Do you watch gardening television programs?

I used to watch a 'Gardener's Journal' and 'The City Gardener' the best at the time. One stimulating thing
was the time, early in the morning. These programs offered many beautiful well designed gardens in very different contexts, small yards in England, and five acres average gardens in USA. There was no silly repetition by the host of what someone else had just said, game show dynamics, hollering,high fives as in other shows.
Those were programs created by serious people to educate while entertaining in a dignified manner.
It gave a nice shot of energy to go out and face the world. Unfortunately and arbitrarily all gardening programs were eliminated on HGTV. Now one has to wait until Saturday, to watch some informative gardening programs, but done in a trivialized fashion with two much repetition and paraphrasing to reach the 22 minutes to finish.[/b]

 

I love to watch gardening shows, but unfortunately there are none to be found.
HGTV=Home and GARDEN TV or so I thought! There is no garden left in HGTV! What's the deal with that?

 

I have no idea. The trend now is to present silly programs about real estate, flipping houses,buying and selling, repairs, inspections and that is that. Do we need ten programs about the same theme with little silly differences in between?

 

Sorry VanGogh, I don't have time to watch tv that much. I run a tourist Cabin an Camping an gardening during the summer months, an winter I'm to busy harvesting, canning, repairing, and my craft time, an doing all the things I don't have time to do during summer,.. TV consists of maybe 4 hours a week for me.

 

I understand. If you could use some help next year, let this certified in Commercial Horticulture Landscape Management from the New York Botanical know. That is certainly a busy schedule!

 

I wish I had more time and money since our broadcasters have a whole channel on garden and home improvement. Unfortunately one has to pay for these fancy television services. (This is almost akin to having cable TV)

My sister is however so kind as to record all the Aan Titchmarsh "How to be a gardener" for me. It is excellent That ALan Titchmarsh is quite a character and he makes it seem so obvious and easy at times to create the most beautiful gardens. She also records another show for me called "The Gardener" which is aimed especially at South African gardening.

 

When there is no tv to watch I search for garden designers or strange new trends. I suggest that you look for: Vertical Gardens, or any of the following,
Cesar Manrique Cabrera, Lanzarote; Roberto Burle Marx,Brazil,Jesse Lozada; New York, Andrew Cao and Raymond Jungles, Florida. You may encounter people doing things with plants and accessories that are really original and stimulating.
When I discover what has been done and its being done without me knowing it, I go back and review my perspective and focus on horticulture in general.

 

I think Paul James ' Gardening by the Yard' is about the only one left on HGTV. And he is rather silly, but does give some helpful hints ever once in a while). They used to have the 'English Gardener (I think that was the name) and several others. I really enjoyed all of them, but like someone said the 'G' is gone from HGTV.

 

It took my some effort to tolerate his silly old fashion humor. There is no doubt, when he addresses a subject, all is clear when he is finished explaining the variety of subjects discussed on his program.

 

Alan Titchmarsh and Ground Force was the only one I would set aside the time for. Very inspirational, the other shows always seemed to want to go all flashy and not practical at all. I miss it!
And that parade of vapid decorating show that are out now is simply too painful to watch. They used to be intriguing, borrow an idea here and there. But anymore, it doesn't take a genius to recognize that, A), because they didn't bother to do the proper prep work their fancy paint is going to look tatty in 6 months,
B), they make hash jobs of even some of the building projects and the smiling hostess says "ooh, isn't that lovely"
and C) totally impractical for people to actually LIVE in.
Sad, really. But with things going the way they are currently I'm hoping the networks will respond with a return to projects actually achievable by homeowners, that will hold up over time.
And, I suspect the garden shows on HGTV will return in the spring. Seems logical anyway.

 

I hoped that LAST year! I guess that HGTV feels that gardening is out of style? Little do they know that avid gardeners want to see these programs in the winter not in the summer when we are actually outside in our gardens!

 

Serious horticulture practices, require a serious, educated, intellectual perspective. That means that no one should try to reduce it to their particular petty interests.
As an horticultural authority in the Caribbean, I have to know what is going on in the Green Industry, that monster which regulates green areas maintenance in the USA, either commercial, institutional, or residential.
I do not believe that my preferences determined by my tropical context at this time should affect my educated opinion on what an aesthetically adequate garden should be in other latitudes.

If one feels that Christian value of sharing, one will never try to impose upon others the affected virtue of a formal garden. However, most people believe that having a pruned hedge makes their garden superior aesthetically than others who do not.

The truth is that if you have a formal garden, it is expected to prune whatever once a week. And to prune without allowing the base, close to the ground branches to show empty spaces.

I do not understand what reason could they use to eliminate gardening programs that are watched by loyal viewers whose interest in gardening lasts a life time.

Another worth viewing tv program, probably from the BBC, was 'Rosemary and Thyme', a detectives type program with assorted crimes. Gardening was always part of the plot and our heroines, avid gardeners. Do not know what happened after I was lucky to watch a couple.

 

When I was in High School, I liked to watch an episode of "Victory Garden" every now and then. Now, P Allen Smith is one of my favorite (probabily because it on PBS). It seems however that most gardening shows are tailer to those who live in areas where water isn't scare.

Does anyone have a favorite show that focuses on conservation (for those of us that live in drought prone areas)?

 

Historically, gardening is portrayed and perceived as something related to plenty. Soil, crops, water and fertility. It is natural. If you are interested in drought resistant environments, gardening, check specific sites, I would suggest Cesar Manrique Cabrera, in Lanzarote, Spain.
I do not think that, at least in USA, any one would create a tv show based on desert/dry conditions gardening. That is a specific, small interest segment of tv viewers without much strings to pull.