Gardeners World

choille

I made raised beds here - Highlands, as it's so wet. I dug out all the paths & sifted the soil all the stones on the path for drainage - a lot of work. I am just finishing making a fresh one as run out of space for my tatties.
Last year it was so hot here all Summer - weird I know - I had to spend hours carting water from the burn to water everything! But have organised a hose this year - fingers crossed it'll be another scorcher.
I tried the lazy bed thing, but wouldn't recommend it as I couldn't keep the rack-couch grass out of the beds. That was hard making those, but I had to scrap it & dig out the edges & put in wood.
I am a fan of raised beds out of necessity here, but tattie growing is a bit of a pain when hoeing up & harvesting. However they are worth it.

maypole

SEE

A lovely couple of clips there.

Another excellent gardener to watch, Geoffrey Smith, god rest his soul, he was wonderful to watch and listen to.

Mojisola

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Don't say that, raised beds did not exist until GW took them up and presented them to the nation.
You will upset people on here I tell you....


That's just not fashionable, please tell him to desist and remember that all gardening must be run by rules.
Rule No.1 All plants must be green this year.
Rule No.2 All raised beds must be at least 2 foot deep.

And fgs, don't let him get his rows out of line, any rows no matter how short, should be straight and true.

That made me laugh - thanks!

Our neighbour is a very impressive, old-fashioned gardener who is self-sufficient in vegetables and salads every year - and has been for over forty years. There are lots of different ways to get gardening and, as you say, fashions come and go. Once people have a bit of experience, they will find what suits them best.

SEE

I just found this. I feel quite sad now:o

Gardeners' World bosses didn't want me, says presenter Carol Klein

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2602237/Gardeners-World-bosses-didnt-want-me-says-presenter-Carol-Klein.html

Lotus-eater

SEE they were brilliant clips. I don't think I've seen that program before. Had a quick search and it's available cheaper on Amazon than ebay....

I know what present I am asking for my birthday.

A._Badger

SEE wrote: »

I just found this. I feel quite sad now:o

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2602237/Gardeners-World-bosses-didnt-want-me-says-presenter-Carol-Klein.html

Rather than sexism, I suspect Klein might just as easily have fallen prey to ageism.
In its relentless pursuit of young audiences, the BBC seems to have developed a phobia about older presenters.

I find this odd as, personally, I tend to listen when someone who has done something for a lifetime tells me how!

Lotus-eater

I was half expecting Kim Wilde to take over tbh....

SEE

A._Badger wrote: »

Rather than sexism, I suspect Klein might just as easily have fallen prey to ageism.
In its relentless pursuit of young audiences, the BBC seems to have developed a phobia about older presenters.

I find this odd as, personally, I tend to listen when someone who has done something for a lifetime tells me how!

With a bit of luck they’ll make a programme just for us.
I know youngsters need to learn to garden but the present programme would be better aired on Saturday mornings on BBC1 sandwiched between pop bands and cartoons.
The £1000 spent on giant raised beds was a big no no, the hot or not is appalling, and the presenters are beyond condescending and are utterly childish.
Hamilton, Titchmarsh, Don, and Klein gave us basics, but they also gave us a view of what we could aspire to and dream of.

A._Badger

SEE wrote: »

With a bit of luck they’ll make a programme just for us.
I know youngsters need to learn to garden but the present programme would be better aired on Saturday mornings on BBC1 sandwiched between pop bands and cartoons.
The £1000 spent on giant raised beds was a big no no, the hot or not is appalling, and the presenters are beyond condescending and are utterly childish.
Hamilton, Titchmarsh, Don, and Klein gave us basics, but they also gave us a view of what we could aspire to and dream of.

Like Farway, who commented yesterday, I remember Percy Thrower in B&W (ain't it grand to be old?) and, by and large, I agree with what Farway said about the changing fashions. However, I think more than a greenwards shift has been taking place. I really do think, as you say, that the information content has diminished - it has been babyfied.

Incidentally, just to add a name to the roll of honour, one of the past presenters I much liked, and who has escaped mention so far, was Clay Jones. I enjoyed his down to earth (!) highly experienced experienced approach. I also liked the (at times a bit peppery) Prof. Stefan Buczacki. He was (is) a respected academic and brought some proper science to the programme - something distinctly missing, I feel..

amcluesent

Aren't raised beds needed because people don't dig over any more? When I had a larger garden, I always ran a tiller across the vegetable section, then it was easy enough to make paths between beds of 2.5m*1m just by walking up and down and pushing your heels into the soil. The tiller had a plough attachment, so making the rows for potatoes was simple.