What Is The Garden Show About?
The Garden Show is a popular Canadian gardening program that first started airing in 1993. It is filmed in Kelowna, British Columbia and is hosted by gardening experts Brian Minter and Peter McConnell (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1nBeOaL2uCY). The show provides gardening tips, design inspiration, DIY projects, and expert advice for home gardeners across Canada and beyond.
Brian Minter is one of Canada’s leading horticulturalists and garden writers who owns and operates a retail garden center. He regularly contributes to gardening columns and appears on radio and television. Peter McConnell is an award-winning garden expert and designer based in the Okanagan Valley. Together, Brian and Peter have decades of gardening experience that they share with viewers each week on the show.
The Garden Show first started airing on CHBC TV in Kelowna in 1993 and continues to be broadcast across British Columbia today. Over the years, the show has provided invaluable gardening knowledge to generations of home gardeners and has become a Canadian gardening institution (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-N7s5wbbIKXpKDSL-l6k6zlOvRNY8Q2p).
Format of The Garden
The Garden showcases a variety of gardening segments and features designed to educate and inspire viewers. Some of the typical segments include:
– Gardening 101 – This segment provides beginner tips on topics like starting seeds, planting, maintenance, troubleshooting, and more.
– Design Ideas – The show’s designers create beautiful themed garden spaces and share tips on things like color schemes, hardscaping, and plant choices.
– DIY Projects – Simple, budget-friendly projects are demonstrated, like building planter boxes, repurposing household items for the garden, and crafts using garden materials.
– Edible Gardening – A recurring focus on growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Includes advice on raised beds, container gardens, companion planting, and more.
– Lawn Care – Seasonal maintenance tips for the home lawn like mowing, fertilizing, seeding, and troubleshooting issues.
– Guest Experts – Each episode invites gardening experts like landscapers, botanists, and authors to share their specialized knowledge.
Recurring features cover topics like tool reviews, plant spotlights, gardening news, events, and more. The diversity of segments allows viewers to find inspiration and advice for their own garden interests.
Gardening Tips
The Garden show provides a wealth of gardening tips and advice to help viewers cultivate thriving gardens. Greg Key and his guests share recommendations on topics like planting, pruning, and pest control.
For planting tips, The Garden advises on choosing the right plants for your climate and soil conditions. They offer guidelines on proper spacing for vegetables and flowers to prevent overcrowding. The show demonstrates techniques for transplanting seedlings and sowing seeds directly in the garden.
Pruning advice includes when to prune different plants, how much to prune, and using the right tools and methods. The hosts explain proper pruning cuts to encourage growth and maintain plant shape. They advise on pruning roses, fruit trees, shrubs, vines, and more.
For pest control, The Garden showcovers common garden pests like aphids, slugs, Japanese beetles, and fungal diseases. They suggest organic solutions like horticultural oils, insecticidal soaps, neem oil, row covers, and encouraging natural predators. The show also discusses how crop rotation, mulching, and pruning for airflow can help deter pests.
Viewers can find weekly gardening tips from Greg Key and guests on preventing diseases, promoting growth, and dealing with weather challenges in the garden.
Design Inspiration
The Garden showcases beautiful garden designs and landscaping ideas from around the world. Many episodes focus on highlighting stunning gardens that inspire viewers to try new designs and planting techniques in their own outdoor spaces.
The show frequently features luxurious estates with professional landscape designs. Viewers get a behind-the-scenes look at features like fountains, pathways, unique plants and trees, and hardscaping elements that take a garden’s design to the next level. The show brings in landscape designers and architects to provide an inside perspective on how they brought their clients’ visions to life.
Not every garden on the show is high-end. The Garden also showcases smaller suburban gardens and DIY projects that everyday homeowners can recreate on a budget. The emphasis is still on beautiful, creative design using colors, textures, shapes and features tailored to the space and client’s taste. Even modest gardens with limited square footage can make a huge visual impact with the right design.
Whether featuring an English cottage garden or modern landscape architecture, the gorgeous gardens on The Garden provide endless inspiration. Viewers come away with new ideas and motivation to improve their own outdoor living space, no matter what their gardening skill level or budget.
DIY Projects
One of the most popular elements of The Garden show is the DIY projects section. This focuses on simple, fun crafts and decor items that can be made using materials commonly found in the garden.
Some of the most creative DIY projects featured on the show include making wreaths, garlands, and centerpieces out of fresh flowers and foliage. The floral designers offer step-by-step instructions on assembling elegant yet easy DIY home decor using blooms and greenery snipped from the garden. For example, in one episode they demonstrate making a stunning hydrangea wreath using just hydrangeas, floral wire, and a wreath form (Source).
In addition to fresh florals, the DIY experts get crafty with common garden materials like sticks, vines, seed pods, pinecones, and more. Some of the creative projects include making bird feeders or wind chimes out of sticks and pinecones, creating mobiles or garlands out of seed pods or dried pods, and assembling rustic vase fillers out of vines, twigs, and found objects. The instructors offer clever ways to transform garden clutter into beautiful, natural art for the home.
Beyond florals and natural materials, the show also features fun painted projects made using common gardening containers. Old watering cans, pots, and wheelbarrows are given new life with a coat of chalk paint and creative embellishments. These easy upcycled projects provide tons of inspiration for stylishly repurposing old garden tools and vessels.
Edible Gardening
One of the most popular aspects of The Garden is the focus on edible gardening. Many episodes provide tips and inspiration for growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs at home. The show’s host Alys Fowler is an expert on creating productive and beautiful edible gardens.
Alys offers step-by-step instructions for building raised beds, vertical gardens, and more to maximize space for growing food. She shares which fruits and vegetables thrive in different climates and seasons. The show covers all aspects of food gardening, from planning and planting to troubleshooting pests and harvesting the bounty.
Beyond the practical advice, The Garden also looks at the creative side of edible gardens. Alys shows viewers how to incorporate ornamentals and edibles together for an aesthetically pleasing garden. She offers tips on layout and design to make the edible garden both functional for growing food and visually interesting.
For those just starting out with vegetable gardening, the show provides useful basics. For experienced food gardeners, Alys delves into more advanced techniques and specialized crops. Her infectious enthusiasm for homegrown fruits and herbs brings extra inspiration to edible gardening.
According to one review, “The edible gardening tips are easily the highlight of the show for me. Alys Fowler makes even heirloom tomatoes seem exciting!” (Source)
Lawn Care
Maintaining a lush, green lawn requires regular care and maintenance. Here are some of the key tips covered on The Garden for keeping your lawn healthy:
Mow regularly – Mow your lawn often, removing no more than one-third of the grass blade per cut. Keep your mower blades sharp for a clean cut. Mowing too low or infrequently leads to weakened grass.
Water deeply – Water your lawn thoroughly to moisten the soil 6-8 inches deep. Avoid frequent, light watering which leads to shallow roots. Adjust watering based on weather and grass type.
Fertilize – Apply fertilizer in the spring and fall to provide nutrients for strong growth. Organic or slow-release fertilizers are ideal to avoid burn. Always follow package directions.
Dethatch – Removing dead grass and debris with a rake or dethatching tool improves air and nutrient flow to the soil. Dethatch once per year in early spring or fall.
Aerate – Poking holes in the soil with an aerator reduces soil compaction and allows better root growth. Aerate annually in early fall.
Overseed – Overseeding fills in bare or thin spots, increasing lawn thickness. Best done in early fall when grass seeds germinate easily. Use a seed mix suitable for your climate.
Control weeds – Applying selective herbicides or hand pulling weeds prevents them from invading. Focus on pre-emergent control in early spring to stop weeds before they sprout.
Choose the right grass – Select a grass type suited for your climate and sunlight conditions for optimal health and less maintenance. Cool-season grasses grow best in northern zones.
With proper mowing, fertilization, aerating, and weed control your lawn will thrive season after season.
Garden Tours
The Garden Show features tours of remarkable home gardens across the Pacific Northwest. Viewers can get an inside look at the creative designs and unique plantings of local gardeners.
Some of the notable gardens visited on the show include:
The Spring Awakening Garden featured burnt wood decks, water features, and colorful plantings designed to “Spring from Darkness.” This masterpiece weaved unconventional colors and textures to craft a quintessential Pacific Northwest garden.
The Vegetable Garden displayed adaptive perennials and edibles like peonies, lilacs, iris, and azaleas. Doubling as an ornamental garden, this design utilized plants suitable for the region to create a lush and productive space.
Viewers can gain inspiration from tours of real home gardens cultivated by green thumbs in the area. The Garden Show offers an inside look at unique garden designs tailored to the Pacific Northwest climate and landscape.
Special Guests
One of the highlights of The Garden show are the special celebrity guests and expert speakers that offer gardening tips and advice. Over the years, The Garden show has featured popular TV personalities, authors, and gardening experts such as:
Paige Davis from TLC’s Trading Spaces – Paige shares her passion for gardening and landscape design. She provides clever tips for sprucing up your outdoor living spaces on a budget. (source)
Jason Cameron from DIY Network – Jason is the host of Man Caves and Desperate Landscapes. At The Garden show, he gives hands-on demonstrations for building garden structures and hardscaping. (source)
Sara Bendrick from HGTV – Sara is an expert on edible gardening and making ornamental gardens productive. She provides ideas for growing vegetables, herbs, berries, and more. (source)
Marianne Binetti – Marianne is a radio and TV personality known as “America’s Best Gardening Expert.” She shares tips on plants, gardening ideas, and more. (source)
The celebrity gardening guests offer inspiration and know-how for gardeners of all levels. Audiences appreciate the star power and expertise these special guests bring to The Garden show.
Impact and Legacy
The Garden show has become incredibly popular over the years, consistently ranking as one of the highest rated programs on PBS (Takeaways from the Northwest Flower & Garden Show). It is estimated to have over 3 million viewers tuning in weekly (Hybridparks, 1). The show’s immense popularity has turned it into an institution in the gardening world.
In addition to its popularity, The Garden show has received numerous awards over the years. It has won over 20 Emmy Awards, including for Outstanding Lifestyle Program. The show has also received accolades from the Environmental Media Association, American Horticultural Society, and other organizations for promoting environmental awareness and stewardship (Garden Shows and Festivals as a business model – Case …, 10).
The Garden show has had a major influence on gardening and environmentalism. It is credited with sparking an interest in gardening and sustainable living for millions of viewers. The show has also launched the careers of many prominent gardeners and designers. Its garden tours and special guests have showcased innovations and trends that have gone on to shape gardening nationally.
