Gardeners' World these days is for armchair gardeners
not hands-on gardeners .
Things started with Monty Don. He seems to have recovered
nicely judging from his recent appearance
on The One Show so I feel free to comment,
but dear old Monty was to gardening what
an art Historian is to Art - someone who appreciates
but cannot do it himself.I used to wince at his
digging efforts - raising his spade high into the air
then driving it down at the soil. It's a wonder he
has any toes left . He would also straddle a trench
instead if getting into it - a sure way to a double hernia
or a slipped disc.

When it came to Great Gardens of the World he was
a Master. His encyclopedic knowledge enabled him
to discuss on equal terms with the Great and the Good
in the world of horticulture
Definitely armchair viewing and very good to.

His successors have followed in the same vein.

But where are the Geoff Hamiltons and the Anne Swithinbanks
and their ilk these days? People who simply wished to teach.
With Geoff I felt he was in my garden with me,(and
he always had his ' little project for the week').
while Ann, an ingenuous girl who never aspired to
Garden Goddess status, all she wanted to do was teach,
was most painstaking in her demonstrations Many others
of the old school left a legacy which has been ignored.

Each year there must be many thousands of newbies
who have got their first garden , people wo do not know
the rudiments of gardening who would appreciate an
introduction to hands on gardening from hands on tutors.

I have cultivated my modest garden for 58 years and I'm
still learning.

Auntie Beeb has let us down.

Sam

"sam" wrote in message
om...
Gardeners' World these days is for armchair gardeners
not hands-on gardeners .
Things started with Monty Don. He seems to have recovered
nicely judging from his recent appearance
on The One Show so I feel free to comment,
but dear old Monty was to gardening what
an art Historian is to Art - someone who appreciates
but cannot do it himself.I used to wince at his
digging efforts - raising his spade high into the air
then driving it down at the soil. It's a wonder he
has any toes left . He would also straddle a trench
instead if getting into it - a sure way to a double hernia
or a slipped disc.

When it came to Great Gardens of the World he was
a Master. His encyclopedic knowledge enabled him
to discuss on equal terms with the Great and the Good
in the world of horticulture
Definitely armchair viewing and very good to.

His successors have followed in the same vein.

But where are the Geoff Hamiltons and the Anne Swithinbanks
and their ilk these days? People who simply wished to teach.
With Geoff I felt he was in my garden with me,(and
he always had his ' little project for the week').
while Ann, an ingenuous girl who never aspired to
Garden Goddess status, all she wanted to do was teach,
was most painstaking in her demonstrations Many others
of the old school left a legacy which has been ignored.

Each year there must be many thousands of newbies
who have got their first garden , people wo do not know
the rudiments of gardening who would appreciate an
introduction to hands on gardening from hands on tutors.

I have cultivated my modest garden for 58 years and I'm
still learning.

Auntie Beeb has let us down.

Sam


I'll agree with all of that but regret that I think GW has had it's time and
should be laid to rest. There are so many other better channels of
information available 24/7 and active gardening groups which allow real face
to face contact. There is nothing difficult about ordinary gardening which
is probably why it is supposedly the No 1 hobby in the UK and once you wish
to go beyond the ordinary plants GW could never be expected to succeed.
I can remember getting bored by the programme when I was a very young kid-I
mean how many times do I need to see Percy Thrower demonstrate bloody
Geranium cuttings:-)

On 24 Oct, 19:00, "rupert" wrote:
"sam" wrote in message

om...



Gardeners' World these days is for armchair gardeners
not hands-on gardeners .
Things started with Monty Don. He seems to have recovered
nicely judging from his recent appearance
on The One Show so I feel free to comment,
but dear old Monty was to gardening what
an art Historian is to Art - someone who appreciates
but cannot do it himself.I used to wince at his
digging efforts - raising his spade high into the air
then driving it down at the soil. It's a wonder he
has any toes left . He would also straddle a trench
instead if getting into it - a sure way to a double hernia
or a slipped disc.

When it came to Great Gardens of the World he was
a Master. His encyclopedic knowledge *enabled him
to discuss *on equal terms with the Great and the Good
in the world of horticulture
Definitely armchair viewing and very good to.

His successors have followed in the same vein.

But where are the Geoff Hamiltons and the Anne Swithinbanks
and their ilk these days? People who simply wished to teach.
With Geoff *I felt he was in my garden with me,(and
he always had his ' little project for the week').
while Ann, an ingenuous girl who never aspired to
Garden Goddess status, all she wanted to do was teach,
was most painstaking in her demonstrations Many others
of the old school left a legacy which has been ignored.

Each year there must be many thousands of newbies
who have got their first garden , people wo do not know
the rudiments of gardening who would appreciate an
introduction to hands on gardening from hands on tutors.

I have cultivated my modest garden for 58 years and I'm
still learning.

Auntie Beeb has let us down.

Sam

I'll agree with all of that but regret that I think GW has had it's time and
should be laid to rest. There are so many other better channels of
information available 24/7 and active gardening groups which allow real face
to face contact. There is nothing difficult about ordinary gardening which
is probably why it is supposedly the No 1 hobby in the UK and once you wish
to go beyond the ordinary plants GW could never be expected to succeed.
I can remember getting bored by the programme when I was a very young kid-I
mean how many times do I need to see Percy Thrower demonstrate bloody
Geranium cuttings:-)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'd like to see a total change and have Carol Klein as the presenter,
geting away from the present mish mash of people who may be good
gardeners but havn't the personality to carry the prog. This jumping
from person to person, and stupid things like the 30 min. fix, it
looked more like something from CBeebies.
David Hill

On Oct 24, 7:46*pm, Dave Hill wrote:
On 24 Oct, 19:00, "rupert" wrote:



"sam" wrote in message

news:rNKdnXFhJfe5pn7XnZ2dnUVZ8oSdnZ2d@brightview. com...

Gardeners' World these days is for armchair gardeners
not hands-on gardeners .
Things started with Monty Don. He seems to have recovered
nicely judging from his recent appearance
on The One Show so I feel free to comment,
but dear old Monty was to gardening what
an art Historian is to Art - someone who appreciates
but cannot do it himself.I used to wince at his
digging efforts - raising his spade high into the air
then driving it down at the soil. It's a wonder he
has any toes left . He would also straddle a trench
instead if getting into it - a sure way to a double hernia
or a slipped disc.

When it came to Great Gardens of the World he was
a Master. His encyclopedic knowledge *enabled him
to discuss *on equal terms with the Great and the Good
in the world of horticulture
Definitely armchair viewing and very good to.

His successors have followed in the same vein.

But where are the Geoff Hamiltons and the Anne Swithinbanks
and their ilk these days? People who simply wished to teach.
With Geoff *I felt he was in my garden with me,(and
he always had his ' little project for the week').
while Ann, an ingenuous girl who never aspired to
Garden Goddess status, all she wanted to do was teach,
was most painstaking in her demonstrations Many others
of the old school left a legacy which has been ignored.

Each year there must be many thousands of newbies
who have got their first garden , people wo do not know
the rudiments of gardening who would appreciate an
introduction to hands on gardening from hands on tutors.

I have cultivated my modest garden for 58 years and I'm
still learning.

Auntie Beeb has let us down.

Sam

I'll agree with all of that but regret that I think GW has had it's time and
should be laid to rest. There are so many other better channels of
information available 24/7 and active gardening groups which allow real face
to face contact. There is nothing difficult about ordinary gardening which
is probably why it is supposedly the No 1 hobby in the UK and once you wish
to go beyond the ordinary plants GW could never be expected to succeed.
I can remember getting bored by the programme when I was a very young kid-I
mean how many times do I need to see Percy Thrower demonstrate bloody
Geranium cuttings:-)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'd like to see a total change and have Carol Klein

Is she the one with the rather distracting wolfish voice that suggests
she's already smoked about 50 ciggs, and that was just before
breakfast?

as the presenter,
geting away from the present mish mash of people who may be good
gardeners but havn't the personality to carry the prog. This jumping
from person to person, and stupid things like the 30 min. fix, it
looked more like something from CBeebies.
David Hill

"aquachimp" wrote in message
news:5a306bf2-ab89-4f21-8a3e- When it came to
I'd like to see a total change and have Carol Klein

Is she the one with the rather distracting wolfish voice that suggests
she's already smoked about 50 ciggs, and that was just before
breakfast?

as the presenter,
geting away from the present mish mash of people who may be good
gardeners but havn't the personality to carry the prog. This jumping
from person to person, and stupid things like the 30 min. fix, it
looked more like something from CBeebies.


That's the one - sounds as though she is sucking a plum ex Chorley way.
Dreadful noise !

Give me good old West country Percy with his geranium cuttings anyday.
Lovely tone and watchable ad infinitem !


Regards
Pete
www.thecanalshop.com

Martin wrote:

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:27:53 -0000, "Pete Stockdale"
wrote:


"aquachimp" wrote in message
news:5a306bf2-ab89-4f21-8a3e- When it came to
I'd like to see a total change and have Carol Klein

Is she the one with the rather distracting wolfish voice that suggests
she's already smoked about 50 ciggs, and that was just before
breakfast?

That's the one - sounds as though she is sucking a plum ex Chorley way.
Dreadful noise !

Give me good old West Country Percy with his geranium cuttings anyday.
Lovely tone and watchable ad infinitem !

I caught a bit of GW the other day where they dug up a clump of
something for overwintering and then said take off such and such and
proceded to do that stage insde one of those rubber/plasic buckets
where the camera, and therefore the viewers, couldn't see it
GRRRRRRRR

Maybe they should shift GW to BBC 4, the channel for those who don't suffer from
attention deficit and with average intelligence.

Also the channel where you get the same programmes twice. Once at a
normal time then repeated for insomniacs.
--
Phil Cook http://www.therewaslight.co.uk

On 2009-10-25 14:05:19 +0000, Phil Cook said:
snip

I caught a bit of GW the other day where they dug up a clump of
something for overwintering and then said take off such and such and
proceded to do that stage insde one of those rubber/plasic buckets
where the camera, and therefore the viewers, couldn't see it
GRRRRRRRR

Ray's reaction to that bit was "why not cut off the top growth and
*then* dig the thing up, making it much easier to find the roots".
snip


--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-10-25 14:05:19 +0000, Phil Cook
said:
snip

I caught a bit of GW the other day where they dug up a clump of
something for overwintering and then said take off such and such and
proceded to do that stage insde one of those rubber/plasic buckets
where the camera, and therefore the viewers, couldn't see it
GRRRRRRRR

Ray's reaction to that bit was "why not cut off the top growth and *then*
dig the thing up, making it much easier to find the roots".
snip


--
Sacha


I trust either Ray or Yourself have been in touch with Chris Denham as
suggested, so that between you, you can produce a series of Gardening
Programmes 'How it should be done'?


--
Mike

The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rneba.org.uk
Luxury Self Catering on the Isle of Wight?
www.shanklinmanormews.co.uk

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:37:19 +0100, Martin wrote:

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:16:56 +0000, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-10-25 14:05:19 +0000, Phil Cook said:
snip

I caught a bit of GW the other day where they dug up a clump of
something for overwintering and then said take off such and such and
proceded to do that stage insde one of those rubber/plasic buckets
where the camera, and therefore the viewers, couldn't see it
GRRRRRRRR

Ray's reaction to that bit was "why not cut off the top growth and
*then* dig the thing up, making it much easier to find the roots".
snip

Which reminds me ...
The husband of my daughter's neighbour cut the back half off my daughter's hedge
rather than the top half which my daughter had agreed to remove.

As long as he didn't cut off the bottom half!

Pam in Bristol

"Martin" wrote in message
...

Why aren't BBC 3 &4 on during the afternoon?
--

Because during the day the same two channels are used for the BBC childrens'
programmes.
There isn't enough bandwidth available for both purposes, so they are
time-shared.

BTW There is nothing special about what is happening to GW.
It is the same dumbing-down process being applied to most programmes on most
channels.

It is the same dumbing-down process being applied to most programmes on
most channels.


Perhaps we're all being Americanised.

mark