'm in a minority there. I know what I want mine to look like already, so I'm more interested in new plants and varieties or learning new techniques.

I hadn't thought about the lack of lawn advice, but I'm trying to get rid of all my lawns anyway. As a farmer, I spend a significant amount of time on maintaining biodiversity (our land includes Sites Of Special Scientific Interest and Environmentally Sensitive areas), so growing more grass isn't my idea of relaxation. When I see a lawn, I can't help but calculate the number and variety of vegetables I could grow in the space!

I’m conflicted about Monty. There’s no doubting he’s actually rather privileged, read his biog. To offset this maybe he will go on about his depression at losing his home- it was a flipping Manor House, and now he has long meadow #jealous . It is impeccable and nothing seems to get affected by slugs, blight etc. I’m sure he has helpers going over it to remove pests and weeds. I have a postage stamp of a backyard. However I have an allotment and so I take the eye candy ( the garden, not monty) and the tips on veg growing.

Quite surprised about this because when they came here the level of ignorance and lack of curiosity about plants was depressing. They just wanted to feature the same old stuff. I'm in the west of Scotland and have a very similar climate to Longmeadow in wet Herefordshire so it works for me. Beechgrove may have improved - I haven't watched it for years.

Was that when they did the terrible garden makeovers? That hasn't happened in years as far as I know. Although, for full disclosure, when I say "plants" I am generally talking about vegetables! I have flowers too, but they don't really matter except for the iris reticulata and the zantedeschia.

Ooh - I’ve just joined my local
hort soc and taken on the talks organiser role …. How do you get to host GQT??

Me too! I love Jonathan & Reg on BBC H&W on Sunday afternoons. Reg Moule is brilliant and has advised me on a few issues over the years.

@VenusClapTrap I’d be hoping for Bob Flowerdew and Bunny Guinness and the sublimated sexual tension that always ensues.

I love GW but I mainly watch it for the your gardens bit. I love just seeing all the different things people have done with their garden. It's made me realise I'd love a tv show where everyday gardeners just show off their gardens as the only time normal gardens are on tv is where they're getting a makeover.

My absolute favourite was a video by a lady in America I think (possibly Canada) and their local council had a scheme where they'd given people back the grass on the sidewalk in front of their house for vegetable growing. It just had such a lovely community feel.

I do also love your garden made perfect, but I can never believe the budgets. I can only imagine what my dh (who would happily concrete over our garden) would say if I wanted to spend £60k on making the garden over.

Just realised that last post makes it look like I think Canada is in America. I meant America or possibly Canada!

My favourite bit of gardeners world is seeing other peoples gardens . So inspiring.

I love seeing other people's gardens too! Seeing how some people can make an average sized garden look huge with heavy planting is quite inspirational. I wish they would create special episodes for iPlayer that are just a collection of viewer gardens.

I don't mind Monty. I see his garden as a collection of gardens buuuuut his soil looks so easy to dig compared to my rubble filled suburban garden. A job that takes him half an hour would be half a day for me. I prefer the episodes Adam Frost hosts. I like his handyman skills and have his book How to Create your Garden which is brilliant. I'm afraid Carol's voice tends to grate on me. I normally watch on catch up and skip her bits unless it's something I'm really interested in.

@wohmum one of the committee just wrote to them, asking if we could host, and told them a bit about our Society and Village, and they sent back a load of info and a suggested date. It was pretty straightforward.

@TheGander they would have been brilliant! The recording was last night. We got Pippa Greenwood, Matthew Pottage and Juliet Sargent. It was a brilliant evening, loads of fun and everyone was lovely.