Plant Hunting Nurseryman on BBC2 TV 23/08/13

[Maggi Young]

Michael Wickenden  from Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway in the South West of Scotland is appearing on Gardeners' World on BBC" this evening at 20.30 hours.

The  programme notes say :
"Carol Klein visits a nursery in the Scottish Borders which is full of rare plants.
Most of us pop down to the local garden centre when we fancy getting a few new plants. Not Michael Wickeneden, though.  Since 1987, he's gone on about 15 plant-collecting expeditions to China, Uganda, Japan, Tasmania and New Guinea with the result that his 18th-century walled garden  in Gatehouse of Fleet is stuffed with unusual and exotic plants."

Michael Wickenden's nursery is Cally Gardens

[mark smyth]

He came across very well

[Maggi Young]

I thought so too, Mark but there was the eternal frustration of the segment being too short. It's as if  TV programmes cannot bear to give  such contributors a decent  showing - you'd think they'd want to maximise the return from the costs of sending out an OB team !

When one contrasts this situation with the overkill of chat seen recently by assorted pundits on the World Athletic championships- where it appeared that every retired athlete that could be trundled onto our screens was given endless time to rabbit on to no useful effect at all - at the same time as the viewer was denied footage of actual events taking place in the background . (sigh!!) There is certainly one rule for some programmes but  not others.

[mark smyth]

I agree. GW crams in too much when it can give more to interesting subjects. Do we need to see tomatoes every year? I don't think so. Nor do we need to see Monty cutting hedges.

Athlectics - yes they do spend too much time chatting

Good to see Chris Beardshaw back on TV, Beechgrove Garden on BBC Scotland, but I feel he isn't given enough time to shine. It was great to see Carols hair tied back last week. My mum agreed also.

Maybe we need a TV thread!

[David Nicholson]

Maybe we need a TV thread!

Don't let's bother!

[Mark Griffiths]

My wife is constantly amused by me shouting at the TV when we watch Gardener's World.

I really want to see the minature alpine garden in a pan Monty created in spring which included a mossy saxifrage and sedum acre. My bet is the mossy is brown in the centre - asuming it's visible underneath the sedum.

I've long given up expecting anything with any real depth on the various subjects that interest me on TV but I still sometimes like a good shout.

[ChrisB]

I rarely tune in to GW any more, but I did manage to catch this item on Friday night.  Michael came across really well bravo!  Agree Mark, Monty Don's tomatoes do nothing for me no matter how he grows them and I'm sick and tired of people eating food on TV and telling the camera how good it tastes so to see it again on GW I turned off again.  Don't like that show any more, doesn't do it for me.

[fermi de Sousa]

Chris,
I know what you mean.
We were getting old episodes of GW here on one of the commercial stations - they were old episodes and were something different for us.
Our main gardening program "Gardening Australia" has been severely "dumbed down" and mainly looks at vegie growing and school and community projects - very little for us gardeners!
cheers
fermi

[Brian Ellis]

I think I have the ideal answer for Gardener's World.  I record it and fast forward through all the bits/presenters that are irritating, sometimes I can see the whole programme in less than a minute and a half

[ChrisB]

Might try that Brian 

[Brian Ellis]

It makes the programme far more bearable Chris

[Michael J Campbell]

If you didn't watch GW how would know how to cut a box hedge or tie up clg roses or even how to cut grass after the bulbs have finished flowering. and where else would you find out about the taste of tomatoes. very educational 

[mark smyth]

If you didn't watch GW how would know how to cut a box hedge or tie up clg roses or even how to cut grass after the bulbs have finished flowering. and where else would you find out about the taste of tomatoes. very educational 

They have been doing this as long as I can remember

[mark smyth]

I record it and fast forward through all the bits/presenters that are irritating, sometimes I can see the whole programme in less than a minute and a half

I do that too