Gardening shows on TV
By Judy Lowe | 09.16.08
Last week, when some respected garden bloggers* (see below) took cable TV channel HGTV to task for not airing more shows about gardening, I didn’t plan to comment. I figured that a TV network decided on which shows made the cut by the ratings, and that tuning in to what was available would speak louder than words.
But the idea of how TV covers gardening — and how much — does interest me. I’ve done regular TV segments about gardening and tended to find the approach a bit frustrating.
On one hand, you can show so much — such as the proper way to prune a rose — that’s harder to convey in print. On the other, the demands are often along the line of “Next, Judy Lowe will tell us everything she knows about roses” — when you’ve been given less than two minutes to do so.
What are your favorite garden shows? Mine tend to be visits to gardens — half-hour visits, if possible. I want to see as much as possible and hear the people responsible for the garden talk about it.
Because I’m interested in the subject, I want to spend more time on it, not get a superficial look at whatever’s being covered. I’m usually watching to learn something, not be (just) entertained.
But that isn’t the way TV does things. And, I assume, the way it’s being done is what the majority of the audience is used to and wants.
There’s also the issue of the viewer’s level of expertise. What I want to see is going to differ markedly from what’s enjoyed by someone whose connection to gardening is planting a few marigolds in the front yard. (And there are many more casual gardeners than serious ones, as far as numbers go.)
If you could produce your ideal TV gardening show, what would you have in it? I think mine would sometimes have three 10-minute segments.
Maybe one would be a visit to a wonderful garden, to find out how it got that way. Then someone might explain and demonstrate some gardening technique that isn’t well understood — the reasons behind it and how to do it.
Or maybe someone in the know would discuss and show a group of worthwhile gardening plants, such as viburnums or hydrangeas.
For that, I’d give up 30 or more minutes of my precious weekend time. I’d love to visit a wonderful perennial border throughout the season (as the old “Victory Garden” used to do) and find out what goes into creating one and keeping it looking good throughout the season.
Speaking of the “Victory Garden” (which I’ll have to confess I rarely watch any more), I loved its regular segments on regional gardening. What works in California probably won’t in Vermont.
So maybe the solution isn’t trying to get national TV to cover more gardening, but to encourage regional programs that can produce what the people of its area really want and need.
*Read about other gardeners’ views on this subject:
Gardening Examiner
Garden Rant
Red Dirt Ramblings
Doug Green’s Blog
Comments
2. Defining Your Home Garden | 09.16.08
oops! typo…lose their audiences to us bloggers! (we need spelling and grammar checking tools) LOL
3. Anna | 09.16.08
I use to be a member of the hgtv gardening board and we tried very hard to get them to add more gardening shows. We love Paul James. There is a very smart group at that board and they had a lot of good ideas for the show topics. We tried to get them to put Shirley Bovshow on more often.
They aren’t interested. HGTV only wants to do home improvement and decorating shows. They do quite a few good ones and I still watch but only half as much as previously.
If I was producing a gardening TV show, I’d visit a different garden every week. I want to see the whole garden and what they have growing. I don’t want fast moving frame shots either. My old eyes won’t follow that kind of script. I could fill up two years worth of gardening shows right this minute. It’s not hard or expensive. You don’t need lavish sets and the gardeners have already created a great place to film.
4. Shirley Bovshow | 09.18.08
Hi Judy,
It is frustrating to hear that garden shows are not in demand. I just don’t believe it! Too many of us gardening fanatics- you included, would give an hour of their time to watch a quality show. I am not giving up and am proactive in producing new gardening shows for television and the internet. Anna has been a great help too!
For now, I am introducing a couple of show concepts via my EdenMaker Blog. I have a video blog cast called, “Garden Center TV” where I cover new and interesting plants and garden lifestyle products available at independent garden centers.
I have another video blog cast called, “EdenMaker TV” where I take my camera behind the construction gates to my landscape design projects in Los Angeles and show the “real dirt” involved in landscaping. I have plans to do “pretty garden” shows as well, much like you described on your wish list.
In the meantime, I’m not taking “no” for an answer and I hope to help fill the demand for garden television programs.
Shirley Bovshow
5. Judy Lowe | 09.18.08
Great going, Shirley! If you don’t like what you see on TV, do something about it. Surely there’s a market for intelligent, entertaining garden programs. And I’ve really enjoyed those visits you’ve provided behind the scenes of landscaping projects.
6. Jim/ArtofGardening.org | 09.23.08
I like the idea of visiting a different garden each episode. A travelogue of gardens would be great. To spend a decent amount of time looking through a garden, maybe picking up a few techniques or “tricks” from the owner of the garden would be even better. Better than a two-day garden makeover, though those shows are intriguing in their own way.
Gardeners in their gardens make for very believable & genuine TV. Many garden TV hosts sound like grade school teachers as they go about their business of informing viewers. And studio-based garden shows or segments are tough to pull off and seem interesting.
TV audiences are large and broad in their skills. Most garden shows are too basic. A travelogue, like Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential,” would have an appeal to gardeners and people that like to travel to see gardens, rather than garden intensely themselves. And sharing garden concepts & skills from around the country and world would be wonderful to me.
I travel a lot and have visited gardens throughout the US and Europe. The chance to visit the garden, talk to a gardener and pick up a few design ideas and tips & tricks is ideal to me.
7. Dee/reddirtramblings | 10.03.08
I think we’re at the crest of a new and different form of garden media. HGTV might as well just call itself the home selling and improvement network. My hope is that Shirley’s internet network ideas will take off, and I’ll be first in line to watch.
We, bloggers, saw a need, and we’re trying to do our part to bring good gardening information everyday. Thanks for the pingback to my post. Writing it helped me relieve some of my frustrations with the network if nothing else.
Your blog and website are fantastic. Keep up the good work.~~Dee
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1. Defining Your Home Garden | 09.16.08
There is a growing number of gardening bloggers. We invite folks into our gardens, share our experiences, post great photos, etc. We’re not selfish with what we share. A good number of respected “gardening gurus” are joining the blogging world, too. If the TV networks don’t wise up, they’re going to loose their audiences to us bloggers!
Cameron (Defining Your Home Garden)