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Loved Gardener of the Decade
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Message 1.Â
Posted by Little Cornflower (U12037777) on Saturday, 6th December 2008
Hi
What an interesting programme it turned out to be.
Especially well done to Trillium ( even my non gardening OH said that she was good enough to present programmes!)who came across as erudite,knowledgeable and a thoroughly nice cove!! Also, well done to Gianttrowel - another great ambassador for these boards, who came across as a lovely man and clever gardener.
It's anybody's guess who will win next week, but I am really looking forward to the programme.
More of these programmes please
P.S. Nice to see the other winners who cannot take part next week - a good show all round -
Message 2
Posted by immysma (U11425360) on Saturday, 6th December 2008
I second all you said. Trillium is lovely. We went the gardens & nursery & although Trillium was obviously busy she took time to come & talk to us & take us to the pond & introduce us to George.
Can't wait to go back.
Well done to everyone else too.
Janet. -
Message 3
Posted by 8supermum (U2768246) on Saturday, 6th December 2008
I thought it was just what we all needed a nose into other peoples gardens. I wish we had more programmes along these lines without any presenters just the gardeners themselves !!!!
Looking forward to next week.......
PS Ihad to watch it in a hotel room with m'spouse and 3 children and even they liked it..... -
Message 4
Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Sunday, 7th December 2008
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the kind words. Erudite - gosh...
.
I've not seen any of the other's gardens before so that was a real pleasure - there's nothing quite like poking around in other gardens and chatting to the owners, is there? It's one of the joys of the NGS scheme.
George is doing fine, btw. He's gone very quiet as the pond is frozen over, save for a hole I'm keeping open near the edge. A heron made off with a beakful of his smaller siblings earlier in the week, but I'm pretty sure George is too big and too wary to be caught. -
Message 5
Posted by Sparky (U6716422) on Sunday, 7th December 2008
Well done Trillium, I'm looking forward to next week! You're right - it it interesting poking round other peoples gardens, more of this is needed!
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Message 6
Posted by nooj (U13729031) on Monday, 8th December 2008
Ummm - George isn't your husband then?????????
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Message 7
Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Monday, 8th December 2008
Well if he is, he's a bit wet, cold and fishy for my liking!
No, George is a large Koi carp who entertains our younger visitors by obligingly 'playing' hide and seek under the lily pads. Keeps them occupied for ages, much to parents' relief. -
Message 8
Posted by nooj (U13729031) on Monday, 8th December 2008
I see
And am much relieved.
I thought you were taking a family tragedy a bit too calmly -
Message 9
Posted by Yakram (U2443370) on Tuesday, 9th December 2008
As the programme was filmed in September, I feel it is unfair to the contestants to "keep mum" for such a long time. Shows what good gardeners they are - cultivating a secret and patient to the extreme.
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Message 10
Posted by Gianttrowel (U10674701) on Wednesday, 10th December 2008
Hi jayelle
Thanks for the kind words to Trillium and me. "Clever", "Erudite" they may or may not be the right words to describe us. You will have to see on Friday! Oh what a tease.
BTW we all have to sign a document saying that we wont tell anyone the result prior to the programmes airing!
GT -
Message 11
Posted by Little Cornflower (U12037777) on Wednesday, 10th December 2008
How difficult that must be!!
I am really looking forward to the programme on Friday. Whatever the result, both you (GT) and Trillium are
to me, and both deserve a glass of 
for your efforts - very brave -
Message 12
Posted by Margi (U2334861) on Wednesday, 10th December 2008
I too am VERY excited about Friday's show, specially given that two of our most lovely gardening friends are up for the trophy! GT and Trillium - you're most definitely major stars in our gardening heaven... all the best for Friday!
Margi xxx
BTW Trillium - the gardeners at Dunham Massey have been pestering me to tell them what happened, and give you their best wishes! I haven't told them who won though!!! (Because I don't know either, obviously!) -
Message 13
Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Wednesday, 10th December 2008
Not long to wait now, Margi. Say hi to Damien and all from me when you see them - which day are you there? I need to pop in and ask his advice on self-binding gravel paths and will try to come when you're in.
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Message 14
Posted by Yakram (U2443370) on Wednesday, 10th December 2008
What a lovely surprise those of us in the North West had this evening.
On our local news programme called, believe it or not, North West Tonight, was a delightful cameo feature of our very own Trillium, naturally working hard in both her nursery and garden, as well as dispensing sound advice. 
My short gardening nails would be even shorter with the suspense of waiting for the end of Friday's programme, but they are still full of soil.
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Message 15
Posted by Margi (U2334861) on Wednesday, 10th December 2008
I'm not going for a while actually, Trillium - life has taken over and Seedling had a streaming cold today, which was the last time I was going until after my exams in February! I've been there more than I thought though as people have been away on holiday quite a lot leaving openings for me... I've really enjoyed myself - they're a good bunch - and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them and especially you after February!!!
Margi xxx
(Especially if you won!) -
Message 16
Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Wednesday, 10th December 2008
And DM is an interesting garden too. Look out for the Trillium grandiflorum next year - it's where I got my nickname from. Also Magnolias wilsonii and watsonii. I'm going to have to be very nice to Damien indeed as I'd love some more seed
.
I'm taking two Diploma exams in Feb too - I deferred module I in July 'cos of Tatton Show and I'm studying F now, so how about we open a thread nearer the time by way of a bit of mutual support? -
Message 17
Posted by upthegardenpath (U5327429) on Friday, 12th December 2008
I took the first Module I a couple of years ago as part of Advanced and found it quite difficult, oartly due to learning alot about Garden History on the course and the RHS then asking two short questions on it the rest being on restoration and landscaping - typical RHS. Good luck with diploma, I've had to stop exams now due to having too far to travel in the evenings for a Diploma evening course (the days being spent looking for oil in front of a computer).
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Message 18
Posted by bloodfishandmoan (U7103706) on Friday, 12th December 2008
sorry, bit off topic but does anyone have a link to Trillium's blog? I seem to have lost it
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Message 19
Posted by 8supermum (U2768246) on Friday, 12th December 2008
here we go but seems not to be working at the momment -
Message 20
Posted by TallyHo (U2364821) on Friday, 12th December 2008
Boriiing!
Pre-filmed (last summer). Rehashed. Dumbed down. Could we have something more current, about gardening and not egos please? -
Message 21
Posted by mavoman (U6670129) on Friday, 12th December 2008
lovely programe our two done great
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Message 22
Posted by jo4eyes (U13654107) on Friday, 12th December 2008
Didn't they do well?!
Even OH (non gardener) impressed. Jo. -
Message 23
Posted by jennie-wren (U9422284) on Friday, 12th December 2008
Missed the first half, will catch it on i player, second half was great!
Well done both of you!! -
Message 24
Posted by michelle78 (U7007319) on Friday, 12th December 2008
Thoroughly enjoyed the competition, and completely in awe of all the competitors' knowledge - especially in the tropical biome. I was really impressed with GT's grafting and Trillium's all-round performance. Though I had to look through my fingers at Katherine's knife work
Shame TB had to come in and bring the standard down but otherwise a thoroughly entertaining watch and dead proud of the boarders!
Mich -
Message 25
Posted by mavoman (U6670129) on Friday, 12th December 2008
yes not just great gardeners but lovely people as well mavoman
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Message 26
Posted by Margi (U2334861) on Friday, 12th December 2008
We thoroughly enjoyed the programme - Seedling insisted on staying up for it, despite just being invited to see Trillium and GT at the beginning - and an interesting range of challenges...
Shame you hadn't done the Diploma grafting bit yet, Trillium - that might have swung it your way, but huge congratulations to all (especially our two!) on your efforts! I loved both your borders, and still think you was both robbed...!
Margi xxx -
Message 27
Posted by Yakram (U2443370) on Friday, 12th December 2008
Congratulations to our Professors Emeritus of St Trivia's Academy of Gardening and Horticultural Excellence.
The whip-and-tongue grafting section was unfair; this is a specialist skill which takes much practice to perfect, and not something gardeners do in everyday life, and some I know have never had occasion to do it at all in their gardening lives.
Northern gardeners are the best, because they tackle adversity with aplomb and come out tops in all they do - as has just been proved by Trillium and GiantTrowel. Well done. -
Message 28
Posted by toonia (U4760062) on Friday, 12th December 2008
Dreadful programme.
Awful X-Factor gimmicks - could easily have substituted Louis and Danni for Joe and RdeT.
Same style repetitive VTs of the candidates "journey" (we saw those last week), same dramatic time wasting pauses before the results...and why did we have Eoghan come on and claim he'd done garden design for 18 years?
No reflection on Trill and GT and the other candidates, I just didn't see enough of what they were doing!
And RdeT -I don't think Toby has yet earned the title of "the nation's top gardener", for the moment he's just the presenter of GW. -
Message 29
Posted by U2331885 (U2331885) on Friday, 12th December 2008
The two presenters - I am reminded of Terry Wogan a couple of years ago at the Eurovision in Denmark:
"Tonight's programme is presented by Cruella De Ville and Doctor Gojiberry Death"
The contestants? They might as well be on Family Fortunes or The Generation Game perhaps?
Come on Ö÷²¥´óÐã - Next year can we have Jim Bowen presenting and perhaps a prize of a speedboat?
Trillium/Giant Towel "Look at what you could have won!" -
Message 30
Posted by Paul N (U6451125) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
Hmmm, I personally thought the tests were a little unfair. I would have done well with the cuttings and diseases but done really badly with tropical plants. A bit, err, done for TV. And those oh so popular pregnant pauses before announcing the results.
On a seperate point, I personally don't know too many people on here, especially with these awful names we seem to like to use. I didn't know for instance that Trillium is Sue Beesley - I looked at your excellent website, Sue - but who is/was Great Trowel? I've seen the faces and the coloured t-shirts. I just need to add a face to the nickname. -
Message 31
Posted by Paul N (U6451125) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
PS copperPaul is dead, long live Paul N
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Message 32
Posted by londonplantmad (U2392946) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
I was surprised how difficult the contestants found the grafting. Most of them seemed as if they could not use a knife to peel off the outer stem. I was surprised that they did not cut their thumbs off they were using the knife so awkwardly. Then i fell to sleep and woke up watching have i got news for you. I had to ask my O.H who won. Personally i found it pretty boring. Did anyone manage to guess the plants i found it was so quick and the camerawork so bad that i hardly had time to blink at it was gone. Not a program that i would wish to see again. I am not sure what the point of it was really.
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Message 33
Posted by Goldilocks (U2169760) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
Here here!!
I hated it first time round, but hoped they would improve on it in subsequent years. There's a sense of sadism and humiliation in the way the presenters treat the contestants. I used to find the technical questions so pathetic. The high drama - summoning each contestant to the interrogation room, and how on earth can such a small number of questions (five last year I looked) play so significant a part in the final result. There should be at least 20 questions, probably 40, to make it meaningful in the overall context, but the producers want us to see this bit live, so we can see the anxiety in the contestants' eyes, and they want us to join in trting to answer the questions too, so they sacrifice meaningful assessment in the process.
Well, that's the way all reality shows are going, and I am not falling for it. -
Message 34
Posted by Ken Smart (U1158196) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
I confess that I had no interest in watching the programme, as I was fairly certain the production style would just raise my blood pressure (even the trails just had to have a swirling camera effect). Nevertheless, my admiration for the ability (and courage) of the contestants has never been in doubt, and long may our very own 'stars' continue to grace this board.
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Message 35
Posted by FellowCuckoo (U8523852) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
Well done Trillium and Gianttrowel. I was gob-smacked at the depth and breadth of your knowledge and skills and it was lovely to see you 'in the flesh'.
As some others have commented, I was also rather surprised at some of the tasks, however. I thought this was supposed to be a competition for amateur gardeners, notwithstanding the fact that some have now successfully changed their careers as a consequence of their success in the competition. To expect even the best amateur to be able to cope with grafting seemed rather ambitious to me. I am not surprised that most didn't have a clue!
I also agree that it was unfortunate that the production resorted to the cliche of elimination of participants before the final. This, I thought, was discourteous to gardeners who had all been worthy winners of the title in the past. -
Message 36
Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
Hello all...
Giant Trowel is Bob, named after his trophy for GOTY 2007.
Just a comment on the grafting - it helps if you have an idea what the graft should look like, but anyway, if you've never done it before, then controlling a sharp blade through the stems, cutting identical angles and getting the cambiums to match is near impossible in 5 minutes. As Yakram says, it takes years to get really proficient at it. It would have been a bit easier with a bench to cut the scions onto, but without that we resorted to the floor or our hands. What actually threw us all though was that the tape was perforated in 2" sections, so it tore. I didn't realise that each section stretched to make a piece of graft tape. We were all guessing, basically, whittling and tying as best we could.
Anyway, it's essentially a Christmas gardening entertainment programme in a very quiet time of year and it was fun to do. What they didn't show was that Kathy's prizes included Chelsea on Press Day and a trip to Berryfields. At that point I really wished I figured out how to use that wretched grafting tape! -
Message 37
Posted by Trillium (U2170869) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
And yes, eliminating Diana and Edwin was tough. Diana especially felt that had the 5 initial tasks been in a different order she wouldn't have gone out, but didn't get chance to show her knowledge. But we all knew the structure before we said yes and took that risk....
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Message 38
Posted by Paul N (U6451125) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
I did wonder if two or three of the past winners declined to enter as they thought it might be a bit daft and not a true test of their gardening skills. Or is that cynical me?
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Message 39
Posted by Ariadne Knickerbocker (U4534559) on Saturday, 13th December 2008
Giant Trowel is Bob, named after his trophy for GOTY 2007.Â
Why did they call a trophy Bob? -
Message 40
Posted by Gaynor Witchard (U11583299) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
Just watched the programme on 'catch up' tv - really enjoyed it. I can't imagine the nerves you all must have had...but I guess I will know come April 2009, as I'm building a small show garden for the RHS Flower Show in Cardiff...wish me luck!
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Message 41
Posted by little-ann (U12937473) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
good luck mad_doris
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Message 42
Posted by msMUDDY-BOOTS (U13742065) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
Hi
I found the competition very disappointing and agree all were good gardeners in their field of expertise. Why the programme found it necessary to elimate contestants is beyond me! Poor Diana going out in her best round so far. I found the competition embarrasing and humiliating to the contestants who have already proved themselves once. The winner should have been the contestant at the end from all 5 that had the most points allowing each participant to shine in whatever area they were best, after all even the not so modest winner wasnt 'the best' at everything.
Sorry for this rant but the whole thing made a sham of gardening..... that feels better
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Message 43
Posted by Tigerredwood (U13742280) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
I am sorry my first post has to be a complaint about my favourite program Gardeners World. Why oh why does there have to be all the background racket with the almost ubiquitous whoosh sounds linking the scenes together? Also music blaring so hard that it is difficult to hear what is being said by the presenters. Zoom in zoom out camera work before I get the chance to see what is on screen leaves me wanting to pull out the few hairs I have left out of my head. The days when you could reley on the program to relieve the stress of the modern world has I'm afraid been sucked into the vortex of bombardment of visual and audio senses in the cause of modernisation that IS NOT necessary. Some of us do not have the attention span of goldfish that need to be "entertained" in this manner, please, for the sake of sanity give it a rest.
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Message 44
Posted by 8supermum (U2768246) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
Mad Doris,
Are you building as an individual or as part of a team ?? -
Message 45
Posted by Gaynor Witchard (U11583299) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
Hi supermum
I'm building as an individual - haven't done this before and the reason I'm doing it is because I just want to share knowledge with others...'look what you can do' type of thing. Are you the one who's building or going to build in Malvern? I'm a regular visitor to the shows in spring and autumn. I'm also project leader, designer and advisor to a local children's community garden - it's great! I also run a monthly gardening 'lunch break' at a large corporation as well. A bit 'off topic' on this thread...just 'felt' for the competitors on the programme - they've got guts! -
Message 46
Posted by Gaynor Witchard (U11583299) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
p.s. - thanks little ann!
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Message 47
Posted by 8supermum (U2768246) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
Hi MD,
Yep I'm the mad one doing the garden at Malvern, I also was a runner up on Gardener of the Year 05,
I am really impressed with Trilli and GT's performances they did so well. Didn't like the 'Gladiator' referee but having seen all that goes on for customer entertainment before was not surprised.
Hopefully will see you at Cardiff as its our 'local show' -
Message 48
Posted by Gaynor Witchard (U11583299) on Sunday, 14th December 2008
Supermum - well done you! I agree that the 'referee' was a bit superfluous to the programme content...but I guess it was purely for entertainment value. Trillium and GT both came across as great gardeners. Anyway, hope to see you in Cardiff (or Malvern)... I shall be wearing my usual blonde bob hairstyle.
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Message 49
Posted by crouchee (U13371975) on Sunday, 21st December 2008
Hello from Crouchee, and hello to my fellow finalists Trillium and GiantTrowel, I hope you have a lovely Christmas. I'll be at Chelsea, and Hampton Court and Tatton, so I hope to catch up with you next year somewhere!
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Message 50
Posted by crouchee (U13371975) on Monday, 22nd December 2008
I agree with you, even though I won it! Diana was gutted and Edwin was livid. Still, we had all signed a contract that stated what the format would be, which said the lowest scorer would be booted out after rounds three and five, I am just so glad it wasn't me!
It's all gone a bit Weakest Link, adn don't get me started on "and the winner is...." with half an hour of heartbeat sounds while we all try to look really stressed.
Can we have another kind of format to signify tension and anticipation? Any suggestions?
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