TV full of poncy items.

[Jimmy]

I am a dedicated vegetable grower and very rarely venture into enemy territory.
I grow a few flowers to keep the wife happy.

Is it me or are all the TV programs biased towards poncy none vegetable items like wild flower gardens and wildlife ponds or how to make a colour coordinated flower bed, Ugh!
How could anyone in their right mind waste good veg plot space of such projects.

I think it's time we had more vegetable content on TV programs, with perhaps a small mention that flowers exist but are basically weeds.

Anyone of a similar mind.

Jimmy

[Nicos]

Ha!...you don't like flowers then?

I know what you mean....but have to say that if the programmes draw people into thinking they will have a go at gardening , then that can only be a good thing!
The lure of GYO fruit and veg will surely follow?

Without being gloomy, I can imagine with global populations and demand for more and more food over the coming years there will be a heck of a lot more people growing fruit and veg in their gardens instead of flowers!

[arpoet]

The only TV garden show I will watch is Beechgrove. They are easy going and not patronising and show a good balance of flowers, fruits and veg growing.
However, they do keep going to formal gardens, but as these are in beautiful places I will never be able to visit, I don't mind.
I grow a mixture of flows and veg, but select the flowers that are god for bees, and the like.
I have a small area for wildflowers and places where insects can live. I Believe that balance is needed.

[Zelenina]

Hi Jimmy

I live abroad, and don't have a television to watch, but I understand your point of view, because I'm very interested in growing edible stuff too.

But I also studied ecology as a big part of my biology degree, back in the 1970s before ecology became a popular buzz word. It was all about the relationships between the different organisms that all live together in an ecosystem.

And I learnt that generally a complex ecosystem, with lots of different species of plants and animals and microorganisms, is more stable than a simple one with only a few species. Most natural ecosystems become complex when left to themselves.

When you create a garden you start by destroying a large part of the existing complex ecosystem and replacing it with a new one. Usually a much simpler one with only a few selected species of plants. And that makes it more vulnerable to pests and diseases and extremes of weather.

People are becoming more aware now that one way of making your garden less vulnerable and more healthy, without spraying with chemicals, is by making your garden ecosytem more complex and varied. You try to mimic a natural ecosystem by mixing in some flowers, wildlife ponds etc. This makes it harder for crop specific pests to multiply, and attracts more pollinators and pest-destroying creatures.

You don't have to mix them up completely. It can still be useful to plant in rows for easy hoeing of weeds, and to keep related plants together for rotation. But it's been shown that giving over some of your land to the right kinds of flowers or hedgerows increases the productivity of your crops. So it's not wasted space.

You might be convinced by this video about conserving pollinators. He talks about the benefits of including flowers for pollinators (mainly towards the end). He's relating it to farms in the USA, but I think it applies equally well to UK gardens.

Pollinator Conservation Strategies for Organic Seed Producers (Eric Mader) - YouTube

[Snadger]

Sorry, I have to disagree on this one. I think programs like 'Gardeners World' give a balanced perspective.

It must be remembered that vegetable gardening forms a very small part of gardening. Flowers,shrubs and trees give the greatest diversity.
I was initially interested in the diversity of flowers shrubs and trees (and as a Groundsman, I shouldn't forget grass!)
Veggies are a lot less diverse, but allotments were originally set up to grow food so mine is mainly fruit and veg.
I still like my flowers though and the two can flourish together.

[mothhawk]

There's quite a few flowers, too, that you can also eat. I'm thinking rosemary, sage, sunflowers, nasturtiums, marigolds, pansies, dahlia roots, cauliflowers, so the dividing line is a bit blurred as to what goes where.

With veg, you are basically growing annuals and the garden can change from year to year, whereas ornamental gardening is more oriented towards creating a permanent feature of the garden that will mature over the years, but not have a totally new planting scheme every year, and I think that is reflected in gardening programmme content.

[lottie dolly]

I am a dedicated vegetable grower and very rarely venture into enemy territory.
I grow a few flowers to keep the wife happy.

Is it me or are all the TV programs biased towards poncy none vegetable items like wild flower gardens and wildlife ponds or how to make a colour coordinated flower bed, Ugh!
How could anyone in their right mind waste good veg plot space of such projects.

I think it's time we had more vegetable content on TV programs, with perhaps a small mention that flowers exist but are basically weeds.

Anyone of a similar mind.

Jimmy

NO.............flowers are not only food for the pollinators,but for the delight of peoples well being,have you never got the wife a bunch of flowers,if so,someone has grown and nurtured them first,others eat certain flowers,ponds ext,not only draw the good wild life,there are people who cannot garden at all all,but benefit from seeing all that they bring,spot that bird ext,not everyone is able to dedicate time to growing veg,think of the greater eco system,a bit of everything keeps things good,now relate that to the food you eat,you like a varied and taste of the stuff,nothing like it than your own fresh grown,BUT without the the things you regard as a waste of space your choice would be limited,having got that out the way maybe you simply meant,that you personaly would like to see more programs dedicated to food growing,as for enemy territory,spare a thought for the wild life food chain,it starts with the minute bugs,and so on until man gets his meat,thats how nature is,a bit bit of everything make the world go round,plus you do have the right to choose another channel to look at or a good book,by the way i mean nothing nasty in my words,only to show you some reasons to your question

[muddled]

I grow flowers with my veg, am building a bug hotel and digging a pond BUT I do agree that gardening programmes tend not to focus on GYO.
I think it's a shame; especially at this time of year when the seed catalogues are arriving and some expert advice would be welcome.....Thank goodness I found my way to the vine

[Noosner]

I used to be veg-o-centric, Jimmy, but this year have seen with my own eyes the advantages of a mixed ecology. I set up a new square foot garden at home (mixed veg and flowers) and could not help noticing that it seemed a healthier environment than my allotment. Things got nibbled, but there was no large scale destruction as there was on the allotment. Also, though I too used to think flowers a waste of time, I found they added such beauty to the garden that this year, I almost preferred growing them to growing veg. So I am now a convert and am planning to introduce more companion planting and more flowers at the allotment next year.

[Guest]

I think Beechgrove has a good mix. Unfortunately, they have to tailor gardening programmes to suit all. Saying that I did enjoy the allotment challenge and would love to see more things like that.

If you don't do flowers, I am guessing you don't save seed. Seeing some veg flower is great, artichokes for example and the bees love them.

I moved just under 2 years ago and last summer when I was outside I kept thinking something was not right. Things were green and lush, however there was not a spec of summer colour and it is surprising how much you miss it when it is not there.

Thankfully gardening is not just black and white!

[veggiechicken]

I think it's time we had more vegetable content on TV programs, with perhaps a small mention that flowers exist but are basically weeds.

Anyone of a similar mind.

Jimmy

Nope.................but then, I don't watch TV.
Even vegetables flower! You wouldn't have beans, peas, courgettes, tomatoes, cauliflowers, broccoli etc, etc without flowers.
I rest my case

[Kirk]

Suspect that many programs do not go into the veg growing aspect heavily as it is easier to get many items from a supermarket and in the end may not exactly be greatly more cost. My success with onions is that the sets cost me more then the supermarket onions and the yield is diabolical. I recently cleared out one row and the onions were no more then double the original set size that went in. I had some of the original set around the compare against.

One other aspect is that growing flowers with veg attracts pollinators and that is useful for some of the veg.

A TV program needs to see something pretty close to immediate, you can plant 20-40 clumps of potted flowers and see something coming together/developing. Try that with a row of 20 potato's and there is not exxactly a lot visible at the end to show. Veg are long term items, flowers are not.

Perhaps it is a case of targetting the program right, the veg growing shown is in large well dug areas. Could be more applicable if they covered growing veg in 2 3x2 meter raised beds - that is more like what most people may have available if that. Just about every program seen starts off seeds in a glass house. I can say that of the houses in the section of road where I am (12 in total) there is not one with a green house of any sort. So at the very start the TV is doing something that the vast majority cannot.

[sparrow100]

A TV program needs to see something pretty close to immediate, you can plant 20-40 clumps of potted flowers and see something coming together/developing. Try that with a row of 20 potato's and there is not exxactly a lot visible at the end to show. Veg are long term items, flowers are not.

Just about every program seen starts off seeds in a glass house. I can say that of the houses in the section of road where I am (12 in total) there is not one with a green house of any sort. So at the very start the TV is doing something that the vast majority cannot.

Totally agree with your first comment, but not with (my edited version of) your second - I live in a tiny flat and raise most of what I grow at home on 2 windowsills. It's perfectly possible, I just think most people can't be bothered as DIY outlet offerings are cheap if predictable.

I am definitely coming round to the idea of flowers, but I do prefer them to be edible. Because I was hand pollinating my squash for seed this year, it was the first time I properly smelled the flowers. No wonder the bees go crazy for them - the scent to my limited senses was really heady. The different flowers on fruit and veg are beautiful too, peas and beans particularly.

[Alison]

I think it's time we had more vegetable content on TV programs, with perhaps a small mention that flowers exist but are basically weeds.

I agree that more programmes on fruit and veggies would be good as that is my focus also. I however can only assume that you other comment is to get a reaction. Of course flowers aren't basically weeds. They're pretty and attract wildlife, keeping the bio system balanced. Also, as already mentioned, they're needed to produce fruit

Is it me or are all the TV programs biased towards poncy none vegetable items like wild flower gardens and wildlife ponds or how to make a colour coordinated flower bed, Ugh!
How could anyone in their right mind waste good veg plot space of such projects.

How can wild flowers be poncey? Is that only when they're on the TV or are they still poncey when in old fashioned meadows or the roadside? The council have sown loads of traditional wild flowers on grassy banks round here and they look beautiful as well as providing wildlife habitats. Even better it fits with the councils drive to cut costs as they don't have to mow as often. On my plot I have a small wildlife pond so by your criteria I am not in my right mind. However the pond has encouraged frogs which eat the slugs and therefore enable my veggies to grow better. It's all part of a balanced ecosystem and I will continue to waste a small corner of my plot in exchange for the highly evident benefits.

[pigletwillie]

I am in my right mind and around 50% of my garden is laid over to poncy stuff.

My water feature gives my bees access to water.
The new cutting bed (for cut flowers) not only alows me to bring something pretty from outside in but then they also attract my bees which then gives me probably a million times better pollination than your patch Jimmy so I actually get more from less.
The miscanthus sinensis grass flowers in a fashion but gives me year round cover of my dustbin.
The nasturtiums I grow as sacrificial plants take the brunt of any blackfly or slug attacks. The flowers also look great in a salad.
The marrigolds I grow attract hoverflies which predate bugs, I also use the petals with beeswax and other stuff to make gardeners hand cream.
Sunflowers attract birds to the garden which can only be good for the soul.
Wisteria makes the front of my home look awesome.
Lavender again is used in hand creams.
Have you ever heard of companion planting?
Everything when cut back goes into the compost bin for mulching onto the veg beds.

So to get right down to it, I have very healthy, clean fruit and veg (plus flowers) because of the poncy stuff in my garden, without having to work particularly hard at it becuase the insects and birds attracted to my garden do it for me.