Gardeners’ World TV returns
With the long-awaited return of Gardeners’ World to our screens this month, Executive Producer Gary Broadhurst shares the programme’s plans for 2021
Spring is nearly upon us, which means the new series of Gardeners’ World is about to start. Monty and the regular team of presenters will be back to inspire, inform, entertain and share their love of gardening – and we also welcome back to our screens you, our viewers.
Last year, Covid-19 scuppered some of our plans, but it didn’t prevent the show airing every Friday evening, and that’s the plan this year too. In the short term, remote cameras will again return to Longmeadow and the presenters may well be dusting off the various self-filming techniques acquired last year!
With many of us spending more time at home in 2020, gardening really came into its own. The programme attracted record viewing figures and introduced the joys of gardening to a whole new audience. With this in mind, instead of a mix of 30- and 60-minute episodes, the whole series will be hour-long episodes from the get-go.
Each programme, as ever, will be packed with timely, practical advice through the growing season, while we’ll be visiting inspiring gardens of all shapes and sizes, and meeting the passionate people who tend them. We’ll have the latest updates from Adam Frost in his Cambridgeshire garden while Carol Klein will be sharing her wealth of horticultural expertise, showing us how to get the best from our plants. Viewers’ videos were a huge hit last year and will form an important part of the show, this year and in the future.
The inspirational gardener Sue Kent, who so enthusiastically shared her experiences of gardening with upper-limb differences, will be channelling her efforts into an exciting new project as she transforms her allotment, which we will follow throughout the year.
Before Strictly star JJ Chalmers was spray tanned and sequinned, he visited a garden near his home in Fife, which has a very special place in his heart. JJ shares his love of the natural world and reveals how it has helped him through even the toughest of times.
Garden historian Advolly Richmond
explores the intriguing story of the lawn and mower, from grand 18th-century estates to suburban front gardens, via ‘Capability’ Brown, camels and croquet.
We’ll also be tackling bigger issues, including the vital role that trees in our gardens, parks and wider landscape play in the environment, while Arit Anderson
investigates the use of peat in horticulture.
Spending time in gardens was so important and restorative last year, benefitting both our physical and mental well-being. A connection to nature and the chance to be mindful in such uncertain times was invaluable for all of us. With continued restrictions set to be in place, Gardeners’ World will be a regular fixed point in the TV schedules from mid-March through to October, so do join us every Friday to immerse yourself in an hour of horticultural escapism.
Turn the page for Monty’s guide to Longmeadow