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BRITISH GARDENING TELEVISION FANS, HAVE I GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU

January 22, 2015

I can’t tell you how happy I am that so many of you have been enjoying the British gardening television shows I’ve been linking to for the last year. It makes me feel like a normal human being, because when I see a new show pop up on my Youtube feed, I get downright giddy, immediately drop everything I’m doing and sit down and watch it.

And I found another one that I think you’ll really like. It’s called “Monty Don’s Big Dreams, Small Spaces.” Just the title encompasses so many things that I love: Monty Don? Obsessed. Big Dreams? Well, yeah, who doesn’t have big gardening dreams? Small Spaces: Check.

Sadly there are only five of the hour-long shows. Each episode features two families who are creating new gardens over the course of a year. My man Monty shows up in the beginning to help them with their plans, once or twice in the middle of the project to pitch in and then comes back a year later to see how the garden ended up. The gardens ranged from low-budget overalls to $20,000 dream gardens. Some of the concepts and designs were downright strange, but to Monty’s credit, even though you knew he was thinking, ‘This is not going to work,’ he never tried to talk people out of their dream garden but tried to help them make the design more practical.

So here’s my question: What would you do if Monty Don or any other serious gardening expert came to your garden and suggested ways you could improve it? I know I’d be taking notes and probably doing exactly what they suggested. I found it interesting that that’s not the case in this series. There were some homeowners who were so set in their plans, no matter how impractical, that they weren’t going to listen to a thing Monty said. That sort of blows my mind.

Anyway, give it a watch and see what you think of it. I like it because it’s gardening on a bit more approachable level.

And I have even better news for you. I figured out how to set up a Youtube channel with playlists of all my favorite gardening shows. So now you don’t have to wade through a mass of links in posts. You can just go to the channel. I got most of the shows I’ve mentioned before linked there into playlists by show and I’ll add more as I find them.

I’ve added the latest in “The Great British Garden Revival” to that playlist and you may want to check out a show that is airing on a different network called “Show Me Your Garden.” There’s only one episode up so far but I’ll be on the lookout for more. The quality isn’t as good as in the BBC shows, unfortunately.

It sounds like “Gardener’s World” is set to return in March, which seems like it’s ages away.

monty don television youtube
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
12 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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Comments

  1. Garden Fancy says: January 23, 2015 at 5:23 am

    Thanks again for another garden show recommendation. February and March are the time of year I get so desperate for spring that I have to turn to my garden video stash, but it will be fun to have new ones this spring! -Beth

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: January 28, 2015 at 4:33 pm

      Gardeners' World starts again March 6. I can't wait! In the meantime I'm plowing through about my fourth watching of all the previous seasons I can find. I'm so frustrated that I can't find the 2013 season anywhere!

      Reply
    • Kate says: October 5, 2020 at 9:57 am

      You made me laugh. I went through the same process /frustration of why there isn’t any Good gardening shows. Big dreams small spaces is my favorite and after completing the 3rd season, I got totally bummed when I realized there are not any other quality gardening shows like that. I went through the quest to find anything else typing words like permaculture, homesteading, gardening etc. I even tried to email the new magnolia media network begging them for garden shows figuring maybe chip and joann would step up on missing market. Anyway here are a couple I found that you might like the big flower fight and can you dig this.

      Reply
  2. Heather - New House New Home says: January 23, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    I'm obsessed with Monty too – discovered him on Fork to Fork (when he was much younger) and love him on Gardeners World. Can't wait to enjoy this new series.

    How is the Year at Kew Gardens series? Worth watching?

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: January 28, 2015 at 4:32 pm

      Kew Gardens is interesting, but I don't find it to be as educational as the other shows. Still, it's a pretty fascinating look behind the scenes. Also a good education in why female gardeners should probably always wear bras.

      Reply
  3. Casa Mariposa says: January 24, 2015 at 10:11 pm

    I'm going to check these out!! Woo hoo!

    Reply
  4. Kim says: January 28, 2015 at 4:29 pm

    These are GREAT!!!! Thanks for passing on all of these very entertaining and educational shows!

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: January 28, 2015 at 4:31 pm

      You're welcome! I'm glad you're enjoying them. Isn't it amazing how much better they are than anything that passes for gardening television in the U.S.?

      Reply
  5. Helen Cronin says: February 16, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    Hi Erin
    I am the lady in the photograph that heads this post, I am standing with my husband and Monty discussing our newly finished Norwegian garden! That was 2 1/2 years ago. The garden has gone from strength to strength and looks even lovelier now. I am sorry that the YouTube film of the series got taken down. They often repeat the series on British TV but at awkward times and sometimes don't even include our episode.
    It is lovely to know how much British gardening programmes are appreciated over the pond.
    Helen

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: February 16, 2017 at 1:49 pm

      Welcome, Helen! I remember your garden and I'm so happy to hear that it just keeps getting better. The good news is that I've figured out how to watch BBC programming on iPlayer so I'm catching all my favorite gardening programs there. Although in this winter wasteland before Gardener's World and Beechgrove Garden are back on I've been forced to watch episodes of "Gardening from A to Z," all of which I've seen at least five times already. You have such great garden programming in the U.K., unlike anything we can get here.

      Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: February 16, 2017 at 1:49 pm

      Also, I'm supremely envious that you've met Monty.

      Reply
    • Helen Cronin says: February 19, 2017 at 8:47 pm

      Thanks Erin for your reply. I forgot to tell you that you can see up-to-date photos of the garden by following the links on my blog http://www.leavesfrommygarden.co.uk. I am also hoping to blog a bit about what it was like to make the programme.
      Kind regards
      Helen

      Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I fell in love with gardening through container de I fell in love with gardening through container design and it’s probably still my favorite type of gardening. My trip to Philadelphia area gardens was full of so many excellent ideas. For several years I’ve been enamored with clustered pots, but in my opinion they work best when they are able to stand alone in a space. And you probably know me well enough by now to know that as far as I’m concerned, the bigger the pot, the better. Feast your eyes on these beauties and use your zooming fingers to really get into those nooks and crannies. 

Don’t forget to save your favorites because you know you’re going to be looking for them come next spring. 😀

Photos 1 & 2: Amazing container cluster at @longwoodgardens  that works particularly well because of the restraint used in the design. Also how many different ways is the universe going to tell me I need to grow agave before I actually listen?

Photo 3: This was probably favorite display I saw the whole time and of course it’s from the masters at @chanticleergarden This is a master class in texture. It’s also probably not attainable for the average home gardener because it relies heavily on tropicals that need proper overwintering in order to reach a good size. But there’s no reason why I (or you) couldn’t use this as inspiration to create a similar feel with other plants. 

Photo 4: Strappy foliage, bright orange and colorful pots create such a good doorway collection at @chanticleergarden 

Photo 5, 6 & 7: Similar colors were used at a patio doorway at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm home garden. A pot is perfectly framed by an arbor off a side patio. The front entrance has a pink theme (and an amazing feature pot that I couldn’t show here because all my shots are vertical). 

Photo 8: Back to @chanticleergarden where I could have studied this container planting for an hour just to soak up all the detail. 

Photo 9: And while I love a pot with a lot going on, never underestimate the power of a simply planted, gorgeous pot, like this one at @abunting64 garden Belvidere. 

#gbfling2023
I think every garden probably needs a little bit o I think every garden probably needs a little bit of water, even if it’s just a bird bath. All of the fabulous gardens I saw recently in the Philadelphia area incorporated water into them. Here are just a few examples of how lovely these water features were. 

@paxsonhillfarm @northviewgarden @brandywinecottage @longwoodgardens #gbfling2023
Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the vi Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the view even though we all know that most of us rarely take the opportunity to use them. The seating I saw in gardens in the Philadelphia area reflected their gardens and all were special. 

Make sure to share your favorite!

Photo 1:  I adored these perfectly lichen-covered chairs at @brandywinecottage

Photo 2: Great lichen game on this bench at Wayne Guymon’s mind-blowing garden WynEden. 

Photo 3: Perhaps my favorite seating moment of the whole trip was this chair in @jennyrosecarey @northviewgarden . Not only was it perfectly lichen covered (are you sensing a theme here?) but a volunteer cleome was growing right up through the middle of it. Unfortunately this photo of it isn’t grata because by this point in the trip my phone (I didn’t want to use my DSLR in the middle of the tropical storm so I switched to my phone) was getting very grumpy about the rain. 

Photo 4: I’d be happy to hang out on these chairs in @abunting64 ‘s gorgeous garden Belvidere. I loved this space. 

Photo 5: Color was the name of the game on this patio at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm. 

Photo 6: The most original table and benches I saw were at @abunting64 garden. This was a portion of the garden that was actually on the neighbors’ property adjacent to Andrew’s. It had been a vegetable garden but is getting a bit too shady so it will soon have a new life. 

Photo 7: We visited Barbara Tiffany’s Mill Fleurs in a deluge, which is a shame, and dotted throughout the property are examples of her husband Tiff’s amazing furniture. This was, called the Centipede was upholstered and quite different from the others. All were amazing works of art. 

Photos 8 and 9: The @scott_arboretum at @swarthmorecollege had some excellent seating, from brand new @deebenarc chairs to more lichen-covered charmers.

#gbfling2023
*** I can already see that some people do not unde *** I can already see that some people do not understand humor so let me just say this: 1. I was fully aware of the escaped convict situation (I’m an avid follower of the news, which is common for us journalists). 2. It’s ok to laugh about the fact that I’ve missed the Longwood meadow twice through weird circumstances while being a rational adult and realizing that I’m not making light of the situation that led to the meadow being mown. ***

I missed seeing @longwoodgardens beautiful meadow the first time I visited so I was excited to see it the second time. Not so fast! Turns out it had to be mown down during the search for an escaped convict who was hiding out there (at least that’s what I was told was the reason for the mowing). He’ll never see goldenrod the same way again! 😀

That whole situation was really unfortunate for @longwoodgardens (not to mention everyone who lives in the area), which had to be closed for about a week while the hunt was on!
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