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Gardener of the Year

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Messages: 1 - 50 of 83
  • Message 1. 

    Posted by Richardf77 (U2391775) on Friday, 25th September 2009

    I have to say I am greatly disapointed with this years contest. By incorporating it within GW it appears to be a shadow of its former self. The challenges given to the contestants are pretty basic tasks, that most of us should be able to do. If you can create a garden to get you into the finals of Gardener of the Year you should be able to plant a pot and take a few cuttings with your eyes closed! What ever happened to the tests of true horticultural mettle we have seen in the past?

    I also understand the winner is to be decided by public vote. How very 'X Factor' or 'Strictly'. Not I feel the way to decide the best gardener. It will just be another TV popularity contest. I always has every cconfidence it the competitions judges to make the right deciscion based on their experience.

    No I think this is just another case of the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú 'dumbing down' their programmes to make them more 'popular'. I will follow the contest but wont be voting or even take it particularly seriously. That said the Finalists' gardens (so far) look very nice.

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  • Message 2

    , in reply to message 1.

    Posted by monkey-on-the-fence (U14149745) on Sunday, 27th September 2009

    totally agree on that, they're not showing much.
    Its not the gardeners fault as they can only do what is asked of them.
    All the gardens so far have been nice but it will be difficult for the public to judge.
    I really liked the garden in Norwich as its something different - someone thinking outside the box on what a garden should be.
    Can we see more please.

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  • Message 3

    , in reply to message 1.

    Posted by Kathy (U898169) on Friday, 2nd October 2009

    It's strange how it is now just a small part of Gardeners' World instead of a programme itself. Did the last one get bad ratings or something?

    Report message3

  • Message 4

    , in reply to message 3.

    Posted by David K (U2221642) on Saturday, 3rd October 2009

    I certainly wouldn't care for Toby Buckland judging whether or not I was a competent gardener!

    Report message4

  • Message 5

    , in reply to message 1.

    Posted by ssaffron (U11429861) on Saturday, 3rd October 2009

    I agree with you.My OH thought the prog was
    Blue Peter!

    Report message5

  • Message 6

    , in reply to message 5.

    Posted by mirandalulu (U4817173) on Monday, 5th October 2009

    I don't understand what we're supposed to be voting for, given that we've see a very quick look at (not necessarily round) their gardens, that they can, or can't make a decent arrangement of plants that they may or may not have grown with the correct compost (easily looked up), and that they can or can't take decent cuttings of one dead easy plant and one medium easy plant.

    Do they grow from cuttings/seed/scratch ?
    Do they have a knowledge of pests and diseases ?
    .................and that's just for starters.

    Like many other viewers I despair of Toby's World - though I'm sure it's less his responsibility than the producer's - simplistic, often misleading; Carol is the only saving grace.

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  • Message 7

    , in reply to message 6.

    Posted by David K (U2221642) on Monday, 5th October 2009

    Don't give em your money!

    Report message7

  • Message 8

    , in reply to message 1.

    Posted by Richardf77 (U2391775) on Monday, 5th October 2009

    I would also like to add that folowing the recent edition of the competition last friday that i dont particularly rate the judging panel. Or rather they are not being made best use of. Toby is fine, but alys doesnt seem to say nuch oithetr than to rephrase what toby says and as for Colin Crosbie the RHS chap, well I know he is a good gardener and knows his stuff - from other times I have seen him on TV. On GotY all he seems to do is state the flipping (expletive deleted) obvious! You learn nothing new from what he says and can see what he is on about for yourself.

    As i said before nice gardens, shame about the competition. A complete waste of time.

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  • Message 9

    , in reply to message 7.

    Posted by jungle_jane (U1807090) on Tuesday, 6th October 2009

    Don't give em your money!  

    The Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú has to payback that expensive greenhouse at greenacre somehow.

    Report message9

  • Message 10

    , in reply to message 6.

    Posted by dottiesue (U14136301) on Tuesday, 6th October 2009

    I agree - how can you judge based on the little we are shown? I used to like watching the comp when it was a series of progs in its own right. I also don't think I could judge another gardener as I don't know enough myself, I used to like the feedback from the judges when they explained why a particular garden won.

    Report message10

  • Message 11

    , in reply to message 10.

    Posted by NCFCcrazy (U8661784) on Friday, 9th October 2009

    Whats really stood out for me is that all of the gardeners have spent an awful lot of money on their gardens, how many of us could afford to build a lake in our garden!

    Im sure any of us could make the top 5 with those sort of funds.

    Im not voting but if i was going to, it would go to Gillian, at least we could see that she is a proper gardener through and through, the evidence was all around..

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  • Message 12

    , in reply to message 11.

    Posted by londonplantmad (U2392946) on Saturday, 10th October 2009

    Obviously no ordinary gardener wanted to be humiliated by taking part.

    Report message12

  • Message 13

    , in reply to message 12.

    Posted by Saggie (U3503495) on Saturday, 10th October 2009

    Just to add, in last night's programme the contestant put a plastic bag over the geranium cuttings - surely this isn't right! smiley - erm

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  • Message 14

    , in reply to message 13.

    Posted by rini (U2365378) on Saturday, 10th October 2009

    The competition is a complete joke. I hope that viewers will boycott voting. Three out of five gardens were enormous and looked quite similar to me.

    Report message14

  • Message 15

    , in reply to message 14.

    Posted by evvajo (U13984175) on Saturday, 10th October 2009

    I can only agree with rini. How many average gardeners have such huge plots of land? They hardly qualify as domestic gardens at all. Last night's entry was just unbelievable. There are probably hundreds of us out there who have the skill and talent to knock the stuck-up finalists sideways but I wonder how far you'd get if you entered with a regular suburban garden? The competition is a joke - I can't believe they want us to vote based on what we've seen. I've lost all interest in it now.

    Report message15

  • Message 16

    , in reply to message 15.

    Posted by Ariadne Knickerbocker (U4534559) on Saturday, 10th October 2009

    It's very difficult to judge enormous gardens without actually being in them and wandering around seeing how they work. I feel a little sorry for the contestant last night as she has as much right to enter her garden as someone with a small garden and little money. It is never going to be a level playing field unless they do as they used to and give everyone £500 to design a small garden from scratch.

    People often say "we could all do that if we had the time/money" but is that really true? I'm not sure I'd know where to even start on a large garden and it requires a different set of knowledge and planting schemes to a smaller area.

    Perhaps they should just go back to the original format or junk the idea altogether.

    Report message16

  • Message 17

    , in reply to message 15.

    Posted by monkey-on-the-fence (U14149745) on Sunday, 11th October 2009

    ewajo - how can you really judge the finalists from 5 mins air time and to say they are stuck up is a bit strong. The 3rd garden in Norwich is a regular suburban plot so your comment is a bit off the mark. Yes I must agree with the 5th garden, its not your regular garden by far. How many landscape gardeners did she have to dig that lake? At least they said the 3rd guy built all the decking himself.

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  • Message 18

    , in reply to message 17.

    Posted by the cycling gardener (U2350416) on Tuesday, 13th October 2009

    I won't be casting a vote because I haven't seen enough of the gardens to be able to make a fully informed decision. As I've mentioned before, the judging process and presentation of the gardens and gardeners in a 5 minute quickie overview to the voting viewer has devalued the award. The beautiful gardens and worthy contestants deserve much more than that.

    Report message18

  • Message 19

    , in reply to message 18.

    Posted by Obelixx (U2157162) on Tuesday, 13th October 2009

    I don't like this farcical format for GOTY and don't believe it deserves any votes.

    However, I did enjoy seeing the little we did of the contestants' gardens and wish they could have had more air time. For the most part the judges' views were vacuous flannel and unhelpful.

    As for the gardens, there was certainly a commendable variety of size and style to suit many tastes and their owners and creators have every right to be proud.

    I don't see why no 5 should be harangued for having enough money to buy a huge field and convert it to a garden. It is, effectively, what I have done though on a smaller scale of half a hectare. You don't need an army of landscape contractors, just vision, patience, a man with a bulldozer for a day to level the bumps and scrape out the pond (maybe 2 or 3 days in her case), an OH with a Tiller to dig over new borders as they are developed plus some skill and luck at sowing seeds and propagating to fill the gaps between bought trees, shrubs and plants.

    Report message19

  • Message 20

    , in reply to message 19.

    Posted by Richardf77 (U2391775) on Tuesday, 13th October 2009

    I think all it boils down to is which garden do you like the best rather than the gardener, which kind of makes a mockery of the title 'Gardener of the Year'. I cant see any other way to look at it given that basically the garden is all you are shown to judge the gardener by - and you only have their word for it that its is all their own work (i am sure it is but how do we know for certain?).

    No to my mind this is NOT Gardener of the Year, any more than those so called versions of the competition which were based around the design and construction of a show garden were genuine gardener of the year competitions. Garden of the Year maybe but i have seen better private gardens than these 5.

    Report message20

  • Message 21

    , in reply to message 20.

    Posted by Gem (U13964749) on Tuesday, 13th October 2009

    I think all it boils down to is which garden do you like the best rather than the gardener, which kind of makes a mockery of the title 'Gardener of the Year' 

    After last weeks programme OH said IF he was to vote it would be for the tropical garden, why, because he liked it !!!!

    I will not be voting because as Dottiesue said I also don't think I could judge another gardener as I don't know enough myself,  .

    I stand in awe of the previous winners, and believe them to be worthy of the title, why - because I could see the talant they must have and am led to understand that they went through a number "tests" to prove these skills to professional gardeners. Please don't take this the wrong way, I am not acusing these contestants in anyway, but, given the time and money anyone can produce a garden worthy of entering ( you simply need to employ a professional - a previous Gardner of the Year perhaps !! to do the work for you ). The point is - to provide a completed garden and take a few cuttings is in my humble opinion - not enough.

    rant over

    Gem

    Report message21

  • Message 22

    , in reply to message 21.

    Posted by everhopeful (U11289037) on Tuesday, 13th October 2009

    How cld we possibly vote for GARDENER of the year just by seeing the gardens on TV.plus watching them do 2 simple jobs.We didnt see them creating the gardens and I wld think we wld need evidence of before and after and that they had not been done proffesionally.
    If the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú are hoping to make money with phone calls i think they may be mistaken as surely not many people will vote.It just makes a mockery of the title and I wld think the previous winners must feel that they worked harder for the honour.

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  • Message 23

    , in reply to message 22.

    Posted by David K (U2221642) on Tuesday, 13th October 2009

    If the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú are hoping to make money with phone calls i think they may be mistaken as surely not many people will vote. 

    Did I mention...don't give em your money???

    Report message23

  • Message 24

    , in reply to message 20.

    Posted by NCFCcrazy (U8661784) on Tuesday, 13th October 2009

    Good point Richard, it is the garden we are judging and not the gardener. Unlike yourself, Im not convinced that its all the gardeners work, least of all last weeks.

    I do however know for fact that John Kelf from Norwich did the work himself, he is my friends uncle.

    The horticulture tests were a joke, basic stuff.

    Report message24

  • Message 25

    , in reply to message 24.

    Posted by woodsideliz (U14168250) on Wednesday, 14th October 2009

    I also think GOTY is a farce. I really enjoyed the camaraderie that built up among previous contestants. The old format was a true test of a gardeners all-round ability. The Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú are dumming down yet again.

    Report message25

  • Message 26

    , in reply to message 22.

    Posted by Richardf77 (U2391775) on Wednesday, 14th October 2009

    So who will vote. Doubtless some will, including those who will vote on anything on TV given the chance but it wont be true gardeners will it?

    I wont and i encourage as many of you as possible not to do so either. That will show the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú what we think of this years format!

    Report message26

  • Message 27

    , in reply to message 24.

    Posted by chocaholic (U14173576) on Wednesday, 14th October 2009

    You are completely correct NCFC in saying Jon Kelf has created his garden from scratch by himself as I know it for a fact also. His is a more normal garden size in this day and age plus it's so nice to see something different from the border garden. Also with how we are to conserve water these days it's another good point for the Jungle Garden, who want's to spend hours watering all those pots shown in garden 4. The Jungle Garden stands out by far from all the others in my opinion.

    Report message27

  • Message 28

    , in reply to message 27.

    Posted by Obelixx (U2157162) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    Personally, I think jungle gardens in the UK are an aberration. They need to be wrapped up and cosseted to get them through the winter if any authentic palms and creepers and foliage plants are used which means they have a very short season of interest and look ghastly all winter.

    It's about as sensible and sustainable as the 19th century habit of shipping in mountains of peat to make an acidic garden to grow fashionable rhodos, azaleas and camellias.

    Give me a well planned, planted and cared for garden using plants that are suited to local conditions of soil, rainfall and climate any day over a pretend jungle.

    Report message28

  • Message 29

    , in reply to message 28.

    Posted by monkey-on-the-fence (U14149745) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    Well thats complete rubbish Obelixx and shows what you know about jungle gardening. Before you make statements like that, you need to do your homework. Hopefully this guy from Norwich wins and can show what can be acheived easily in the UK.
    There are an array of plants which are perfectly hardy in the UK and need no wrapping and cosseting to get through the winter. Infact they are more suited to alot of local conditions rather than 'standard' garden plants.
    There are many forms of gardening in the UK and some people know more about certain styles than others. Thank god there's people out there doing different. We need to learn from these people and not slate them from 5 mins of air time from which we learn very little!

    Report message29

  • Message 30

    , in reply to message 29.

    Posted by Obelixx (U2157162) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    I have a right to my opnions based on what I have seen without people being rude when I express them.

    I cite, as just one example, the travesty of a jungle garden that was paraded on GW from Berryfields. Also, the palm type plants they planted in the "hot" dry garden needed wrapping every winter. Alan Titchmarsh planted a whole load of tree ferns in Hampshire that need wrapping every winter and Christopher Lloyd couldn't do a jungle garden that didn't need its plants cosseting over winter.

    I can just about see the point of trying the odd palm on the west coast in the path of the Gulf Stream but not anywhere else. I very much enjoy looking out on a winter scene, be it sunny, frozen misted or dripping with rain, as long as it is unencumbered by fleece and wrappings of straw and chicken wire and all the other unsightly means of protection.

    Bare stems with or without added bark interest, evergreen foliage, seedheads and winter flowers all look so much more beautiful in their natural state.

    Report message30

  • Message 31

    , in reply to message 30.

    Posted by treechange (U14126469) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    Alan Titchmarsh planted a whole load of tree ferns in Hampshire 

    I saw that programme Obelixx and it made me so angry - especially where AT justified his sourcing by saying something like
    ' these ferns are a by-product of the forestry industry in Australia,
    and would have otherwise been destroyed'.

    What he had were Dicksonias of about 30 years old, and thus taken from Tasmania where old growth forest to this day is being clear felled for such things as wood pulp!

    Just because a government says a practice is 'legal', doesn't mean it is to be condoned. AT's tree ferns were most probably part of a habitat containing some trees upwards of 300 years old

    Tree ferns are not difficult to grow, but from a nursery you would never get such large specimens unless you paid a very large amount of money for them.

    I personally have no problems with 'jungle-like' gardens which contain exotic species, but please, please, please unless there is a verifiable nursury name on your tree fern where it has been grown, DO NOT BUY THEM!

    Report message31

  • Message 32

    , in reply to message 29.

    Posted by David K (U2221642) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    monkey-on-the-fence, (interesting choice of name) you’re not the first person to visit these boards who thinks their opinion is the only one that matters.
    I for one think Obelixx makes very valid points and I wholeheartedly agree with her. Even if I didn't I would respect them.

    I take it you don't subscribe to the Voltaire school of thought.

    Report message32

  • Message 33

    , in reply to message 30.

    Posted by monkey-on-the-fence (U14149745) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    As I said its all down to what plants are grown and where the garden is situated.
    I know the palms you mean which were planted at Berryfields. The were Brahea Armata which aren't really suitable for the UK. GW should have done their research better. Treeferns in the majority of the country do not need protection! Because they look tropical and exotic, people automatically think they aren't hardy so need protection. Where they originate from in Tasmania and the Southern Alps in Victoria, they suffer from freezing temps and snow.
    To say you see the point of growing the odd palm on the west coast is again rather a traditional view. Many palms are perfectly happy (many even grow better) away from this area. The opinion of using fleece, straw and chicken wire is something which originated when exotic gardening first started. Since then many gardeners have found that the plants are much hardier than given credit for and don't need the protection. Some even do better without any protection than try to be cosseted through the winter.
    Evergreen foliage with palms and bamboos can look fantastic during the winter. Frost on a Trachycarpus Wagnerianus leaf looks as good as anything during the winter.
    At the end of the day, plants which make the mainstay of exotic gardens come from areas of the world which can be just as cold as the UK.
    Exotic gardenening is another form for where people can express themselves in their gardens and shouldn't be dismissed more readily than other styles. It has its place and the 'you can't grow that, its not hardy' brigade could learn a thing or two. Its new and maybe people don't like change but in the right place, is just as effective as any other form of gardening.

    Report message33

  • Message 34

    , in reply to message 33.

    Posted by monkey-on-the-fence (U14149745) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    Obelixx - some of you points are very valid but others are a bit misguided. I wouldn't state that I don't like a form of gardening because of 'x, y, z' if I don't know the full facts.
    Anyway this should be about GOTY. At the end of the day, us viewers have very little to go on apart from seeing a nice garden plus hearing a few comments. This shouldn't be the way GOTY is judged.

    Report message34

  • Message 35

    , in reply to message 34.

    Posted by Obelixx (U2157162) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    Well Monkey. At least we agree on how not to judge a gardener - of the year or otherwise.

    As for hardiness, I have supposedly borderline hardy plants such as eucomis which came through a very cold winter last year but that same winter (-30C in January) killed off a whole swathe of supposedly hardy plants such as evergreen viburnum, choisya, conifers and so on plus quite a few clems and perennials too.

    That's an awful lot of money to replace but even before this happened I have felt for a long time that our winters are too unpredictable to risk planting exotics, especially those imported from other climes and habitats. As for the aesthetics, I've seen palms looking good on a sandy Caribbean beach but not in a back garden in suburbia or even on the seafront at Torquay.

    Report message35

  • Message 36

    , in reply to message 35.

    Posted by 1stClassAlan (U2459016) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    Reading through a few of the highly critical posts above the thought crosses my mind - doesn't the fact that you can look after plants that need cosseting over winter help make you a good gardener ?

    I studied at an old nursery who's grounds were contained within the Victorian walled vegetable garden of the two large adjoining houses - you could still read the bedding plan for 1842 on the doorframe of the propagator house. The Head Gardener - to be worthy of the name - was expected to produce pineapples for the Christmas Dinner table and anything up to ten vegetables as epicurian as possible. Bear in mind also that although there was steam heat in some greenhouses - the pineapple frames were hot beds only - the construction of which is an artform in itself.


    .

    Report message36

  • Message 37

    , in reply to message 36.

    Posted by londonplantmad (U2392946) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    I agree with the last posting about the expertise of the gardeners in those times in actually managing to produce a pineapple. The hard work and dedication by those gardeners was outstanding. However they were not their gardens. These were the gardens of the extremely rich who had a band of gardeners- maids- servants. As well as the money to experiment in this way. The staff also probably had to produce whatever the whim was and were paid a pittance for doing it. They produced ice cream without fridges and had ice rooms were they had to get the ice from. This was another world where the cost of that pineapple was of no consequence. It has no comparison to today but i can see your point about growing the exotic in our climate.

    Report message37

  • Message 38

    , in reply to message 35.

    Posted by monkey-on-the-fence (U14149745) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    Gardening in the UK is so varied and everyone has their opinion. Each to their own and if the garden is good, I enjoy it whatever the style.
    Gardening would be alot more boring if there was only one style.

    Some plants are easy, some more of a challenge but as you say 1stclassalan, if you grow more difficult plants, does it make you more of a gardener!

    I didn't bother to vote in the end. I wonder who did!

    Report message38

  • Message 39

    , in reply to message 38.

    Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Thursday, 15th October 2009

    I've deliberately delayed commenting until after the voting closed. I've never voted in TV competition and haven't made an exception for this one. Quite apart from my dislike of phone voting, I didn't feel capable of expressing an opinion on so little information.

    In the end, Gardener of the Year ought to represent an individual who has shown a range of capabilities and skills, fairly compared with an appropriate cohort of other entrants in that year.

    I wouldn't especially say that the ability to design and maintain a beautiful hardy herbaceous border indicated or more or less capable gardener than someone with the skills required to create a striking, well proportioned exotic garden. It's like comparing apples and oranges - literally.

    This problem arises here only because of the structure of this year's show. The baseline comparison of comparable activities was very limited, and we viewers got precious little insight into the candidates performances in that part. We were left comparing a very short film of their gardens and thus the predictable problems of comparing styles, money and support resources come to the fore. In previous competitions the question of personal resources has been resolutely kept out - rightly so.

    I do hope it's a one off year - perhaps a very late decision was taken to run it this way and there was no time to do anything else. Usually the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú does things very well or not at all, and GOTY should be no exception.

    Report message39

  • Message 40

    , in reply to message 39.

    Posted by everhopeful (U11289037) on Friday, 16th October 2009

    Interesting comments Trillium I was wondering what you and Bob were thinking, have you spoken about it. I feel sorry for this years contestants as I dont think they have been given a fair crack of the whip.But as you say maybe it will be a one off this year. Whoever wins good luck to them
    EH

    Report message40

  • Message 41

    , in reply to message 40.

    Posted by kandeakay (U9261848) on Friday, 16th October 2009

    I feel I was very lucky to have been a contestant in GOTY and been runner-up to Giant Trowel! we had a super time with plenty of opportunity to show our gardening skills -(or lack of - speaking for myself!)

    I feel this years competition shortchanges the contestants - there is no way to make an informed opinion about their ability apart from the pot/cuttings section (hardly comprehensive). Their gardens are all delightful - but difficult to compare. I do feel there should have been a definitive guide to How To Take The Cuttings so that new gardeners get the right idea!

    Hopefully next time it will be back to the more rigorous format - and with knowledgeable people to decide the winners rather than a phone-in.

    Report message41

  • Message 42

    , in reply to message 41.

    Posted by Obelixx (U2157162) on Friday, 16th October 2009

    I have to agree. I don't see how anyone can make a sensible decision based on a quick flick through a few shots of gardens and the planting of a container.

    Give 4 finalists a budget and the same size of space and aspect and then see what they do with it. Ask questions and test skills too. Do it without setting up fake drama and tension and in such a way the viewers can also test their knowledge in the quizzes and thus assess for themselves how good a contestant is.

    See how well each contestant's own garden is presented regardless of size or budget. Make sure the filming of each garden addresses site, scale and local climate so we can see how well plants and features have been chosen for the specific "terroir".

    Don't insult viewers' or contestants' intelligence with the crud we've been given in this year's GOTY.

    Report message42

  • Message 43

    , in reply to message 42.

    Posted by monkey-on-the-fence (U14149745) on Wednesday, 21st October 2009

    Quite agree Kandeakay and Obelixx.

    The winner will be announced this Friday, can't wait smiley - erm

    Report message43

  • Message 44

    , in reply to message 40.

    Posted by NCFCcrazy (U8661784) on Saturday, 24th October 2009

    Well the one person I didnt expect to win, won. That garden is huge, sort of place you would expect to pay to vist. I may be a pessimist, but I dont believe that she does that all herself.

    Report message44

  • Message 45

    , in reply to message 44.

    Posted by londonplantmad (U2392946) on Saturday, 24th October 2009

    I expected her to win but i did not want her to win. If she has created that garden herself and she does do it all herself then I am just being a mean old bag. To me that garden says lots of money spent on it to create and maintain it. Far too much time needed for one person on their own. She looks and dresses like someone who has plenty of money to spend on help in her garden and she obviously like to shop for clothes also and that takes time. What saddened me was the look on the other peoples faces when she won. They did not seem happy and were not quick with their congratulations. The whole thing was shabby and i am a mean old bag but an honest one.

    Report message45

  • Message 46

    , in reply to message 45.

    Posted by SparklyTwirler (U14172124) on Saturday, 24th October 2009

    I noticed the lack of camaraderie - when she waved the trophy towards the other contestants, there was a distinctlack of empathy - they all huddled together and could hardly raise a smile. I don't blame them either - was it gardenER of the year or just gardEN ??!!

    Report message46

  • Message 47

    , in reply to message 46.

    Posted by David K (U2221642) on Saturday, 24th October 2009

    My old friend, the late Arthur Billitt once said to me...'anyone can have a lovely garden, if they throw a stack of money at it'.

    Report message47

  • Message 48

    , in reply to message 46.

    Posted by garrigillgirl (U14111305) on Saturday, 24th October 2009

    Hi all,
    I noticed that also - not the usual group 'bonding' at all - something very wrong there, I thought......as I said on another thread the garden which won was the sort I would expect to pay to look round - it was massive. I note TB went to some lengths to say that she propagated and planted all the plants herself - blimey!!!! I, too, am a sad old bag - smiley - biggrin

    Report message48

  • Message 49

    , in reply to message 48.

    Posted by Ariadne Knickerbocker (U4534559) on Saturday, 24th October 2009

    I thought that most of the contestants looked a miserable bunch - although I think they had the right to look hacked off and embarrassed in that rather false situation of turning up at Greenacres just for the results.

    I don't agree that anyone can make a beautiful garden if they throw enough money at it.

    It isn't fair to castigate the winner because she happens to be well off and have a beautiful garden. She may have spent years and years creating it herself and having the vision, not just the money, to do so.

    The whole thing was a fiasco really - impossible to judge fairly and clearly the small number of telephone voters voted for Garden and not Gardener of the Year. I don't blame them for voting for that one because if you had a choice out of owning or visiting the competitors gardens it would most likely be the winner's garden you would want.

    As usual the producers, programme makers were at fault for turning the normally watchable GOTY into another load of rubbish.

    Report message49

  • Message 50

    , in reply to message 48.

    Posted by Sparky (U6716422) on Saturday, 24th October 2009

    Well sadly I think GOTY was a bit of a farce this year. I usually look forward to it and have been waiting for it to start. I really thought that the 'final' would give us a real chance to assess the contestants ability. How naive of me! Very shoddy job IMHO. I do hope they bring back a 'proper' format for next year.

    Report message50

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