A Whirlwind Romance with TV Gardening!

I have always been keen on drawing inspiration and motivation from gardening shows on TV but particularly those aimed at promoting design in gardens and landscaping projects. Last weekend I had the opportunity to take part in a live TV makeover in Glasgow - here' how I got on?Like I say since ever being interested I have been addicted to garden makeover programmes - in the same way that my wife (as a chef) is enthralled by Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Masterchef and the endless list of TV cooking shows; I am to UKTV Gardens and anything else garden or architecture related. Recently I have been glued to Diarmuid Gavin's RTE series "I Want A Garden" which I sky+'d before Christmas.This show offers a unique insight into Gavin's techniques and how the client's react to his treatment of their gardens. The idea of the show is based around Gavin's interview of the prospective client and his subsequent design presentation; after which the clients are left to their own devices to manage the project using Gavin only on a consultation basis. It lays bare the logistical pitfalls of extreme design ambition but also offers insight into how much more some clients are prepared to pay to achieve their dream garden space. One couple had an initial budget of E40K but ended up (more or less contently) spending over E100K! Recently a house in Dublin was advertised on the market as having private gardens designed by Diarmuid Gavin. It sold for E16.5M!!There are other excellent shows ranging all budgets including celebrated designers such as Joe Swift, Matt James and Anne-Marie Powell among many others and I especially like the low-budget (in every sense) show featuring Simon Harrison-Knibbs and his sidekick Ryan.Anyway, I digress...Of course we all know the GroundForce format of taking a run-down garden and transforming it to the delight of the property owner over a short space of time - but do the 'weekend makeover' shows like GroundForce actually achieve what they do in the time that they say they do, or is it all a bit of TV magic?Well...I was contacted by ITV just 2 days before Christmas (while I was on holiday - lucky I answered!) asking if I'd be interested in taking part in a surprise tv garden makeover project in Glasgow. Obviously I obliged - the story appealed to me of course but the marketing spin-off potential would be of tremendous value since the project was to be initiated at the begining of 2009 - so a good opportunity during winter and an economic slump to enhance the business and hopefully get some work in.The project was to be a surprise garden makeover for Margaret Traynor, a hard-working soon-to-retire nurse at Glasgow's Yorkhill Sick Children's Hospital, whose daughters had contacted the This Morning programme as part of it's Dreams Come True series. David Domoney - the This Morning TV gardener and multiple RHS medal winner - was on board. Cool!It was a charity project and so we were asked to donate materials and services to construct some decking. This was fine - about 2.5m x 3m. The project was due for the weekend of January 10th. Quite soon but no sweat.B&Q, Dobbies Garden Centres and a host of others were donating as well of course. The full list of suppliers, for those interested, can be seen on ITVs thank you list for the project.

I didn't hear anything until January 7th when the production assistant phoned asking me to meet him at the project site while Margaret was at work. So I hared it up to Partick. Ben, a very pleasant fellow, indicated the area to be decked - about 7.5m x 4m. Shit."It's a bit bigger than i was first told!""Is that a problem?""No" (I lied - obviously!)So he gives me David Domoney's mobile number. "Give David a call, he hasn't seen the garden yet and won't until Saturday so he needs your eyes and input.""Yeah, cool - no sweat Ben nice one." Gulp. Sweat.I phone David and he is another very pleasant chap and seems excited about the project. I tell him my thoughts on the site and we form a preliminary plan of action, but nothing will be finalised until Saturday. OK.

Saturday morning arrives and I'm out the trap and after the hare. Margaret was whisked away for a luxury spa weekend by her daughter Karen at 10am. David and his team of "Garden Angels" are travelling from Warwickshire and should be at the job by 1ish. By 12 noon I am at the job with a hired van filled to the gunnels with decking timber and tools - the gear couldn't be delivered for obvious reasons.David and the team arrive at half 3! Their hire van had a limiter on it and they could only get up to 56mph! Nightmare. It is now gushing with rain and getting dark.We have a discussion about what to do with the garden, agree on what's going where and get to work. I take shelter in the hired Luton van to do all my preliminary joist cuts.Anyway I'll cut the long story short. On Sunday it was raining enough for a week and I built a 21sqm deck against the house while David and Keiron and the rest of the team clambered over the top of me to fit out the rest of the garden. With the help of Margaret's brother and son-in-law as volunteers (my man was playing football but secretly I also think he didn't fancy being on telly!) we managed the lot in 12 hours flat - not bad considering the garden was terraced and everything had to come through the house or over the neighbours 6ft fence and that the weather was atrocious!

So for the live TV links on Monday morning the whole project was completed and we were really only applying finishing touches and sitting around drinking tea.So the answer is YES they do do those jobs in a weekend! In total we had 10 bodies in the garden (7.5m x 7m) at all times and no Tommy Walsh in sight - or on site!I have been promised some further work with David setting up some shows for him this year - including Chelsea - which I am very much looking forward to, having never been. This time I will be paid!Further reading: my blog for clients, Evening Times Glasgow article coverage(I shall post the video of the production and some more press links when i get them.)Nicky PattersonGardenImprovements.com

Thanks Susan - yeh it's definitely not an attitude of urgency your average Joe sympathises with!

Niall - yeah it was vague at first and they did indeed require the materials and services but only because it was a charity project. They must have found us both on Google but I didn't spend a penny until I met with the Production Assistant and spoke to Domoney. They definitely lured me in with the false initial measurements but the spin-off potential was worth it - plus the experience of some TV work and working with a relatively big name in gardening!

You should have got involved Niall and I think you've missed a trick - I've already had 2 designs commissioned from it and 3 smaller projects agreed upon later this month so a crackin start to 2009 plus all the media I can post on my website from it to capture future enquiries! Definitely a good decision to go ahead methinks.

"Personally I think it's gardeners time to cash in we've been cheap for to long and now that people are lazy we have the pick. I've got 9 big jobs on a waiting list for when I have a gap.not to mention all the small gardens I'm at £35hr now and…"

"I bought a no name petrol blower on eBay for £30 as temporary fix. I expected it to last 6 months but 2 years later it's still going strong. It's a copy of the Stihl Bg 56. You don't always get what you pay for. "

"Hat's off to you for persevering with them Graham. Surely one of the best aspects of British life is blokes patiently and skillfully fixing things in the shed. Sounds a nightmare product to me, whether it was a blower or something else, I wouldn't…"

Comments

Kerrie John-The garden design Co January 20, 2009 at 7:52pm

WELL DONE! Sound like a mare but you did a good job. Good luck with Chelsea and post pics when finished.
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com January 20, 2009 at 8:34pm

Thanks Kerrie! It was tough but a good start to the year - I feel weatherproof now! I've got my fingers crossed that David will get me on board - nothing's guaranteed but I'd love to do it. I also said to the landscapers in his regular team (the Garden Angels, whom I should have mentioned) to look this site up so perhaps we shall see them on here soon too!
Kerrie John-The garden design Co January 20, 2009 at 8:42pm

You may need a few angels at Chelsea, hear it is really tough!
All the best and well done for not procrastinating!
Susan January 20, 2009 at 9:08pm

Good stuff Nicky ! and an entertaining read as usual. I always wanted my team to work with the same extreme urgency like their lives depended on it like Ground Force do! not sure what Id have to do to get that to happen mind you - lots and lots of £ probably
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com January 21, 2009 at 5:40pm

Thanks Susan - yeh it's definitely not an attitude of urgency your average Joe sympathises with!

Niall - yeah it was vague at first and they did indeed require the materials and services but only because it was a charity project. They must have found us both on Google but I didn't spend a penny until I met with the Production Assistant and spoke to Domoney. They definitely lured me in with the false initial measurements but the spin-off potential was worth it - plus the experience of some TV work and working with a relatively big name in gardening!

You should have got involved Niall and I think you've missed a trick - I've already had 2 designs commissioned from it and 3 smaller projects agreed upon later this month so a crackin start to 2009 plus all the media I can post on my website from it to capture future enquiries! Definitely a good decision to go ahead methinks.
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com January 21, 2009 at 5:42pm

Also they got £400 to me so I covered a good bit of the initial material outlay.
Kerrie John-The garden design Co January 21, 2009 at 5:46pm

Looks like a win win. Your being paid and all that publicity to boot! Hampton Court cost me thousands, but do trade off my medal.

Good luck, sure it will be a blast!
Shadow Hall January 23, 2009 at 10:16am

Congratulations I am glad you have had some work from this.
My own personal experience with TV production companies has been that they always want something for nothing. I have had several phone calls about the Topiary hire side of my business. They are not even prepared to pay for the delivery and the most one of them offered is a mention on the production company (not even the shows) website for one month.
In my and many other similar business opinion they are simply not worth the expenditure. I think its cheeky to expect a small business to supply them with free products and services when I am sure they fully expect to get paid for their part in it.
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com January 24, 2009 at 4:29pm

Thanks guys for all the good wishes - much appreciated!