Gardeners World - What a shame

[Chumpfriend]

Am I being unreasonable to think that Gardener’s World has jumped the shark?

It’s honestly a travesty of what went before and in no way makes anyone with a modest garden feel capable of creating a garden or delivers any meaningful advice.

There are BBC tropes and messaging rammed down your throat and literally nothing that relates to any ordinary gardener at this time of year.

The Beechwood Garden is a shadow reference to the old GW but I’m so disappointed at such a lost opportunity to make people feel like they can have a go at growing stuff.

Geoff Hamilton may be turning in his grave.

Ha yes I had a few free hours the other week to start some seeds off. When I got to my plot, I realised my pen wasn’t working so I just carried on regardless safe in the knowledge that I’ll definitely remember what I planted and even if I don’t, I’ll definitely recognise the leaves. Future me is going to absolutely hate springtime me.

Re Charlie’s D and no dig, I’ve always felt like i don’t quite get it. The perennial weeds thing is a secondary issue for me though. The big thing has always been the cost - I don’t understand how people can get started without spending £££ on compost as surely someone just starting out wouldn’t have made enough yet so they’d have to buy it. A new lady at our pace has just spent £150 on compost which I felt proved my point a bit too.

I’ve googled and can’t find anything but wondering if this would work with docks. Immense tap roots and I can usually only get a few inches down and inevitably they are right next to something so I can’t get a fork in there.

Cardboard does not stop dandilions or indeed, docks.

Bloody hell, I hope not!! I really can't stand how he speaks, I can't put my finger on what it is, if it's his enunciation or the rhythm of it, but it makes my ears itch!!!

IA probably BU but he always makes me think of Leslie Phillips.

He's one of those who finks about that. He's capable of saying th but for some reason chooses to use f instead. That Jamie Butterwurf. It detracts from what he has to say.

Yes, that's it. Fink. And "wiv" instead of "with". He was the guest on last week's GW podcast and I had to turn off after about 10 minutes.

He obviously wants to share his knowledge but he, and uvvers who do this, make themselves unlistenable. It would be interesting to know the finking behind it.

It’s just his accent!

I mean, haven’t you come across this before? It’s called ‘th fronting’ and it’s a feature of lots of UK accents — most famously Cockney, Essex, Estuary English, but also accents from other parts of the country, including Yorkshire, where I gather JB is from. He’s not ‘thinking’ about pronouncing ‘th’ that way, any more than someone with a rhotic accent thinks about how to pronounce ‘r’.

I can't watch it ever since Monty Don took over. Can't stand him. There's something unpleasant about him and I don't know what!

Besides, he's patronising and I bet he's got a right temper

Of course I've come across it before @Lekking , it's everywhere. If it is just the accents that you list, why doesn't every single person with those accents speak like that?

But dialect markers vary by social class, sex etc. This points to research suggesting that th fronting is far more used by men, especially working-class men, though no one seems entirely sure how it’s spread so widely from its original south of England heartlands.

http://dialectblog.com/2011/12/06/anovver-fing-about-th-fronting/

I like it some accents (sounds great in cockney!) but just can't stand it on Jamie Butterworth...it just sounds wrong!

Maybe we can conduct a watch along this week - see if it’s any better? 🤣

Love Monty and long may he reign. When the time comes, let’s have Frances or Arthur Parkinson to replace him.

I don’t mind the aspirational garden tour content but I totally agree with PP that when they do show more normal smallish town gardens they treat it so patronisingly, like it’s a special outreach segment for the terribly disadvantaged! “Even YOU can grow ferns, no matter how little space you have” yeah thanks!

This is our 2026 Watchalong thread!

Beechgrove tonight!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/gardening/5468511-the-2026-gardening-programme-thread?page=6&reply=151690397

Bit worried Arthur's expertise might lie in chickens and expensive pot displays.

Love Francis and Frosty( as does my gardening averse husband). Wonder why they couldn’t have 2. A man and a woman taking it in turns with both in each others gardens bringing a fresh eye .

For all my moaning I do love Monty. I trust his advice and taste re plants. He has a very good eye. He’s so soothing too. It’s not his fault he has a gardening team, a massive, achingly beautiful, perfect garden alongside sickenly well behaved dogs.

For all my moaning I do love Monty. I trust his advice and taste re plants. He has a very good eye. He’s so soothing too. It’s not his fault he has a gardening team, a massive, achingly beautiful, perfect garden alongside sickeningly well behaved dogs.
I feel I ought to like Long Meadow but I don't. I can see that he has copied Gertrude Jekyll and Hidcote and all those sorts of gardens, but it never comes across (to me) on the TV. He designed the 'rooms' (hedges, paths, etc) but the planting just feels like random things plonked in randomly. Adam's design eye is (to me) far superior.

I used to love it but stopped watching a few years ago. Just very twee & irritating. Sick of Monty’s jewel garden, writing garden, fecking massive stately home type plot. I’m jealous tbh, I’d rather watch lockdown type self filmed clips, it was much more inclusive and real.

Can’t bear Adam Frost and his pretend joyous laugh voice.

Frances is nice but I want to do something about her foundation.

Me too re Adam Frost - I've tried to like him but cannot warm to him at all, he's an extremely poor substitute for lovely, comforting Monty imo!

I think Adam and Carol both have terrible voices and annoying mannerisms that I find very offputting and which always distract me from the actual content. I want to like them, but they both make my brain itch to listen to.

Maybe it's the difference between being a grest gardener/grower and a good presenter?

No doubt they are both great gardeners but (IMO) they're terrible presenters. Whereas Monty is a great presenter - soothing, pleasant to listen to, none of the weird giggling etc. Frances too.

I love Arthur Parkinson although a pp makes a good point that his interests may be a little narrow, confined mostly to chickens and the kind of containers that I can't afford to buy on their own, let alone the plants to go in them. (Although Monty does also have very expensive taste in massive pots. Maybe we need a feature on where to find lovely containers without having to sell a kidney.)

I've never really watched Beechgrove before but I've watched the couple of episodes so far in the new series and loved them. I can see myself becoming a big fan of George in sunny Joppa.

Massive pots just are expensive. To make, to ship, to handle.