Off to pastures new
Well the cat's out of the bag and I'm glad because I'm useless at keeping secrets. We're leaving Berryfields and off to pastures new - Birmingham to be precise where the new GW garden 'Greenacre' is fast taking shape, ready for spring and the next series.
I'm very excited naturally. Sad to be leaving beautiful Berryfields but the truth is we had run out of space and faced the choice of either carrying on in the same fashion or ripping the heart out of the place. Starting afresh is always energising and in my own garden at home I've always ended up moving once I've felt it was well and truly finished. A clean slate is a challenge, but then so many viewers are faced with precisely the same thing. By the way, the new site is going to have something we lacked at the old garden - slopes! Berryfields was as flat as a pancake. In fact, there are lots of new features designed to reflect the problems we all have - like shade, weeds and neighbours! Or more accurately the drought caused by next door's hedges and tree roots. There are also going to be vegetable beds aplenty, front gardens, a greenhouse, a small-scale woodland garden and an urban meadow. Right now we're in the middle of the build so brick-laying and setting out the paths occupy the day to day. Once that's done the really exciting bit - the planting - can begin. It's a whole new territory for all of us, and I can't wait to share it with you.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~01~RS~)
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Well interesting news.
I will always associate Berryfields with Monty Don and his particular style of presenting and gardening.
New adventures are always fun and I do look forward to this one.
However as someone who has hobby gardened for 30+ years the one thing I always feel is lacking is advice on how to mange an existing garden with the thugs and stragglers to make decisions over.
I do not have an endless purse or energy, to clear out a whole area of garden and replant is something which to me is the easy way out. It's the long term gardening projects that are the real challenge, so I hope this is something you will address in your new endevours.
Also as requested in an earlier post please raise awareness of Lyme Disease and other tick-borne illness see UK charity website www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk
After 6 years of battling this illness I have overcome severe debilitating and painful arthritis and muscle weakness and can again enjoy my gardening.
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Delighted to hear you are starting from scratch.
Anything you did at Berryfields would have been removing or changing something done by others, with all the endless debate and risk of upsetting someone, somewhere, that would have entailed.
I never took to the Berryfileds as a venue for GW anyway - it was plainly unrepresentative of the day to day experience of most gardeners and always looked gloomy somehow. The additional facial lighting so often used seemed to make the backdrop look dark - perhaps they were just unlucky with the light levels on filming day!
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I think it is only right that the new gardener has a chance to start afresh and put his own ideas into practice.
I hope from what I have seen so far from Toby that he will revert to old idea of actually informing gardeners of techniques and practices.
Please take Gardeners World away from the veg garden approach that Monty Don employed.
I look forward to the new garden taking shape and I also look forward to seeing the presenters enjoying this new challenge.
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New gardens are great but what is the budget? Lots of walls and great greenhouse but at what cost? Are we allowed to know? It would help us when we have our own new patch.
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