Berryfields is no more.
No, I don't mean it's been smashed to smithereens by a meteorite, just that Gardeners' World won't be filmed there any more. This comes as no surprise, really - each new lead presenter likes to make their mark on the show, and so it is with Toby Buckland. The new territory will be a chance for him to stamp his identity on a new arena. The BBC press release says:
In the new series, starting in April, new presenter Toby Buckland and his team will face the challenge of transforming a muddy grassy playing field into the nation's new back garden, and viewers will be able to follow its progress across the coming year. Toby's ambitious plans for the site include creating a huge and colourful "urban meadow" sown from hardy garden annuals and featuring a stunning range of sunflowers and dahlias. This will be a haven for city insects and especially for the declining bee population. His new city vegetable garden will give inspiration to the many trying to grow their own in their own back yards. The garden location will also feature a row of front and back gardens, reflecting the very small urban and suburban spaces that many of us have to garden in.
Sounds as if this new garden "in the heart of Birmingham" won't have the feel of "country estate garden" that Berryfields has always carried. And that's got to be a good thing, right? I mean, who on earth has room for a pond that size? I likek the sound of the city veg garden, being that way inclined, but wonder what the front and back gardens will be like. It's really hard for these kind of supposedly "real" TV gardens to feel genuine because, well, unlike most of our gardens they'll be preened for TV. No cat poo on the lawn, no faded plastic children's wheelbarrow half-slung into the flower bed, no compost heap with the lid half off and and adorned with a fetching old pink sheet - or is that just my garden?
Interestingly, the presser also says that viewers will be invited into the "new GW potting shed at the end of the show, to discuss pictures and messages and decide "what's hot and what's not" in the gardening world each week". Can't figure out of this is going to be cool or deadly or just boring. Guess it depends on what viewers they pick.
If Toby Buckland can tell me how to get rid of the cats that poo in my finely sown seed bed, I'll marry him and have his children!
Posted by: Matron | February 28, 2009 at 09:20 PM
Good grief Matron, you must be desperate.;-) It does help to have a cat of your own that protects its garden from the neighbourhood felines.
The urban meadow sounds promising and so does the city veg garden. Of course we'll have to wait and see how things pan out.
But I will miss Berryfields!
Posted by: Yolanda Elizabet | March 02, 2009 at 12:33 PM
I believe Tony Buckland is not in need of a wife or children as he is happily married to the garden writer Lisa Buckland and they have already produced the next generation of gardeners. I rather look forward to the new plot.
Posted by: Lila Das Gupta | March 03, 2009 at 10:16 PM
I think it's good to have a move from Berryfields - if only to stop them saying "Here at Berryfields..." at the beginning of every sentence.
I vote that they invite Arabella Sock into the potting shed!
Posted by: HappyMouffetard | March 10, 2009 at 02:59 PM
The big question is: what name are they going to concoct for it? First it was Barleywood, then Berryfields - they clearly like amalgamations of unconnected rural ideas. At least Barnsdale was a real place. As for Clack's Farm...
Posted by: Graham Rice | March 13, 2009 at 11:59 AM
Are they really turning an inner city playing field into a TV set? I don't want to rain on anyones parade, but surely someone who parades green credentials so publicly has thought this through?
Posted by: the curious gardener | March 16, 2009 at 04:17 PM
I don't really know what to think of this one. Will have to mull it over.
I think part of the disappointment for me is that I aspire to have a wonderful garden such as Berryfields and maybe a new site struggling to develop may be less than inspirational?
From what has been written an "urban meadow" with sunflowers and dahlias sounds pretty poor. City veg. gardens don't excite the brain cells either.
Yes, I'm a cynic and I'm sure it will be great as it has been approved for TV, but I can't help but think that this in essence is nothing new. Losing Berryfields may prove a big loss!
Maybe I have just slipped into the older generation of gardener's world viewers, but at 24 I'm not sure? Maybe this new series will provide inspiration for the next generation?
Posted by: ryan | March 20, 2009 at 07:59 AM
I watched the GW programme about using peat and peat free compost the other night. Apparently gardeners are only responsible for taking out about 1 to 3% of the total peat dug each year. Most of the rest is used in.. peat fired stoves and power stations. Why are gardeners being picked on?
Posted by: Matron | March 29, 2009 at 04:29 PM
The new GW is ghastly, clearly produced by someone who spends all their time watching Top Gear 'd rather be on Top Gear and can't construct a sentence without using the words "relevant" and accessible". Haven't they twigged that people who tune into a programme called "Gardener's World" are already quite into gardening, and don't need to be encouraged with packets of free seeds (as if buying seeds was the difficult bit)?
There's still the odd nugget of information hidden in amongst the banter, but most it belongs on Blue Peter.
Posted by: MickGJ | May 04, 2009 at 02:56 PM
I am doing a project, in which I give out seeds of the surviving trees of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima to the people of the US and the world. If you are interested, I can send you the seeds.
Posted by: Hiroshi Sunairi | May 26, 2009 at 02:33 AM