"Barry & Iris McCanna" wrote in message
...

"mick" wrote in message
...

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
in article , mick at
wrote on 13/4/03 6:49 am:



Monty Don is excellent - loves what he is doing and knows what he is
doing. However, I am bemused by your claim that Chris Beardshaw is
not a "real gardener."
If Monty Don hadn't taken the job, Chris would have been first-class.
He also knows and loves the job.

Well if I a honest, Beardshaw looses points not just on being a "Garden
Designer" not a gardener and on his mannerisms ( he flays his arms around
too much and it is accentuated on TV) . Monty Don has a pleasant manner and
thats as much as one can ask of the dumbed down BBC these days.

But I suppose I could also argue that GW should be looking for new blood
altogether - and preferably looking within the gardening domain , not at the
"luvvies"

Monty Don has a degree in some subject or other ( Business from the LSE I
think) and took up gardening as a business venture.
He certainly didnt start out as a gardener and in that respect I doubt if he
knows much more than I do - and thats saying something!

As for garden designers - then yes I definately do know as much as they do!

I'll wait and see.
Not that I think R de T and CB are real gardeners anyway. All the more
reasone why they really shouldnt be there.


At least R de T is pleasant to the eye. I can't help wondering though if her
selection was more for her looks than her gardening knowledge?
--
Drakanthus.


(Spam filter: Include the word VB anywhere in the subject line or emails
will never reach me.)

On Mon, 14 Apr 2003 10:57:16 +0100, "Drakanthus"
wrote:

~ I'll wait and see.
~ Not that I think R de T and CB are real gardeners anyway. All the more
~ reasone why they really shouldnt be there.
~
~
~At least R de T is pleasant to the eye. I can't help wondering though if her
~selection was more for her looks than her gardening knowledge?

My thoughts entirely. I tend to refer to her as Rachel de useless.
On the other hand my Dad thinks she's lovely. But then he's a bloke...

I'm not terribly fond of Mr Overacting Beardshaw either, however! :-)

The one thing a lot of folk haven't commented on in the "Oh good MD is
much better than AT" postings is that the entire old production team
has gone and it's been taken back in-house by the BBC.

Alan Titchmarsh was not to blame for the format of recent seasons -
the director has that responsibility, and so the independent TV
company were the ones responsible for the flashy angles, flowers
being shown in black and white (er, why?) and the production quality.
And in my experience of the BBC gardening message boards, they took
not one bit of notice of the complaints and wishes of the viewers.

Now filming is back with the people I pay my licence fee to, and they
seem to have gone back to Geoff-Hamilton-like basics as the majority
of people on the boards seemed to want. Hooray.

Pity Alan T had to put up with the flak generated by the terrible
production values of the independent company :-(
I think he'd have been heaps better in the last two or three seasons
if it had been in-house.

(Postscript to one of GHs old soapboxes while I remember: he always
advocated cocoa shell mulches for acidifying alkaline soils. The RHS
has just completed a long-term survey of mulches and found that most
of them do leave the soil slightly more acidic in the first season but
more alkaline than initially, after 3 or so years!)

I'll get off mine now :-)

--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove nospam from replies, thanks!

In message , mick
writes
Monty Don has a degree in some subject or other ( Business from the LSE
I think) and took up gardening as a business venture.

No, he took up gardening initially as therapy. He mentioned this in one
of his Observer articles some years ago.

--
dave @ stejonda

"Fenny" k wrote
The trailers for the new series of GW use the old theme music and
everyone out in their gardens recognises it. Why then change it to
something people don't recognise.

Yes, that's exactly what I thought when the 'new' version struck up. Talk
about ironic.

Apart from that blip, the first programme was an extremely good start. I do
like Monty Don's style of presenting; he always seems so down to earth and
enthusiastic, doesn't patronise, doesn't resort to gimmicks, and what's
more I love his voice - I could listen to him going on about planting yew
hedges all day.

Well done Beeb.

Sue

in article , dave @ stejonda at
wrote on 14/4/03 11:35 am:

In message , mick
writes
Monty Don has a degree in some subject or other ( Business from the LSE
I think) and took up gardening as a business venture.

No, he took up gardening initially as therapy. He mentioned this in one
of his Observer articles some years ago.

His early career was as a jewellery designer. I still have a pair of his
earrings! I *think* that business flopped, though I can't be sure of that.
You're right, he wrote quite a few articles about the making of his own
garden so obviously his artistic bias went in that direction.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk

"kdupar" wrote in message
...
Unless you live in Scotland, where golf replaced the Beechgrove Garden
on Thursday, and the Beechgrove
was broadcast in the Gardeners' World slot on Friday, and GW is now
scheduled for12 noon on Sunday. I know golf (not to mention gardening)
is a 'religion' to some people, but others of us are in church at noon
on Sunday. (Will have to remember to set the video.)

Kristina
black-isle.info/orchard

Yes I was really cheesed off at that - probably means that we won't be able
to trial the sweet peas for free cos we didn't have the same
first-come-first-served chance. Not to worry, my tried and tested are
already well on thier way.

"Trevor Appleton" wrote in message
...
can't get on the BBC Gardeners Worlds Monty Don Website but BBC please Oh
please bring back the PROPER theme music!!!


I don't mind the new theme, it allows the whole program to indicate a
complete break, and a totally fresh start. Nice that there was no mention of
decking in the new show.
Also got to admit that Monty Don is one of my favorite gardeners, after the
numerous gardening programs he has presented his style has improved greatly.
Also his writing is amusing and interesting. Having read numerous of his
gaardening books I think I am going to like this series very much.
Plus, vegetable gardening and organic !!! how nice to hear those terms on GW
again, after so many years. Geoff H was moving steadily in that direction
when he sadly left us, and he was introducing all sorts of excellent
characters, Bob Flowerdew springs to mind. It's so nice to think that after
the AT years, we can now get back to what I enjoy most, veggies.
Yes, I know it wasn't all AT's fault, but let's face it, has he really
presented a gardening show which wasn't almost all about Decking and quick
fix-ups. I think MD would also have demanded creative control as a
pre-requisite to taking over the presenters job, he has over many years,
been a very keen veggie gardener and has been a staunch advocate of organic
methods for several years, so I doubt very much he would let anyone else
dictate how he gardens. He made that point quite well I thought, that
although they will be organic, he will talk about alternatives, generally
and excellent move I thought.

Duncan

Got to add as well, the very idea of gardens having one Gardener and a bunch
of labourers, love it hilarious, how much more insulting could anyone be, I
wonder where they got the Head gardeners from if all he had working for him
were labourers !!!