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 have absolutely no idea, hence asking.

So she wasnt talking about seed saving but about seed sowing.

I mean; they grow round or through concrete.

No she'd also saved some tomato seeds in their 'jelly' and was explaining how to sow them.

How to make a start in a new build
Get a trowel, peel off a corner of the turf that's been plonked on top of the rubble, sand and general building crap, stick the trowel in, realise it's all rubble, sand and building crap, go and have a cuppa before deciding it's better to start with pots and going over the turf with a fork to try and get at least some of it to take before it all dies. Then work out if you've actually got any wildlife in there yet - nothing's going to grow if there aren't worms.

How to work out north facing versus north aspect and plant for either
Take out your phone, open Uber and the top of the map is north - if that's in your line of sight as you sit on the back doorstep, you've got a northfacing garden. Assuming there aren't blocks of flats in the way, you'll get light but not necessarily direct sunshine, which is the northfacing aspect. Green stuff works on both, things that need to ripen (like tomatoes) probably won't. Airflow is probably as important. And don't forget that a northfacing back garden will mean that you probably have a southfacing front - so what's there will likely bake all summer (so we're looking at stuff like lavender, Rosemary, harder herbs).

How to properly install waterbutts and store water for the summer
If you've not got one put into the newbuild as part of their environmental certificate, put one up on cinder blocks (so you have space to fit a watering can), make sure the top is covered to avoid drowning foxes, cats and providing a lovely home for mosquitoes and get somebody in to connect it to your downpipe.

How to manage bad soil
What's 'bad'? Clay - plant roses, add sand/bag of top soil specifically where you're planting something else. When emptying pots or tubs (like after harvesting spuds), chuck it in a corner and scrag it in a bit. Sandy/Gritty/Dry - add bag of peat free compost (Dalefoot is a good brand)/bag of top soil. Plant spuds.

How to tackle an overgrown garden you just moved into
Have a cuppa. Wear thick clothes, gloves, boots and a hat. Start at the nearest bit and gradually cut things back. You never know what you'll find in there, so be careful. Make sure you have a clear run to the back door, as this is where you could find a wasp minding her own business at this time of year or a somewhat startled fox, never mind the detritus from a previous human resident.

How to set up small seed growing space in a tiny house with cats
Buy the lid as well and make sure you aren't putting it in the perfect place for observing pigeons or shouting at outside cats/squirrels.

How to choose your colour palette for big impact in small spaces
Pick what you like. If all else fails, Nasturtiums for short term, all that orange, yellow and red really stands out against greenery.

How to make large amounts of compost, quickly
Doesn't quite work like that. Especially if you don't have worms in the ground. Start in a bin/tub and chuck in some handfuls of Dalefoot and a few worms to get things started.

How to dispose of huge amounts of waste without just chucking it into a bin.
If it's an overgrown newbuild, you might not want to - there could be invasive species in there. Use the local authority green waste service if they have one - but make sure any size limitations (no half trees, for example) are followed. Easiest thing is not to create huge amounts of waste at once - stop for a cuppa once you've got 2 bin bags worth.

It's really interesting to imagine how the show will be when Monty leaves which likely isn't going to be long. I wondered about the fact Adam has just got himself a brand new, large plot and if that meant they were lining him up but I agree it's highly unlikely to be a middle-aged white man, even one who's not posh! FWIW I do like Adam and would enjoy watching him. I think it's more likely to be someone like Arit who I also like but are either of them right for the lead presenter?

Growing your own food is a pleasure. It will never,ever save you money.By the time you've bought everything and worked for months you will have 5,000 courgettes ,some potatoes and not much else. The fruit and veg in Aldi/ Lidl is still far cheaper and more reliable than doing it yourself.

So everyone should just chat CPT it all and hope for the best?

No time to read through but this is wrong for a start

How to work out north facing versus north aspect and plant for either
Take out your phone, open Uber and the top of the map is north - if that's in your line of sight as you sit on the back doorstep, you've got a northfacing garden. Assuming there aren't blocks of flats in the way, you'll get light but not necessarily direct sunshine, which is the northfacing aspect. Green stuff works on both, things that need to ripen (like tomatoes) probably won't. Airflow is probably as important. And don't forget that a northfacing back garden will mean that you probably have a southfacing front - so what's there will likely bake all summer (so we're looking at stuff like lavender, Rosemary, harder herbs).

North aspect is not that.

She made a passing mention to saving seeds from bolted winter salad.

I love Monty and Ned and Longmeadow.

I'm bored of the "here are the 800 acres and a castle I inherited" jobs, but I like the "we bought an acre of field 30 years ago and here is the lovely mature garden it now is."

I'd like to see more content on how to create an "ordinary" garden. They do seem to do features on balconies or houseplants because people have no outdoor space, but nothing in between. Although I did like Nick's container garden stuff a couple of years ago. And YES to Frances and Rekha both supposed to have been showing their progress on their new gardens but it hasn't really happened. I really like both of them as presenters and was very much looking forward to seeing what they did with their new growing spaces and how.

I find Adam really annoying, but I think that's an irrational reaction on my part. 🤣

What in the blazes does my response have to do with Chat GPT?

Aspect is the qualities - diffuse light rather than direct sun and intense heat from about 9am until 2pm (when the sun at my place disappears behind the tower block).

If you want reassurance that ChatGPT isn't writing from the point of view of somebody who moved into a newbuild with zero biological activity in the north facing back garden (other than the wasps' nest I found in the brand new shed) and what feels like an oven-storage heater out front all day, I could chuck in a few swearwords, I guess?

Trust me I get that 🤣 Each tomato I grow probably costs me about 50p. I just meant money saving ways to garden - showing that you don’t always have to drop £££ at the garden centre to have a nice garden.

Not sure what the point of this post is eg building a lovely garden from scratch in a new build involves a lot more than that à la - new.house.home. Her garden is amazing!

The comment I was responding to was:

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.

A passing mention is not covering it, which is why I asked.

They often show taking cuttings, dividing plants and saving/sowing seeds, and none of that means spending money.

Wow, I disagree with many of you - I love the mad obsessed people and the joy they find in some teeny little alpine I couldn't care less about. I find it really endearing.

I think they cover the basics regularly - Carol did a whole season of growing from seed the other year, and gardening without spending money.

I dip in an out nowadays, but I think it's still interesting and useful.

@Shedmistress I'm not sure if you watched it last night, but Frances was also talking about the process of saving the tomato seeds last autumn, and showing them on their way to being new plants. She was also sowing peas. Monty has shown seed-sowing in painstaking detail in previous weeks.

I am literally taking notes here, as a bewildered novice with a huge, stony, uncultivated garden in an exposed spot.

I think we are very similar! I also enjoy 'here is the lovely mature garden' ones. I don't mind that I will never be able to buy an acre, and that house prices have changed in ways that mean this sort of gardening may be a thing of the past ... well, I do, but ... I love the idea of seeing progress and something that has been loved.

I find Adam deeply annoying. I can't even figure out why!

IIRC Rekha's new garden is quite a difficult location - is it Peak District? - and I would have been interested in the challenges there.

I might be speaking out of turn, but I think the anxiety about north or south-facing gardens could do with a bit more common sense/reassurance. Yes, I get it that if you have three acres, you probably do notice that the rose garden faces south and you're growing the fan-trained morellos up the north wall and so on. But if you have your average, fairly overlooked suburban garden, the bottom line is: is it actually so shaded by what's around it that there's no light/sun? I slightly blame estate agents for this - I've seen lots of places advertised as having a south-facing garden when it's totally irrelevant because the light is cut off by what's around it.

Something that was a game-changer for me in my own garden was understanding the difference between plants that will never perform in the wrong conditions (eg., tulips in shade, which simply won't flower) and plants that might actually be enjoyable in those 'wrong' conditions. Eg., I've got a lovely ceanothus in part shade. It flowers well enough to make me happy, but the key thing is the shade restricts the size, so it hasn't shot up into a tree (which I don't want) the way it would in full sun.

IMO it's useful to know that sort of thing and challenge some of the shibboleths about 'right' and 'wrong' locations.

(Edited to say: whoops, that turned into a right ramble! )

A - I do not watch it no as I said earlier I stopped because the same thing happens every year.
B - the appropriate time to talk about seed SAVING is when seeds need to be saved not 6 months later. That's my literal point.

Also, you shouldn't save seeds from bolted plants because you just get more bolting.

I mean, FFS this is basic stuff.

Somebody who is good at this is Sophie Valentine - lookinsidemygarden on Insta. She and her husband have made an amazing garden from scratch on the above. She’d make a good presenter too. She trouble shoots, shows failures and ways to save money. I have more cottage garden taste but I do like her page. Love it when her grumpy husband is hauled in to make her vision. He’s so patient. I have huge garden husband envy when he shows up. My husband throws a hissy fit over digging a hole! Whatever she throws at him he creates.

I’d like to see more from Francis, Rekah and Sue. Guessing their gardens aren’t showy enough as more realistic and wild which is sad and frustrating.😞

@Shedmistress As you didn't watch, I can see why you don't understand the context of why Frances mentioned it.

Anyway I mostly enjoy GW, it isn't as good as when Geoff was the host but it's a nice soothing watch on a Friday, and I find it a good mix of aspirational and practical, so I'll keep watching.

No she talked in some detail about taking the tomato seeds from an actual tomato, which I'm sure she said she'd saved from last year and then sowing them. I might have got it wrong but the gist is there, she's very into things like that I think.

It was just an aside and a focus on something she’d done at the right time.

But overall I think it's a very good show trying to appeal to a wide demographic.

That's the problem. It no longer appeals to actual gardeners and people who like growing stuff, and watching their garden develop and mature over years. It is trying to appeal to the audience who want an instant garden makeover and don't understand that making a garden is not like decorating a room in your house and picking all the furnishings, ornaments etc all at once.

The same problem has crept into Who Do You Think You Are?. People genuinely interested in genealogy and researching their family history will want to know the nitty-gritty of how and where to locate old records. It is now all celebrities being ushered into some room and an archivist plonking something down in front of them with a 'voila!' as if it happened by magic. Recurring themes being the Holocaust, the Irish potato famine and slavery. All of which are of course entirely valid and genuinely moving topics, but the programme rarely ventures into anything else. Oh and finding out that the sleb is tenuously descended from royalty, that's another one.