I like Monty Don.

He's just jealous . . . I'll be glad to see Monty back.

wasnt aware he was picking on him. but I'm not a Monty fan. But I suspect he will be better than the current lot.

I like Monty too and will also be glad to see him back.

Monty is possibly not too 'earthy' enough for Mr Seabrook ?
Given Monty's life long health struggles & set-backs the man does well.
Can't please everyone now can we ;-) ??? Keep warm everyone.

I am curious to know how he has been picked on. I've not picked this up in the press.

I totally agreed with Peter Seabrooks comments about Mr Don,who is untrained whereas Toby and Alys are fully trained and are also more on a level with us gardeners who enjoy our little gardens and like to see tips and ideas for these ,not how to double dig a huge border.

I find all of them 'talk down to us'--and seem to find endless fascination with the basics forgetting each year what was said before.......

That's it, Pam, we're not all beginners . . in fact many keen gardeners are "enders", or at least have been doing it for many years. I know there's always something to learn, but I gave up on Toby.

Helen, I don't think whether you are trained or not has any bearing on whether you are a good Presenter on TV, but obviously they can't please everyone.

When Monty first got the anchor of GW I think he did an ok job,personally nobody as been as good as Geoff Hamilton my opinion.And I feel Toby and co havent been helped by the way ,barring the Chelsea and a few documentarys,the way theBBC give gardening coverage.Half an hour isnt enough and even GW could be shown twice a week.Anyway in the press Seabrook even now uses his shared newspaper column to critise Montys expertise. Personally I think Monty is ok and Seabrooks comments getting tedious.Maybe Seabrook never being GW anchorman says it all.Thank you for your comments . Chega

i dont think any of them should have a go at each other ~ thats not what they are there for
monty don wasnt nice to james martin on saturday kitchen so i havent forgiven him for that!
i thought toby was ok but there just wasnt anything on GW that interested me ~ who decides that bit ~ BBC or the presenters?

they're all wanna-be mini celebs nowadays bless em !!
I liked Percy Thrower's quiet solid attitude but that just has'nt got the razzmatazz it seems TV thinks we all crave today in the name of entertainment. Raspberries to the lot of em !!!!

bampy you should go on ~ that would be MUCH more interesting. and there are a few others from here that would do a very good job
i shant bother with GW ~ i shall stick with GoY ~
it is informative, interactive, relevant, amusing and friendly ~ what more could we want??

I don't like Monty Don :o(

and I do lol

Good job there is variation in the world ;)

Trust me ST, you would not want me presenting a garden program. Totally agree we GoY'ers have all the knowledge but not all of us have the tolerance & agreeability to co-exist.
I am speaking in the lighter vein but I do have this picture of a bunch of GoY'ers starting off the program with a cheery " Hello & welcome to GoYtime" only to see it ending with shallots at fifty paces & trowels sticking out the back of peoples heads !!!! ??? ;-))) LOL
Oh you gotta larf eh ?

I suppose a lot of us don't take well to all the tinkering that goes on nowadays. Monty Don was ill and now back. Alan Titmarsh abandoned ship and has slid back in sideways.....sort of. Perhaps we should have yoof gardening programmes.....How to garden and text at the same time. Or garden and throw tins, bottles and crisp bags round the allotment or even compost them!!! Sorry about the cynicism. Mr Seabrook is very mature now to be going on about qualifications. Some of those seeking 'qualifications' seem to be a bit naughty when visiting London for a days rioting... er sorry.....peaceful marching and lobbying.

shallots at fifty paces would probably amuse me more!! could be a new event for 2012?

I think that garden programmes rely too much on the 'presenter of the moment' What is needed for me to watch theses gardening series is more interesting and common sense content and much less of presenters and the spinoffs they are anxious to push. Its the gardening I want not the personality of the month.

i would like more ideas for the garden as well as how to and what is what ~ some garden design and which plants to group with which others would suit me.

i think it should be muskets at dawn over bye the rased beds lol . give them some boxing gloves ., my monies on monty lol .

Well said, Sticki - sounds exactly what I'd like too. Would the BBC take any notice if we told them?! :)

The presenter does matter, at least to me. I seldom watch early morning programmes. Two or three over made up persons prattling on a sofa do not light my fire. A nice cosy, old fashioned gardener used to hold my attention when I was young. Charisma used to hold it in the form of Mr Titchmarsh. Monty used to, although I always sensed a tension in him. Programme providers do take note, if only to hold their own jobs down. Quite often they get it a bit wrong and try to revise the situation.

thanks sheila, we could always try a letter?
the other thing i would like is some sort of interaction ~ even if it is only as simple as the presenters visiting ordinary gardens and answering questions ~ they could localise it and we could go along??
or maybe emails with questions which they sometimes used in the programme??

the gardening A & Q radio programs are excellent when they air. Always a live audience with plenty of laughs from some of the answer's.

so the formula works well ~ they could easily base that in a variety of gardens - bit like antique road show??

I agree with Bampy that the radio gardening formats have worked well over the years. Radio is good for an airing of knowledge and opinion without image intruding. Over on tele it is different. Image is all. When the new format was shown some time back, there was too much quibbling with one another, so it seemed to me. I may sound prickly and querulous, but I don't want to WATCH people arguing on a garden programme...so I lost interest. Opinions differ on radio gardening programmes, but that seems more bearable, as I am usually doing another task, as well as listening.

I concure ( love that word 'querulous' DJ )
so diplomatic ;-)

I have actually been called 'my prickly friend' many years ago Bampy. Like your avatar by the way. We had camper vans for over 20 years. Hired one, like the avatar, before we had our first one, and I got 'sea sick' in it as a passenger. So avoided VW. Querulous is a funny old word, but then so is concure!

Love your idea, Sticki, of presenters visiting ordinary gardens and answering questions. Much better than visiting ordinary gardens and digging them up to make them look "better" :((

Great new avatar Dorjac!

i agree dorjac ~ life is hard enough i certainly dont want to watch people arguing!!!
some good words today ~ concur and querulous!! now can i think of one to add?? ive got a thesaurus for christmas ~ had to go and buy it myself!!!! but found one in smiths for £6!!!!

if my kids denied any wrong doing I used to say to them " Hmmm, must be magic, I bet your abit of a thaumaturg in a nefarious kind of way then ? " three little faces looking back at me quizzically, they knew I was making a point but wasnt mad at them at the same time.
( now they correct me on my dreadful spelling ;-))

Wow - great idea. That'll keep you out of mischief! lol. Or should I say "There you have an engrossing tome which will be a helpful adjunct to ensuring that you eschew any activity leading to discombobulation." Naaaaah . . .

(I've also bought myself a Christmas present "Am I Alone in Thinking . . . " book with letters to the papers. Really looking forward to getting it! ha ha)

Brilliant SB, ahhh !! discombobulation ! have'nt heard that one in a while, like an old friend turning up - - - well you know what I mean ??!!?!??
The book sounds engrossing & a pick it up & put it down anytime kind of read. Look forward to your appraisal on it.

too cold to think! im wrapped up in a coat and a blanket!!!

Better get the kettle on Sticki (or I'm told a glass of something alcoholic can be warming . . )

Bampy . . . I had to look up thaumaturge and wasn't quite sure about nefarious . . . so you win! (not sure I can "appraise" a book on here, so might have to send a PM (if I remember). Mind you, this is getting to be a bit like meeting in the pub up the road!!

did someone say meeting in pub ? those are easier words to understand!!

indubitably ST !!

i can do that one bampy ~ what time!?

Difficult, at the moment, as the 'pub up the road' may be unreachable due to global cooling going on at this very moment!!!!!!

same here! perhaps its a plan ~ british cool time??

i think that, they should be made to play conkers until they realise they are supposed to be adults

that would certainly be entertaining 62
perhaps something more constructive ~ like build me a garden wall while they are sorting it all out??

thats a cracking idea stickitoffee,we will have to put it to a vote

just for my garden??
would be good if they did one thing for a viewers garden each week ~ everyone would watch cos then they might get a chance to have help in their garden:
could be they need a small woodland garden in the midlands or a large terraced garden in the south or a courtyard in london etc???

I don't fancy tv people in the garden Stickitoffee. It was bad enough when they arrived once with a plumber, as a pipe under the sink was leaking; just a silver van and some blokes!
I was out, and GJ called me 'er indoors' and had a go about how much tut we had under the sink. We missed it when it was aired, but we got bombarded with emails and phone calls. Someone videoed it too

i see what you mean thats not at all nice dorjac ~ i would have been very cross. i would not like to be called 'er indoors ~ especially as its usually me that sorts out the plumbing type stuff ~ OH gets in a bad mood if he even has to look for a screwdriver!

When I told him last night that there was a drip from the bottom of the boiler. He said 'don't wind me up'! He has been very ill~ 2 hot water bottles~ an old pillow~binbag ~sticky tape and a sack trolley to hold it against the condensate pipe and we were in working order again. It was 'er indoors 'wot did the honours and it was snowing. Here is some none gardening advice. When having a condensing boiler fitted make sure the condensate outlet is insulated and accessible, if facing north or east. Simples.

very useful ~ thanks dorjac
have you seen the boots advert? about men with colds?

Condensing boilers are for areas such as small flats where space is at a premium, not actually recommended for the heating demands of houses.