It’s boom times for gardening on the box. In contrast to the recent dearth of garden related programmes, we’ve now got a few to choose from, and hopefully, there’s more on the way. For the funky urban gardener who dislikes Toowoomba’s roundabouts as much as I do, there is Guerilla Gardeners. It’s all a bit staged and not really in the spirit of the guerrilla gardening movement, but interesting enough.
Then there’s the old staples, Better Homes and Gardens, which I find cheesy to the core, and my favourite, Gardening Australia. I was interested to see how Aunty was going to handle the departure of “Pete”, and though Stephen Ryan seems a bit stilted and plant obsessed, he’s making a reasonable fist of it. The show itself remains great, offering a nice mix of earthiness, practicality, and haul your backside off the sofa motivation. And yes, my kids still do a little dance when the theme music kicks in.
But for pure inspiration, it’s impossible to overlook a new 10-part series on ABC1 titled Around the World in 80 Gardens. Presented by English garden writer Monty Don, this beautifully filmed programme is part travelogue, part cultural exploration, and part horticultural odyssey. Every continent excluding Antarctica is visited and literally 80 individual gardens are featured in some depth.
I ought to confess that I’m a fan of Monty Don. He’s my favourite garden writer, and as a presenter, I reckon he shares Peter Cundall’s enthusiasm for gardening and life, albeit with a more erudite turn of phrase. So it should come as no surprise that Around the World in 80 Gardens has me absolutely hooked, and though the series or Monty isn’t without fault, it is surely one of the most fascinating gardening shows ever to grace the small screen.
The reason I’ve enjoyed it so much is largely due to Monty’s premise behind the series. He sets out to learn about a country’s culture through its gardens. This reflects his philosophy that a garden is made by a person (or persons), and it follows that the most interesting thing about a garden is its creator, not the plants within it. This is a hard pill to swallow for a plant nut like me, but Monty’s right – gardens are social and cultural constructs – and the best aren’t necessarily those that are technically brilliant, but those that clearly reflect the personalities and beliefs of their creators.
My interest was really piqued by last week’s episode. Monty visited Australia. I’ve got no idea how he chose the gardens to be featured, but Mr Don toured Kennerton Green, Vladimir Sitta’s modernist Sydney garden, Alice Springs Desert Park and Cruden Farm among others. Judging from his commentary, Monty came in search of the genuine Australian garden, but I got the sense that he went away a bit mystified.
He found Kennerton Green beautiful, but felt that it resembled a typical English country garden. At Cruden Farm he was charmed by Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, but he seemed fairly nonplussed by the angular and confronting Sitta garden. The garden that got him most enthused was The Garden Vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula. Monty particularly appreciated the combination of plants, and was especially taken by the formal treatment of Australian natives.
What I found most fascinating about the show was that in essence, it was an appraisal of Australian gardening from an outsider’s perspective. The verdict: though Monty’s visit was limited in scope, I’m not sure that we came off all that well. I got the impression that Monty perceived Australian gardening culture as a bit juvenile, still yearning for the green fields of the mother country and afraid to grow up.
Is he right? Do we still garden like we live in England? Do we kid ourselves into believing that ours isn’t a changing climate ravaged by a decade of drought? Do we use native plants well, or is our default style one of “the bush in my backyard”? And the big kahuna, should our gardens be created as imitations of nature or is it okay that they exist as creations in their own right?
I for one hope Monty keeps the big questions flowing. Around the World in 80 Gardens makes very worthwhile viewing, and serves as a reminder that though we live in challenging times, the answer to many of the big issues can be found right under our nose – in the garden.
First published in the Toowoomba Chronicle, 2nd May 2009. Photo of Kennerton Green by Allison Green via flickr.
