Why is Gardener's World rubbish now?!!

Interesting to see how many other GNetter's are a bit fed up with Gardeners World.
I don't mind Monty but some times he's a little precious.
I find Adam irritating & drony!
Francis is so irritating (I cannot stand anything about her!)
I adore Toby Buckland.
I also highly rate Arit. (Very good communicator)
The programme need a to go back to basics & stop going up its own botty. Ps I love Bechgrove too, apart the silly woman who does flower arranging (too cocky & not all that!) 🤔

Beechgrove is a stunning garden. Longmeadow's interesting though & Monty gives lots of design tips as well as the "how to". I'm inclined to think it's better as it is because if I want to know how to do something, I look it up on google / youtube, RHS is very instructive.
I'm not saying no-one used to bother about "design" when I was a child, but in domestic gardens it was much less varied, we had veg plots, lawn, rose bed or pergola, concrete paths, flower borders with lots of (similar) annuals & maybe a greenhouse or pond. Now there's a huge variety even in the average street, & it's great to get ideas of what's really worked, or just enjoy others' stunning gardens.I don't really like garden makeover programmes, but apart from that I love my armchair gardening.

I don’t think that GW is “a load of complete rubbish “.
It’s a completely different style of programme to Beechgrove (which I also like). I think Beechgrove is helpful to novice gardeners, experienced gardeners and anyone in between, offering good advice on the basics. Obviously, you need to adapt the timings to suit where you live in the UK.

I like the format of GW on the whole, and enjoy seeing what people have done with their own plots (large and small). It doesn’t cover the basics in the way Beechgrove does, but is interesting in its own right.

I think Adam and Frances have a lot to offer the programme and whenever they take over from Monty, I find their style interesting and helpful, too, and think in time that they will be on more than now, as I believe Monty will hand over the reins more and more as he pursues other things.

I like listening to Monty, his voice is calm and relaxing for Friday night viewing, and quite reassuring.

I like listening to Monty, his voice is calm and relaxing for Friday night viewing, and quite reassuring.

I do too. The world might be in turmoil but there's Monty, reassuring us that the seasons still turn, spring brings new growth.

I do like Adam and Frances too.

I was delighted when Monty explained how to transplant a clematis as I've been worrying about that imminent task. He also reminded me to get out there and mulch.

I like Beechgrove for its down-to-earth approach - they do love their tatties!

I subscribe (free) to three YouTube channels which are rewarding in different ways. All lady gardeners:

The Middle-Sized Garden

CottoVerdi

Rosy Hardy Gardening

Paperbackwriter

I keep thinking Monty isn't that good a gardener. He's always enthusiastic about some big new planting scheme but then a year later decides it was all rubbish and he starts again. This time it's a total remake of his jewel garden. Talk about wasteful.
And this time he planted a rambling rose to climb up a support. In no time at all it'll be WAY too big (clue in the name) and he'll probably take it out. Plus when he was planting it he didn't add microrhizome stuff which David Austin roses always say should be done with bare root roses. I wish Sarah Raven would do a TV series. Her courses and her gardens are glorious.

Gardens evolve. We have to adapt and the Jewel Garden was designed and planted years ago. The plants will no doubt be used elsewhere at Longmeadow.

Monty explained why he wasn’t adding any ‘stuff’ to the rose’s planting hole and if your soil is in good heart you need to encourage the roots to source their own nutrients. As for the size, have you heard of pruning?

New planting schemes are part of the production or would you prefer Monty to stand in front of the camera and say,
‘I’ve been doing this job for donkeys years and I really CBA to show you lot how to divide perennials again so I suggest you pop off to YouTube and find out how to do it yourselves.
See you next week!’

I have a rambling rose which is kept to the size I want by annual pruning. I expect that’s what Monty will do with his. He has ramblers at Longmeadow which are allowed to spread and ramble. He’s not a fool!

Nobody can replace Geoff Hamilton for me .. now I much prefer Gardeners Question Time on Radio 4

I love Monty Don he is kind and a real gentleman. I can’t garden due to age and disability but watching Monty and his affinity with his pets brings me great joy. I’d love to meet him.

eddiecat78

Never watch it now. I like Adam but Monty seems completely out of touch with ordinary gardeners and spends a fortune on his own huge plot.
I prefer Beechgrove - much more down to earth

I agree.

Paperbackwriter

I keep thinking Monty isn't that good a gardener. He's always enthusiastic about some big new planting scheme but then a year later decides it was all rubbish and he starts again. This time it's a total remake of his jewel garden. Talk about wasteful.
And this time he planted a rambling rose to climb up a support. In no time at all it'll be WAY too big (clue in the name) and he'll probably take it out. Plus when he was planting it he didn't add microrhizome stuff which David Austin roses always say should be done with bare root roses. I wish Sarah Raven would do a TV series. Her courses and her gardens are glorious.

Of course he is and also has two full-time gardeners who help him with the garden.

The Jewel Garden (named after his previous jewellery business)

This means that it is rich and intense and that is intensified by the extraordinary vigorous growth of plants in our wonderful Herefordshire loam. In spring it is the home for all our most intense tulips and in Summer tender plants such as dahlias, gingers, bananas, cannas, tithonias, zinnias and sunflowers are grown on and added as soon as the risk of frost has passed. Then, as autumn begins to bite, the Jewel Garden is cut back, tender plants lifted and it hibernates until quite late in Spring to resume its season of blazing glory.

Plants are lifted, re-planted or moved elsewhere and not all plants last for ever, even perennials.

I'm hoping to find enough energy to lift, sort, replant or replace plants in a small area of our garden because it's just not working any more.

Gardens evolve.

‘I’ve been doing this job for donkeys years and I really CBA to show you lot how to divide perennials again so I suggest you pop off to YouTube and find out how to do it yourselves.%

"And if you think you can do it so much better than me, then there might be a vacancy in the next few years when I retire" 👨‍🌾

"What more do you want? ", you say. (see above).

I just want basic, easy to understand advice, especially for young families who may not have a lovely, established garden like the Dons have. Especially if the programme makers want to hold onto the younger generation who are the viewers of the future.

Netherbyg84

"What more do you want? ", you say. (see above).

I just want basic, easy to understand advice, especially for young families who may not have a lovely, established garden like the Dons have. Especially if the programme makers want to hold onto the younger generation who are the viewers of the future.

That’s what Beechgrove does though. Why don’t the people who want to learn tips watch that?

pascal30

Nobody can replace Geoff Hamilton for me .. now I much prefer Gardeners Question Time on Radio 4

Same here. I couldn’t remember his name upthread. Lovely man, so interesting and inspiring.

I must say I find Adam's "Mockney" accent a bit grating, but his gardening style and information is great!

Netherbyg84

"What more do you want? ", you say. (see above).

I just want basic, easy to understand advice, especially for young families who may not have a lovely, established garden like the Dons have. Especially if the programme makers want to hold onto the younger generation who are the viewers of the future.

It sounds like what you want is the whole hour devoted to basic, easy to understand advice - not the bite size information for all abilities that is included in every episode.
When I had a young family I had to rely on rather boring handed down books instead of the wealth of information that’s available now.
I eventually took myself off to horticultural college for three years to get the qualifications I realised would transform me - not just my garden.

I don’t expect everyone to do that but you really do have to work things out for yourself sometimes. The gardeners of the future (hopefully watching GW) will be the ones who are inspired by others.

Monty planted the Jewel Garden in 1993 so he's not exactly chopping and changing. I really rate him as a gardener. I think he's forgotten more than most people ever know.

I'm delighted to see posters mentioning Geoff Hamilton. It was watching Geoff on TV that encouraged me to study horticulture and take up gardening for a living.

Geoff picked a tomato he'd grown, bit into it and said, "There's the taste of summer right there and I grew it myself in my own greenhouse". I thought in that moment YES, that's what I want to do with my life.

Adam Frost trained with Geoff.

Netherbyg84 Carol Klein often does exactly the kind of step by step gardening shows you describe. She does very specific, step by step guides on her own shows and also on Gardeners World. One year I remember her working with young couples who had just got their first garden and revisiting them through the gardening season. They're probably on iplayer or somewhere similar.

Carol Klein’s books are very informative.

I think Adam only has a cat because Monty has a dog! It's basically a furry prop.
🤭

Casdon

Netherbyg84

"What more do you want? ", you say. (see above).

I just want basic, easy to understand advice, especially for young families who may not have a lovely, established garden like the Dons have. Especially if the programme makers want to hold onto the younger generation who are the viewers of the future.

That’s what Beechgrove does though. Why don’t the people who want to learn tips watch that?

Precisely!

Percy Thrower, Arthur Billington and Geoff Hamilton were true gardeners through and through. They lived and breathed horticulture, were never seen without soil on their hands and wellies or boots and had no interest in being seen as a celebrity; their only intentions were to grow and impart their knowledge and experience to others. Titchmarsh was the turning point; he wanted fame and celebrity status; hence his frequent publicity appearances, novel writing and forays into "soap opera gardening shows" with the likes of Ground Force. GW went downhill further when they decided to "appeal to the laydee gardeners" and introduced Carol Klein who, apart from being a keen amateur gardener, has no training or horticultural background whatsoever. In short, GW has become a media show for a TV "personality", with a few plants thrown in for good effect. If you want to learn about gardening, you're better off getting a book out of the library than watching GW.

If you want to learn about gardening, you're better off getting a book out of the library than watching GW.

I have Percy Thrower's book on the shelf here - bought for my father many years ago. Dad was a very keen gardener and he really liked Percy Thrower. The TV programmes would have been in black and white then.

Allira

^If you want to learn about gardening, you're better off getting a book out of the library than watching GW.^

I have Percy Thrower's book on the shelf here - bought for my father many years ago. Dad was a very keen gardener and he really liked Percy Thrower. The TV programmes would have been in black and white then.

If you want to learn about gardening, you're better off getting a book out of the library than watching GW.
No, I just enjoy watching someone else gardening and admiring the results.