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.

I'm interested in this too. I hear both sides - both that some native insects/birds don't need strict natives or species plants, and that cultivars are the devil - and I'd love to feel better informed.

i stopped watching it during Covid too. I’m not interested in seeing other people’s gardens and I don’t want constant accessibility or eco messages rammed down my throat.

I want to see pretty gardens, knowledgeable people and to learn something.

You could always watch it on iPlayer and skip the bits that don't interest you.
I do that as I'm not keen on houseplants.

The shed thing doesn't bother me. It doesn't matter. In fact, it's telly so a bit of escapism suits me fine. My shed is tiny but the skills are transferable.

Yes, Another Percy Thrower fan here, "The Answer lies in the soil". Have met Alan Titchmarch, nice bloke, and carol Kline, actually much prettier and younger looking than on TV. I got bored with GW some years ago, and cancelled my gardening mags subscriptions,mind you,I'm 75 and been gardening since I was a kid. I did watch the Easter episode last night, Leonardslee. I don't even know who the presenters are anymore.

Much of my garden needs the SS treatment. That would be a good section for one of the gardening programmes, to show in manageable chunks how you might deal with what feels overwhelming when you look at the whole picture.

Last night’s with Frances was much more interesting with useful tips. I find some of the visits to larger gardens a bit unnecessary, unattainable ideas for the average back garden and overly long. Looking forward to seeing more of Adam’s new garden. Beechgrove is more old school and practical, and tends to admit its failures more readily.

Thought you were going to say that the 2 for 1 offer with the magazine had been cancelled.

Hopefully that's still going!?

Only watch GW rarely

Beechgrove is fabulous. Love George in sunny Joppa.

I do watch it on iplayer, and yes, I could skip - but isn't this thread mostly about talking about why it doesn't work for some of us?

If it doesn't bother you, it's fine. It does get under my skin a bit. I'm not even sure it's logical - I like Monty; I am very happy watching him sitting with a dog and talking about his lovely garden. I just think bits of the programme could be re-jigged a bit?

I've also heard that with some natives (I think Yarrow in particular) the cultivars are better as the native plants can quickly go a bit rogue. But that's probably from a gardening point of view, not an ecological view.
A very interesting subject!

Our horticulture tutor (50 years experience!!) is not a GW fan! He often comments on so called modern ideas and is not a fan of cut and drop, he thinks that's lazy. I see GW like Vogue, out of touch with the majority, but focused on the bling of the subject. I watch Alan Titchmarsh on his YouTube channel.

@YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME Cut and drop seems lazy to me too but does he think it has any merit at all?

I love it for a bit of Friday night escapism. I hear Monty say ‘hello’ and I feel instantly relaxed.

I’ve learnt a lot from it - Frances was literally talking about saving seeds last night so no idea why anyone thinks they don’t cover that sort of thing.

The only bits I dislike are the people with the National Collection of Boring Plants which I find unbearable - who wants to hear them waffle on for 10 minutes about orchids or whatever? The ‘whacky couple from Brighton with a tropical garden’ types irritate me a bit too but that’s very BBC.

YY!

I think there's a real need for explaining what plants would work in a garden and be good for wildlife, bearing in mind most of us don't have space for things to go rampant.

I'm going slightly off-topic but I also think there's an issue with a younger generation of garden influencers (if that's a thing!) who seem to imagine they've invented the wheel - so they go on about stuff like cut-and-drop, which lots of people have been doing in moderation for decades - as if it's totally new and suitable for absolutely everywhere.

the National Collection of Boring Plants

OMG, that is exactly what it is!

What happens to the nationally important collection when the (typically retiree) dies? Who gets the plants?

This ^
Is I think, the kind of stuff that the late great Geoff Hamilton did include - I know I’m coming across as a Superfan 🤣 - and it actively encouraged me to have a go with absolutely no experience whatsoever.

It’s all got a bit rarified and theoretical and I don’t think it encourages gardening as most of us would like to do it. It seems to prefer people who create wildlife areas than those who are effectively seeking to order nature about a bit - and that’s a whole different program.

Gardening has so many benefits for the environment and for personal well-being that I can’t understand why the show isn’t aimed a bit more at making gardening more accessible - whilst keeping the inspiring parts.

My daughter’s just moved into a house with a tiny yard/garden area and is just getting into gardening. I honestly don’t think she’s learn a great deal from GW in the way that I did. And I don’t think she’d watch it in any event …

I haven’t yet caught up on this week’s episode so am intrigued!

I love Gardener’s World. It’s a gem of a show. Given the BBC remit is to inform, educate and entertain - fuelled by a commitment to stimulate creativity, reflect nations and regions and make a global impact - it is a good example of a distinctive heritage show evolving to meet a changing world.

Do they get it right every time? Of course not. No show does. But there is a lot of excellent work and ambition for the show to evolve and grow. Having a team of presenters with different specialisms and interests is a strength and a draw - supported by an outstanding production team. Some of the production techniques the BBC Studios team pioneered, during the pandemic and beyond, are truly world class. I would much rather have a world with GW and the BBC in it - we are much better for it.

I remember my grandparents watching Geoff Hamilton every week and honouring him as a visionary. The current GW approach - in a fragmented media world where we get our gardening information and “content” from multiple sources, not all of them reliable - seems sensible. Not all of it will be relevant, or of interest, to all. As someone says above, that’s what the remote is for. That said, I rarely use it. The team generally find characters that are fascinating, even if their personal choice of plant passion may not be mine. Enthusiasm is infectious and refreshing in an often cynical world.

Gardening is evolving. Like food and cooking, so much social history is bound up in how we garden too - it’s fascinating. GW captures some of that detail. I have always been interested in gardening at every scale - from Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton landscaped parks to tiny modern courtyards and window sills. I have a small urban garden that I love. I have friends with bigger rural plots, and others with smaller balcony gardens. We talk about gardens of all sizes and at all budgets.

I am less interested in growing vegetables because I don’t want to sacrifice my limited growing space to them at this point in my life - but still watch all the GW veg segments so I am ready for a time when I might.

I am a reasonably good amateur gardener. I find it rewarding and therapeutic. It’s a good metaphor for life in so many ways. Gardener’s World has taught me a lot - and I always pick up at least one new piece of knowledge per episode. I also enjoy it as a peaceful hour to myself in a busy time of midlife. The opening shots are relaxing and meditative.

If the GW development team do pick up on this thread, there are some excellent ideas above for future features - especially for new build gardens. It is possible to garden ecologically, economically, joyfully. And joy is the point, ultimately. Surely?

One of the best books I have read (and re-read!) in the last few years is “The Garden Against Time” by Olivia Laing. Hugely recommended if you love gardening and are interested in the history of it as well as personal memoir.

Happy gardening!

GW feels removed from most people’s gardening. It should be part practical, part aspirational and just a little bit educational. At the moment the balance feels off.

I thought last night the balance was good - aspirational gardens, and practical advice about planting and sewing veg seeds. I found the dogtooth violent lady boring and I don’t like Joe, but I don’t expect to love every minute. A younger audience are unlikely to watch a BBC gardening programme so there isn't much point trying to appeal to them. They'll get info from youtube.

I did love Geoff, he was the all time best GW presenter. 30 years ago I named my kitten after him 😆

I find the best place for useful practical tips is Gardeners Question Time on R4. I love Bob Flowerdew, he should be on every week.

Monty will retire soon and we were discussing yesterday who will replace him. I like Adam a lot but it surely won’t be another middle aged white man so I can’t see any natural successor.

As a seed saver it is totally the wrong time of year to be saving seeds.

What seeds was she saving?

Talking of seed saving, when they do talk about it is is never in any detail like 'don't save from plants that bolted, do save from the best, how many you need to keep the variety bouyant, how and which things to isolate, how to hand pollinate and isolate things that cross pollinate easily, how to clean and store' it is usually just 'take the thing and put it in a paper bag for the winter'.

Wasn’t she starting off a small batch of last year’s seeds to see how they came out?

@Shedmistress Frances was talking about seeds she had saved last year, which were now growing as seedlings (tomatoes).

I did love Geoff, he was the all time best GW presenter. 30 years ago I named my kitten after him 😆

❤

They never ever do anything on weeding- identification, types, methods, reassurance etc which let’s face it is what many of us do an awful
lot of.

So sick of seeing presenters planting yet another plant into soft, loamy completely weed free soil. It just feels so unrelatable and I do query how the program as a whole motivates new gardeners. You start to think you haven’t got a proper garden if you’re constantly battling with weeds when the reality is you absolutely do.

To be entirely fair, about five years ago they did a thing about how, if you root out a dandelion and break the root, you can plug the hole with cardboard and it helps prevent it from regrowing.

I know this, because DD watched it, aged 4, and it sunk into a deep place in her memory, such that she repeatedly instructs me to do this with absolute confidence it will always work. I find this quite cute TBH, but I agree it probably sticks in mind because they're not all that big on weed control.