Gardeners World

[Houseplanter]

Is it me or is this way past its best.

I want to know how to DO things.. what to plant, where, when. How to propagate.

Monty we don't have gardens big enough to leave to go wild and mow a path through..

I don't want to see endless videos of other peoples gardens either.

Definitely.

This is why Gardener's Quesrion Time is so good. We have a regional variation here in the NE of England, and it's brilliant, as it's specific help relating to real time problems.

Too much of GW is filmed in advance (and repeated)

<scared to mention my box hedging, as it's doing well>

I quite like Adam but he said "containerised" far too many times tonight. (He also mentioned grit a lot, but I think that that is a GW contractual obligation)

Monty hasn’t left - he just had the week off and is back next week.
I like Adam for a bit of a change sometimes and his cat is lovely.

I love Frances too. Did the allotment die a death during Covid? Monty is a bit fed up with it I think, probably time for a refresh.

We also play grit bingo at home. Vermiculite! Perlite!

I quite like it; nice to look at the aspirational gardens. I like it when they do the National Collections as well- an obsessive who only grows ornamental grasses, or birch trees. I liked the houseplant woman last week too, achievable.

I'll have to try Birchgrove though, that looks more up my street from an allotment perspective. I'm down south but disorganized and late with everything anyway.

When I left the UK and came to Australia, God how I missed GW. Gardening Australia wasn't a patch on it. Then I saw that in a one-hour programme - yes, 7.30 on a Friday evening! - they have to fit in gardening advice that covers a continent.

While each region isn't represented in detail every week, the overall coverage is excellent, with presenters based in all the state capitals, but not the territories. There's a strong element of community gardening, particularly involving people new to Australia, as well as garden DIY, houseplants and art.

The bit I like best is the last 4 minutes when you're shown a suitably coloured map of Oz and told the weekend's jobs for each climate zone.

I have to prepare a small tree for planting apparently!

I've been trying out Alan's T'marshes gardening club - I quite like it! For novices I think so right up my street.

Anna Greenland is brilliant showing making an eco garden from scratch and I've got loads of tips from it already

I chuckled at the mention of grit bingo.
We play 'bring them in' bingo. Monty is obsessed with bringing things in under cover from October to May. At least in our minds! Even before he says it we turn to each other and say 'bring them in!'. He must have endless indoor/greenhouse space. We'd fill our house if we sheltered everything he said we ought.
I think Monty does tend towards curmudgeonly. He has spells of depression. His books are wonderful . Meditative and, I've found, full of solace.

I like watching it as for me it is a bit of a mindfulness hour - and an escape. I never used to like Adam much but I really do now. He makes me smile when he calls his cat "Young Man". I really love the way the cameraman picks out lots of shots of their pets :) But yes, for actual gardening advice it is not that good.

I'm not finding this series a whole lot better, but there does seem to be a bit more of 'how to do' rather than the wafting around massive gardens.

I quite like Adam too, especially when he's 'doing' rather than just visiting other gardens, when he gets a bit too whimsical for me.

I do like Monty but I too think the whole thing needs a revamp.

I love the viewers gardens. Especially as they are from other countries too and include plenty of small gardens and indoor plants. I do get ideas for plants and learn how and when to do things.

Real Gardens on channel 4 is much more useful than Gardener’s World these days. Although Monty Don flirting is a bit cringey.

Thinking about it, the programme is a bit bizarre. (I was late catching up with last week's programme but when I did) I did a real double-take when Monty mentioned his wife and how they gardened together. We are forever seeing the presenters' menagerie of animals but other-halves and the rest of the family seldom get mentioned and are never seen.
The presenters wander around like lonely ghosts, haunting their own gardens. We never see anyone enjoying the fruits (literal or figurative) of these solitary labours.

Oh God, don't make it like a 'cookery' programme, where it's all about seeing what famous, beautiful and obscenely wealthy 'friends' think about the star. It's Adam and his cat or Monty and a dog doing gardening, not a Nigella dinner party.

I agree, I don't want a Jamie Oliver style me-and-my-billions-of-bezzie-mates. But it would be nice to see the occasional suggestion of family enjoying the garden - for example there is never any mention of, or concession to, children.

Despite being attached to the presenters' homes, the gardens do not feel homely.

Longmeadow floods most years doesn't it. Hence the bringing in obsession. I guess everything would rot.

I wish they would have more on enjoying a family space too. Or maybe that's a different programme altogether...

please get rid of Sue, cant see what she brings to the programme at all

I struggle with Sue too. The show garden she did last year was awful, and felt so patronising to viewers.

I think this is a bit unkind. She’s enthusiastic and probably inspiring to those who have disabilities but want to grade.

I find this a bit problematic. It rather implies that people with disabilities deserve nothing more than clueless enthusiasm from a role model - surely that's not true?! Mark Lane is perfectly capable of giving excellent general advice and advice specific to the needs of gardeners who use wheelchairs.

I'm showing my age now, but I used to love Percy Thrower. A proper old fashioned gardener.

I would like to see some more about normal sized gardens and how to plant out a border-what could go in the middle/at the back/at the front. What’s good for pots and why. Normal sized hanging baskets-what keeps on flowering, what’s low maintenance etc

We seem to get either Monty’s massive garden, stately home gardens or viewer homes where they are utterly obsessive about just one plant-ferns, hostas or aeoniums etc

I just want more normal gardens that a 3-bed semi might have. Dry ones, boggy ones, shady ones etc etc

Cannot abide Sue
it needs a bit of a revamp for sure be great to get the comparisons that you get on beechgrove
love to see more of Frances and her allotment

I thought Frances had relocated for work and no longer had her allotment. I think there are too many viewers videos, fine during lockdowns but now they are often out of season and repetitive. Max 2 per episode please.

John lord, the Irish gardener on YouTube is very refreshing. His methods are some what reckless compared to Montys slow and genteel way of doing things but he really knows his stuff and l love how chaotic and spontaneous he is, also love to see his camera guy trying to keep up with him as he zips around haphazardly. Miles apart from the edited, scripted version of GW, but will worth a watch. A real character.

I liked Toby Buckland when he stood in for MD some years ago. Gave great practical advice, he showed how to drop secateurs into a clay pot to cleanly knock the bottom out of the pot. ( To make a great cool shaded 'collar' for newly planted clematis)
TB has a great sense of humour too.