Re: BBC must stop dumbing down gardening shows

**"* S* <i*@plantingstories.com>**

Here lies the dilemma.

Gardening terminology and Latin names and minutia details about plants are a
complete turn-off for the general population. Of course they are important,
standards must be upheld and people who have chosen to immerse themselves
deeper into gardening need to be catered for and encouraged. 

But the BBC isn't there to provide specialist education. It has to appeal to
the masses. By presenting gardening in the context of more general
decorating and design or a lifestyle thing that celebrities are associated
with, a line of communication with the general public is opened. Gardening
becomes relevant to them, and once they dip their toes in the water they may
become curious to dig deeper, as it were, into doing things "properly". At
that point, some kind of step by step route needs to be available that
allows new gardeners to develop their knowledge in a way that holds their
interest. 

Think about the success of Top Gear. When it started out it was a serious
programme about cars that only appealed to die-hard car enthusiasts. But now
everybody watches it because it crosses the communication boundary between
the specialist and the casual observer. There aren't any shows on the BBC
about "how to choose the right car for you" or "how to be a better driver".
Maybe the motoring industry isn't happy about that - I wouldn't know. But if
you look at this from the BBC's point of view you can surely understand.

For those already in-the-know about gardening, this is hard to bear. But
digging heels in and refusing to cater for a broader modern audience is a
recipe for alienation. Gardening needs to be perceived as an all-inclusive
activity. Insistence on sticking to old presentation formulas and speaking a
language most people can't understand isn't the way forward.

No, I don't work for the BBC, but I do work for several well-known
international consumer brands (non-gardening) and this is the way of the
world now. If we want to get more people into gardening, we need to
reconsider how it is branded at the entry level and how we nurture new
recruits through to specialist level.

Just my 2-Pennies worth. It always helps to see the other side of the coin
:-)

Miriam 

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