GardenTube
/Despite four years of pruning my roses, the annual cut back never happens without a quick refresher via a handful of YouTube tutorials. There’s nothing like some broad reassurance that you’re attacking the job the same way as a fellow gardener in Auckland – or Ireland, or America, or France.
Once you wade through YouTube's make-up tutorials and music videos, and locate the search button, you can type in the name of a garden, a style or concept, a gardener or designer, or just the question you might have. The results will range from brilliantly shot and informative to poor, but slow down and weed through them – you’ll find what you need, I promise!
Beyond practical, information-based clips, I have also undertaken a massive amount of garden–based tourism from my sofa – viewing films of gardens that I’ve read about in books and magazines, and being introduced to many more that I hope to wander in person one day.
A few years ago, I collaborated with Flashworks Media and Garden Marlborough to make my own YouTube series, The Magic of Gardening by Studio Home. It peeped into some of our own local great gardens, with a focus on the atmosphere and people who made these places. This is a project I hope to reignite soon! My channel also has some recaps of flowering arranging, and other beginner gardening adventures.
YouTube allows us to tap into truly like-minded people. Some scrolling and clicking will lead you to an approach and style that sits well with you and, quite often, an ongoing source of new, free information.
Once you have watched a film that really hits the mark, YouTube will also throw up suggestions of similar or popular clips that you might have never stumbled across – this is where the tumble down the rabbit hole begins, and you can expect to go many interesting places!
Here are some channels that I enjoy, to get your “GardenTube” viewing adventure started. I am barely scratching the surface, but I hope this gives you some places to begin, and the chance to start honing your knowledge base and passion!
I’ve started you off with a favourite episode from each to give you a taste.
Nowness Great Gardens
Nowness casts its net wide across art, design, fashion, beauty, music, food and travel. But it’s the Great Gardens series of films that absolutely spins my gardening wheels.
Beautifully shot, these films will transport you for a few minutes into fabulous creative gardens like Jardin en Cévennes in the South of France, Great Dixter in England, Sunnylands in California, USA – and even learning about naturalistic planting style directly from Piet Oudolf.
Liziqi
I have been following this fascinating gardener/cook/homesteader from China for a year or two now.
In our initial nationwide lockdown, I found great calm in disappearing into her beautifully shot films profiling her skills to transform anything she grows and everything she finds into something amazing.
The Gardenist
Michael McCoy is one of Australian’s best-known landscape designers, horticulturists and garden personalities, recognised widely across the Tasman for his TV show Dream Gardens.
He keenly shares the gardens he visits (from all over the world) and most recently has been recording live readings his book Michael McCoy’s Garden to celebrate 20 years since it was first published.
Edible Acres
Interested in permaculture and low cost, low-tech principles for growing your food? This is a really interesting channel out of New York state, USA.
Focused on layered food forest systems, soil building and gardening alongside chooks, there will no doubt be many ideas to be gathered here.
Charles Dowding
King of the no-dig movement in the UK, Charles Dowding has a huge channel packed with tips and demonstrations for gentle vegetable gardening.
There really is a video for every vegetable and every question.
Sarah Raven
Queen of the cut flower, and general garden tip guru, Sarah Raven’s channel hits all the need-to-knows for growing an abundant garden.
Again, while based in the UK, but much of what she shares is entirely relatable and relevant to home gardeners across New Zealand.
Garden Masterclass
A channel for the geeky gardener! Instead of slick film quality, here you get to browse an incredibly diverse series of long format presentations given by designers, artists and gardeners from around the world.
Normally offering intensive, in-person clinics, they have diverted to a recorded offering during the pandemic. There is some real gold to be found here!
The clip below is a BRILLIANT conversation with two New Zealand gardeners and designers I admire greatly!
Home Grown Happiness
A terrific New Zealand channel focused on no-dig gardening in a small suburban garden.
Incredibly relatable in both subject matter and accent, Elien Lewis really delivers on garden to table potential – with a lot of recipes to explore too!
National Garden Scheme
If you are just wanting to virtually wander some gardens, I can recommend the National Garden Scheme channel.
Gentle moments from British gardens big and small, full of ideas, advice and plants to get the blood pumping as we approach our own growing seasons.
Happen Films
Check out this great channel with New Zealand content that explores sustainability, natural building, permaculture and indigenous food sovereignty amongst other interesting topics. Beautifully shot, short format documantaries.
As we are a little light on our own gardening television her in NZ, you will be surprised and delighted with what you can find on YouTube with a keyword search for your favourite, garden based shows from overseas!
This is an expanded version of the article featured in my Stuff ‘Homed’ gardening column for beginners , The Press, Dominion Post and other regional papers on September 2nd 2021
All words and images are my own, taken in my home and garden in Christchurch, New Zealand unless otherwise captioned.
