Net results Guidance a click away
The internet offers a wealth of information, hints, tricks, advice, or just inspiration at the click of a button for new and experienced gardeners, writes
Despite four years of pruning my roses, the annual cutback never happens without a quick refresher via a handful of YouTube tutorials. There’s nothing like some broad reassurance that you’re attacking the job the same way as a fellow gardener in Auckland – or Ireland, or America, or France.
Once you wade through YouTube’s makeup tutorials and music videos, and find the search button, you can type in the name of a garden, a style or concept, a gardener or designer, or just a question you might have.
The results will range from brilliantly shot and informative to poor, but slow down and weed through them because you will find what you need, I promise.
Beyond practical, information-based clips, I have also undertaken a massive amount of gardenbased tourism from my sofa – viewing films of gardens that I’ve read about in books and magazines, and being introduced to many more that I hope to wander through in person one day.
A few years ago, I collaborated with Flashworks Media and Garden Marlborough to make my own YouTube series, The Magic of Gardening, by Studio Home. It peeped into some of our own great gardens, with a focus on the atmosphere and people who made these places.
My channel also has some recaps of flower arranging, and other beginner gardening adventures.
YouTube allows us to tap into like-minded people. Some scrolling and clicking will lead you to an approach and style that sits well with you and, quite often, an ongoing source of free information.
Once you have watched a film that really hits the mark, YouTube will also throw up suggestions of similar or popular clips that you might have never stumbled across – this is where the tumble down the rabbit hole begins, and you can expect to go to many interesting places.
Here are some channels that I enjoy, to get your ‘‘GardenTube’’ viewing adventure started. I am barely scratching the surface, but this gives you some places to begin, and the chance to start honing your knowledge base and passion.
Nowness Great Gardens
Nowness casts its net wide across art, design, fashion, beauty, music, food, and travel. But it’s the Great Gardens series of films that absolutely spins my gardening wheels.
Beautifully shot, these films will transport you for a few minutes into fabulous creative gardens such as Jardin en Cevennes in the south of France, Great Dixter in England, Sunnylands in California, in the United States, and even learning about naturalistic planting directly from Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf.
Liziqi
I have been following this fascinating gardener/ cook/homesteader from China for a year or two.
In our initial nationwide lockdown, I found great calm in disappearing into her beautifully shot films profiling her skills to transform anything she grows and everything she finds into something amazing.
The Gardenist
Michael McCoy is one of Australia’s best known landscape designers, horticulturists and garden personalities, recognised widely across the Tasman for his TV show, Dream Gardens.
He keenly shares the gardens he visits (from around the world), and most recently has been recording live readings from his book, Michael McCoy’s Garden, to celebrate 20 years since it was first published.
Edible Acres
Interested in permaculture and low-cost, low-tech principles for growing your food? This is a really interesting channel out of New York state.
Focused on layered food forest systems, soil building and gardening, alongside chooks, there will no doubt be many ideas to be gathered.
Charles Dowding
King of the no-dig movement in the United Kingdom, Charles Dowding has a huge channel packed with tips and demonstrations for gentle vegetable gardening. There is a video for every vegetable and every question.
Sarah Raven
Queen of the cut flower, and general garden tip guru, Sarah Raven’s channel hits all the need-toknows for growing an abundant garden.
While based in the UK, much of what she shares is entirely relatable and relevant to home gardeners across New Zealand.
Garden Masterclass
This is a channel for the geeky gardener. Instead of slick film quality, you get to browse an incredibly diverse series of long-format presentations given by designers, artists and gardeners from around the world.
Normally offering intensive, in-person clinics, it has diverted to a recorded offering during the pandemic, and some real gold can be found.
YouTube allows us to tap into likeminded people. Some scrolling and clicking will lead you to an approach and style that sits well with you.
Home Grown Happiness
A terrific New Zealand channel focused on no-dig gardening in a small suburban garden.
Incredibly relatable in subject matter and accent, Elien Lewis delivers on garden-to-table potential and has a lot of recipes to explore as well.
National Garden Scheme
If you are just wanting to virtually wander some gardens, I can recommend the National Garden Scheme channel.
It features gentle moments from British gardens big and small, and is full of ideas, advice and plants to get the blood pumping as we approach our own growing season.