TV and Radio permalink
What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
This discussion has been closed.
-
Message 1.Â
Posted by eco_gardener (U13955786) on Tuesday, 19th May 2009
Does anyone posting here have a professional connection to the horticultural/gardening industries? It would be interesting to hear their views on the format and content of GW, and whether it is serving their customers?
There has been very little comment in 'the trade' on GW, although an interesting exchange has taken place on the web site of Horticulture Week magazine:
Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 2
Posted by Ken Smart (U1158196) on Tuesday, 19th May 2009
The appreciation of the programme by the audience is higher or as high as it has ever been and the viewing figures are great.(quote by Toby Buckland)Â
If ever there were a good example of self-delusion, then this is it. He deludes himself by insisting that the new programme reaches a wider demographic than ever before, but just fails to appreciate how silly this remark actually is. Every programme could reach a wider demographic if it slips in a cartoon or a bit of slapstick. Blue Peter would have a wider demographic if it would include a bit of burlesque in it's content. I used to think that Toby was a decent man who had taken poor advise, but now I see that he is equally responsible for what this programme has become. It will soon be slightly embarrassing for anyone to actually confess they like it, as it will drag their standing down in the eyes of others. I know of many friends and acquaintances who continue to watch GW, but I honestly don't know anyone personally who prefers the new setup to anything that was dished up in the past. Think again Toby - you're deluding yourself, and cheating many others.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 3
Posted by Petalina (U13862206) on Tuesday, 19th May 2009
Although far from perfect I prefer this series to the last few. I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable - I open my garden and run a plant stall at a local market( for what that's worth )
I think once we've got used to the change of style we'll appreciate the demystification of the approach
Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 4
Posted by pinktequila (U2803141) on Tuesday, 19th May 2009
MOst people in the industry I talk with have no interest in the programme, they may watch it but it has no relevance to them.
Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 5
Posted by Bluedoyenne (U2341157) on Tuesday, 19th May 2009
"I think once we've got used to the change of style we'll appreciate the demystification of the approach"
The above statement is patronizing in the extreme.
As to the "demystification of the approach" - if by that you mean sloppy execution and incorrect information (asparagus bed and planting distance) or incomplete explanation (docks for the compost) or .... then you're wrong. I dont and wont appreciate it at all.
I am trying to be positive (cf. my comments on last Friday's show) but there can be no comparison of this new GW and the previous series. The previous series was for gardeners and, last Friday's show excepted, the other programmes of this new series were not.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 6
Posted by TheHejhog (U7657776) on Tuesday, 19th May 2009
No, Bluedoyenne, that is not the meaning of demystification.
I have complained in the past about the flood of jargon spewing forth from Carol and from the presenters of previous series of GW. If there is anything more off-putting it is the use of jargon. It is elitist; it closes the doors for newcomers.
I am glad that this series is much more straightforward and much easier to understand. It will win a prize from the campaign for plain English. Someone must have had a word with Carol, because on Friday's show she was much easier to follow.
As for the dock leaf. Alys was spot on. Leaves yes, roots no. Even I know that. As for the other information: sometimes the received way of doing things is not the only way. On the continent they despair at the English eating green asparagus; they say it should be harvested white, before the tip rises above the bed. If I am ever brave enough to attempt asparagus I will plant them differently from the way shown at GW and Beechgrove, because I prefer my asparagus white.
Doing something different does not mean it's wrong.
HejhogLink to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 7
Posted by Bluedoyenne (U2341157) on Monday, 25th May 2009
que dire ....... sans commentaire
Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 8
Posted by Tigerredwood (U13742280) on Monday, 25th May 2009
Hello Hejhog
Could you elucidate what you mean by "jargon"? I hope it doesn't mean the use of the proper Latin names for plants.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 9
Posted by pinktequila (U2803141) on Monday, 25th May 2009
yes I would quite like to know what jargon has ever been used. I don't remember ever hearing much on GW
Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 10
Posted by TallyHo (U2364821) on Monday, 25th May 2009
I have complained in the past about the flood of jargon spewing forth from Carol and from the presenters of previous series of GW. If there is anything more off-putting it is the use of jargon. It is elitist; it closes the doors for newcomers.Â
What total rubbish! You'll be saying doctors shouldn't use Latin or Greek terms for illnesses or anatomy next. Latin names are used for plants because Latin is an international language, commonly understood by German, French, Italian, Spanish and English speakers everywhere, or rather the ones who can be bothered to educate themselves and care enough to do so.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 11
Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Monday, 25th May 2009
It's not high- faluting 'latin', it's the correct, internationally accepted, botanical name for a given plant. I see no reason why presenters shouldn't use the proper name. It helps avoid confusion and enables people to find the right plant when searching for it after the programme.
Using common names doesn't help at all - a bluebell means many different plants depending upon where you live, for example. And mostly the common name refers to the genus, e.g. Aquilegia = Granny's bonnets and Sanguisorba = Burnet. But there are lots of different Aquilegias and lots of different Sanguisorbas, so chances are you'll end up with the wrong plant if you just pursue the common name.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 12
Posted by stuliz1123 (U13984185) on Monday, 25th May 2009
I personally think that the praise / critism of GW really rather interesting.
For the past 10 years I've been a trainer / tutor. I have trained virtually every soft skill possible and a few where I was only a lesson or two ahead of my pupils / delegates because they needed someone to teach a subject and I was the one free.
Whether you train face to face or present information on the TV the important thing is to pass the information over to the learner / viewer in a way that enthralls them and gets them to remember it - passion, ingenuity and communication skills are what is needed.
It is said that those who can do, and those who can't teach (Bernard Shaw by any chance) but sometimes, those of us that teach do so because we love our subject and want others to love it as much as we do.
However, I was recently posed a question by one of my delegates on a training course. He asked, in a nice and kind way, which in itself was sweet, what could I tell him as he had over 30 years experience in his field.
It didn't take any thought at all to answer him as the whole rationale of my training was based on two types of delegates attending my training - those who know about the products and those who don't know about the products.
Simply if a delegate is new then I have to ensure they go away with a working knowledge before they leave.
If they are experienced, then I have to make sure two things are covered for them. Firstly, that I make sure they are still intouch with what is current and secondly I remind them that they really know a lot of things that are brilliant and that how passionate they are about it all.
This is what GW should be about - helping experienced gardeners enjoy their passion and adding the special information that can help them refine their skills.
And helping the beginner navigate their way through all the information that is out their whilst developing their passion.
But the simplist information should work with both types of person.
So, the real question here is really whether or not the lack of accessibilty that the historical GW viewers are finding about the new program is simply because it has moved venue and presenters who are finding their presenting feet (yes some of the segments are cringe worthy in their pre-prepared 'jokes') and is going to settle down as the garden and the presenters find their feet or is it terminal?
My husband, who had never seen GW until a few years ago (bear with him, he's from Australia), found parts of the Chelsea coverage as unwatchable as some parts of GW. Whether I like or dislike a presenter I try to enjoy what is being shown.
I am hoping that the current GW experience is simply the teething problems that happen each time they change presenters / venue.
With the repeats of gardening programs on the now defunct UKTV Gardens, I realised that some programs that I thought were wonderful at the time were seen through rose tinted specs. Others, like the Victorian Kitchen Garden were timeless.
Just my thoughts.
Liz
LeicesterLink to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 13
Posted by TallyHo (U2364821) on Tuesday, 26th May 2009
We are not sales conference delegates there for the presenters/producers to try out their media-training skills upon. My garden is not a 'product' that can be marketed or mass produced.
Gardening is a craft, a skill and an art and this series does not communicate or inspire as the older series used to do. The chemistry just isn't there.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 14
Posted by hotsunlover (U5664870) on Tuesday, 26th May 2009
As someone who works in other peoples gardens I am sort of in 'the trade' I guess (and hope). In Monty's days I would arrive at some of my gardens and be met with enquiries following the programme and a few 'can we try this do you think?' comments. It was good. I worked in a GC in Alan's day and on weekends we would be inundated with requests for plants/pots/composts etc that had been used on the programme. Now, nothing. Absolutley nothing. I have had no requests from the show, no questions either and I am reliably informed that the GC has few request either.
And the 'common name v latin name discussion. Well what can I say? I try and remember all the common names but one customer will call Dicentra Bleeding heart, another Ladies bloomers, another Gentlemans gaiters, another Angels earrings............the list goes on. Dicentra is Dicentra, you know what it is and so do I.
Its only words, its not posh or clever, just letters the same as any other language, whats the fuss?Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 15
Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Tuesday, 26th May 2009
The only things I've been asked for as a direct result of seeing it on GW in recent weeks are Trilliums. I have a miniscule personal collection, but none for sale. Shame that the one thing that has really caught people's attention is all but unavailable!
Actually, one couple did ask about growing apple trees in a pot following Toby's effort, but that's it.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 16
Posted by stuliz1123 (U13984185) on Tuesday, 26th May 2009
We say the trilliums at Rosemoor a couple of weeks before they were on the show and were really taken with them. When we asked about them we were told they were really difficult to propergate and hence the extremely high price of them in the shop.
I had a think about it and decided that as I have a tendency to kill things that aren't azeleas or acers I'd stick to what I was good at and leave the trilliums for a year or so.
L In LLink to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 17
Posted by stuliz1123 (U13984185) on Wednesday, 27th May 2009
I think that posting when you are tired may mean that I didn't write clearly as to my question.
I'm not implying that we are conference delegates to be lectured.
My question was;
Is GW not appearing to work because of a lack of presenting skills, a lack of correctly targeted material or something else?
L in LLink to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 18
Posted by Ken Smart (U1158196) on Wednesday, 27th May 2009
Is GW not appearing to work because of a lack of presenting skills, a lack of correctly targeted material or something else?Â
The presenting skills are exactly as required for this type of programme, and the material is targetted very much for a younger audience who require to be entertained rather than educated. Quality is something that the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú struggle with these days, and it would appear that much of their output is now aimed at the very people who make the least contribution to their licence fee income. Strange days indeed. Still, as long as no-one is asked to think too much, and everyone can 'ave a larf, then it's mission accomplished. The only puzzle that still remains, is why those involved with the current debacle are still in denial about how the programme has been generally received in the wider world. They really should be considering their positions (as they say in politics).Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 19
Posted by stuliz1123 (U13984185) on Wednesday, 27th May 2009
the material is targetted very much for a younger audience who require to be entertained rather than educated.
I think you just hit the nail on the head here. We've taken to sky+ GW so that I can simply skip through the bits that make me cringe. I was unsure a few weeks ago when they were pushing the CÂ鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú program and had the child presenter on. Most kids who would be interested would be going to bed at that time and their parents, if they were trying to drum up business, would be putting them to bed. I just fast forwarded through it.
I've now had to make a very important decision - do I record GW or Army Wives and I've gone for the program with entertainment value!!
Recently on the now defunct UKTV Gardens they repeated the tribute to Geoff Hamilton and having just been to Barnsdale I watched the episodes with hunger.
One clip showed him cutting an apple tree to make it into the lollipop tree and he said that he had made the cut at an angle to allow the rain to run off it rather than rot the cut.
I realised that I had seen that when it first went out and I was still living in student flats. Yet, whilst I couldn't use that information I had stored it away in my head because last year when I was pruning and reshaping my apple trees I remember saying to my husband, when asked why the slanted cut, 'because it lets the rain run off it'.
I think that the powers that be forget that whilst not everyone is a gardener of many years experience or have the plant on show in their garden, we do have the sense to squirrel away information to use at a later date.
I suppose I'm disappointed that GW isn't what it could be, or even worse what it has been. Inspiring and passionate.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
-
Message 20
Posted by 1stClassAlan (U2459016) on Saturday, 30th May 2009
Most folk on here know I pop in every now and then as a professional landscaper and horticulturist - I add that last bit on so that I don't entirely fall into the shadowy group alluded to by that designer on Chelsea who said that hard landscaping is the last refuge of the unemployable - well I did start my present firm because no one would rehire me as a construction project manager !
I find that Gardening is, of course, a wonderful mix of science and the "all-muck-and-magic" philosophy - I rather like that even though I am firmly rooted in the former camp. Remember the experiments posted here to test plant growth and moon phase effects ? No one seemed to have worked out that the moon is still there whether you can see it or not !
In last night's episode of G.W. Carol Klein gave a little enthusiamentary on taking cuttings and how one must be careful not to squash the stems as that would inhibit their ability to make roots ! Well, yes Carol - it would most probably kill them. As for why we put cuttings around the edge of a pot??? It's traditional - that's all - I was trained to do it that way too and my old Guv'nor wouldn't have had it any other way but I've been in massive commercial growers nurseries where the cuttings are merely placed in seried ranks - they all grow just the same.
She has also mentioned roots can get "lost" if not teased out and spread into a new position ! I can assure everyone that a root "knows" exactly where up and down is through gravity and that any amount of watering will not encourage them to burst out of the surface unless they belong to Swamp Cypress !
Toby's couple of broken flower pots will not insulate a Clematis either whereas a few inched of earth most certainly will - try a thermometer if you're curious.
Toby said that he'd left a plant around the Bee Border to discourage slugs - ten feet of broken glass won't put them off if they detect a meal on the other side ! That's why they are slimey
And the sloping cuts in pruning are traditional too - unless we are talking about vast tree surgery which should be treated anyway - most pruning is best done straight across as it makes the smallest wound for the plant to heal - if you get bugs in it, they will rot it no matter what shape it is.Link to this forum: What does the horticultural industry make of GW?
About this Board
Welcome to the new Gardening Board. If this is your first time, then make sure you check out the
or  to take part in a discussion.
The message board is currently closed for posting.
Weekdays 09:00-00:00
Weekends 10:00-00:00
This messageboard is .
Find out more about this board's
Search this Board
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú iD
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú navigation
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú links
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú © 2014 The Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.