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Posted by frugalgardener (U8205621) on Friday, 27th April 2007
I have watched(and loved GW) for over 20 years but feel saddened that they are losing sight of the ordinary gardener. Tonight the team had obelisks made for £150 and then said that this wasn't very expensive. But it is, really it is -I am lucky to spend that in a year in my own garden. And this was in a programme where we saw the ultimate frugal gardener - Geoff Hamilton - what an insult to his memory - I can't see him ever saying "And here's one I got made earlier - a snip at £150 each!!"
Competely agree.
..and to add insult to injury there were eight of them ie £1200 just the sort of thing for the normal gardeners budget!!. Why not let Monty do his rod bending trick as per Uri Geller like he did for the flower supports which I thought was pretty good.
, in reply to message 3.
Posted by hypercharleyfarley (U7444019) on Friday, 27th April 2007
I didn't like them one little bit! Seemed like the proverbial "rip off" to me - a bit like Ms Emin's unmade bed in that art gallery maybe? How much nicer if they'd given apprentice blacksmiths a chance to come up with some ideas. HCFs Ma
Yes, totally agree - not many of us can afford that sort of money on a rusting plant support!
Surely they did not have to be specially made - please Production Team - remember us ordinary gardeners who want to create a beautiful garden but on a very limited budget. Geoff Hamilton had his stunning artisan's garden to cater for all pockets.
You don't need to spend lots of money to be a successful gardener.
Hi, another question for me is when Mony planted the clematis he said to plant them on the shade side... did he mean inside the frame of the obelisk? I thought the shade would depend on the position of the sun. I agree with the £1,200 though , it puts my garden into perspective, very small about 2p. worth!
I so agree with this comment, I was appalled at the cost! Sure, maybe some lucky person could get one....as a special birthday gift (40/60/907) but EIGHT!!!!! I think not!
And trying to tell us they were a good buy, I ask you! If they were bespoke, why not have something that looks different from what you can buy anywhere?
Also, did anyone else notice Monty pulling out the veg (cabbages?) by loosening the pack and yanking the plant? If the plant is well enough watered it will easily come out of a pack such as this............I made up 25 hanging baskets today so I guess I'm qualified to say this
Oh dear oh dear oh dear,
£1200 on those obelisks I feel the team have lost touch with reality, there was not even suggestions for families on a more limited budget.
Gardeners World has really lost the plot. Every week they seem to throw money at some new project rip a garden out, replace it with something completely different, spend hundreds of pounds on new plants. The average gardener can't afford to do this. It's just tedious to watch and completely out of touch with reality. Thank heavens for Christine's Garden, and here in Scotland Beechgrove Garden. Reality Gardening shows.
Just seen the programme as I taped it - and came hot foot to the computer to start a thread identical to this one.
I think I spend quite a lot of money on my garden, but I wouldn't dream of comissioning metal obelisks ( even supposing I knew how to go about it!!)
Why can't the ´óÏó´«Ã½ EVER buy things from shops like real people do ( it's the same when they furnish houses - things are always "one offs" )
A good use of our licence fees - I don't think so!!!
P.S. The obelisks looked very ordinary, especially for £1200 - in fact they were rather naff and I bet they're ripped out within a couple of years!!
These obelisks do seem to be a waste of money and poor value too. I have a perfectly good one which cost me £35 approx the year before we went to euros. A local arty blacksmith made me an arch for about £50 -
Oops - pressed post too soon. A local garden supplies shop sells individual and also sets of 3 metal obelisks starting at €20 for the smallest and going to €90 for a full set. The price of the new GW ones seems inflated to say the least.
I don't see how ordinary folk with mortgages and families to support are supposed to finance their garden the way Berryfields does by throwing money at a problem instead of ingenuity. I have to have my metal obelisks as birthday, Xmas and Mother's Day presents which don't happen often enough for all the clematis I grow so I make my own wooden ones till the next one comes round.
me and the wife said the same thing cos in the real world we would put up with what they took down ad stood back and said wow look at how much i have saved using sticks eh?
Don't know about you lot, but I'm enrolling on a welding and metal work evening class this autumn
Sounds like a good plan Talley-ho. I went on a willow weaving course earlier this year and made an obelisk - - which is now planted in the garden with a clematis Brunette.
I'd like to make more but maybe metalwork is also something to consider - except it's relatively so much cheaper here in Belgium. I nearly fainted when I saw the price of it at Chelsea last year.
When the wigwam was taken down I said to OH"I wouldn't have minded having that" and when I realised the amount of money spent on replacements I was flabergasted. They were nice but you could get two sofas in the sales for that.
Wow that's a very nice crafty obelisk, Obelix ( — try saying that when you had a couple of chardonnays).
Everything at Chelsea seemed bonkers prices. Although I was very keen on someday having a copper armillary personalised to your house's latitude and longitude. They were really beautiful but with a pricetag of £1,000+ I think I'd have to make my own.
Talley-ho, I used to fancy one of those too but not at that price!
I dont know how the man kept a straight face when he presented those what can be only describe as rustically made Obelisks and declared them a bargin at £120 each. I just looked on Ebay and found straightaway something which looked amazingly similar for £13.95p each. I think the Black Smith saw them coming. As to the matter of how much Brits pay for things when it comes to gardens, like so many other things its Rip off Britain I am afriad. I buy and furnish my garden here for Half the price of my UK garden.Take Roses, a David Austin container Rose "Heritage" in my local Amsterdam garden center £6.25. from some UK centers £15+ and from the man himself nearly £25. and they grow them in the bloody UK. British Gardeners rebel!! refuse to pay those over inflated prices.
I do rebel! I never buy anything that costs over a tenner.
I also get my plants for free by propagating or taking cuttings. I am currently using the free seeds from the Shredded Wheat packets...
Hi Kfgray - I used to buy David Austin roses bare-rooted by mail order but with very mixed success. I then found suppliers here in Belgium selling the same varieties, potted up and growing healthily for the same or slightly less as I was paying for the bare root mail order versions and without the added cost of postage or added risk of failure.
Their customer service leaves much to be desired too - take all the money the minute they receive the order then fail to supply all the order 3 months later and I still am waiting for a refund for the ones that failed last year.
However, I have to say I'm very happy with the service from Chiltern Seeds and Seeds of Italy.
Must admit I gulped too at the glib way Monty said £150 and that they had eight of them! I have been recently looking for obelisks for my sweet peas and was thrilled to find a tall one for £9.95. It crossed my mind that there would be some comment here about this.
, in reply to message 22.
Posted by mr naughty corner (U2456974) on Saturday, 28th April 2007
I can afford £150 for an obelisk everybody, no sweat. In fact i might buy two. And then just knack them because they are rubbish. I might even throw them down my wishing well.
Derek Pig
Dare I say that I didnt think those Obelisks that expensive (having just had some made) but they were ugly (I expect thats just down to Joe Swift trying to be 'cutting edge' again lol).
The program was good though eh? Great to see clips of the past presenters and I was impressed by Monty and Carol's (seemingly genuine) respect for the history of GW.
I will go and find my tin hat now
ugly is too kind a word for them, hideous more like, I don't think Joe Swift and Monty Don would know cutting edge if they saw it, let alone commision it.
I just could not belive how much they cost - gardening is an expensive hobby at the best of times! Who does the ´óÏó´«Ã½ think watches this show???? And I completly agree with the person who said you could buy a 3 piece suite for the cost of those 8 obelisks!
Haven't seen the programme yet....
....but for budget gardeners Wilkos do a 6'' basic wobbly one for £4.99
6''.... I meant 6 foot.....I cannot emphasise the wobbliness though....'Tis like a jelly
I don't suppose anyone knows where I can get a not-particularly-wobbly-one for around a tenner, do they???
Margi x
I bought some cheap green metal ones in LIDL last year for €10 each. They're fine while I get the pennies together for better ones or take the time to make wooden ones. They have big gaps though, like the Berryfields ones, so I've strung green coated wire between the supports to give an extra leg up for my clems.
What irks me about the Berrryfields ones is that they're invisible when covered in clems so it' doesn't matter whether or not they're stylish/expensive/whatever but they're also so thin and insubstantial that they'll be practically invisible when they're not covered in clems and will add nothing to the border.
Maybe we should have an obelisk competition on the boards and see who can come up with the best model using that 6mm wire and a soldering iron! We should be able to manage a decent one for a third of what they paid.
, in reply to message 26.
Posted by mysteryletterboxs (U1950653) on Sunday, 29th April 2007
just could not belive how much they cost - gardening is an expensive hobby at the best of times! Who does the ´óÏó´«Ã½ think watches this show???? Ìý
We almost fell out of our chairs when Monty announced the price, and 'they provided the wire to keep the price down'. Ho Ho Ho, Who do they think they're kidding?
posted by frugalgardener
I have watched(and loved GW) for over 20 years but feel saddened that they are losing sight of the ordinary gardener. Tonight the team had obelisks made for £150 and then said that this wasn't very expensive. But it is, really it is -I am lucky to spend that in a year in my own garden. And this was in a programme where we saw the ultimate frugal gardener - Geoff Hamilton - what an insult to his memory - I can't see him ever saying "And here's one I got made earlier - a snip at £150 each!!"
Ìý
Surely you are confusing cost with expense.
If something is good value for money - it is not expensive - whether it is affordable is quite a different question.
Geoff Hamilton was always looking for value for money and had a "Gentleman's Garden" as well as one for peasants.
posted by TalleyHo
Everything at Chelsea seemed bonkers prices. Although I was very keen on someday having a copper armillary personalised to your house's latitude and longitude. They were really beautiful but with a pricetag of £1,000+ I think I'd have to make my own.Ìý
Did you see the Lalique small garden ? The etched crystal glass table was £ 50,000.00
i dont see what was wrong with the nice hazel obelisks they made a few years ago. once the clematis is roaring all over it who is going to notice you have spent a £150 on a metal one anyway?
I did. Made my covetted armillary look like a bargain but I wouldn't want an etched crystal table in my garden anyway — ditsy beyond belief!
I've found our local auction house frequently has lovely rusty obelisks in sales and they go quite cheaply. Stacked up in the sale yard they look awful, but covered in clematis in your garden, it's quite a different matter.
why would any one what one in there garden anyway.
vertical interest is wonderful in the garden but it doesnt have to be expensive and if GW continues to infer that gardening is for the wealthy it will discourage new gardeners. its all about consumerism now, ive even stopped buying the magazine after subscribing for years and years because of all the advertising and gimmicky gizmo's. if it wasnt possible to garden on a budget i for one wouldnt have been able to garden for thirty odd years!
I bought an Obelixs today! Its 6 foot tall and is made of galvanised metal, its a sort of tarnished silver (not shiny) and will blend in and not be too obvious. It has rings around it and a criss cross pattern between each ring, quite attracive it is! Ah, I hear you cry! Naughty HSL has been spending her husbands money on the garden again!!!!!
Yes indeed I have, 5 quid at QD!!!! Also two clems at £1.99 each, Garrota at £2.19 for 2.5kg and a HUGE round up thingy for £15.49 (reduced from £34.99)! I did only go for the garrota, but thats how it always goes.............!
I was very disappointed by the obelisks. Firstly I didn't think they looked very good and secondly the price.
I don't think Monty was too happy about them either as I think I remember last year when they showed behind the scenes clips the three of them were talking about them and Carol and Joe were adamant that the "old fashioned" obelisks had to go. Monty, being a huge fan of hazel wigwams, wasn't too impressed.
The hazel wigwams are cheap, don't need a welder to build and look amazing. And besides, it's the plants you're growing up the obelisk that should capture your eye.
, in reply to message 39.
Posted by upthegardenpath (U5327429) on Monday, 30th April 2007
As thesedays everyone is on the eco-bandwagon, I would say hazel wigwams are from a sustainable resource with a minimal carbon footprint whereas steel errr isn't and hasn't. Apart from that as has been said £150 each is totally bonkers - did the licence fee pay for that or the Berryfields owners??
and the fact they kept going on about how affordable they were was upsetting.
I'm normally a staunch supporter of this GW team but they certainly got it wrong on the obelisks.
but they did get it right on the clematis' they were growing up them. lovely choices.
Hotsunlover wrote:
Yes indeed I have, 5 quid at QD!!!! Also two clems at £1.99 each, Garrota at £2.19 for 2.5kg and a HUGE round up thingy for £15.49 (reduced from £34.99)! I did only go for the garrota, but thats how it always goes.............!Ìý
Where or what is QD please HSL.
If you like clematis, in the GW mag there's an offer of 9 different ones for £17.99 (with some of the GW's plant varieties included) or you can buy individual sets of 3 different varieties for £8.99 each. Commercial over.
I'm getting a bit impatient as I ordered them 2 weeks ago and hope they don't take much longer to arrive.
Exactly - just not living in the real world - and what a contrast to dear old Christine with her make do and mend policy.
I know I am going to sound like I'm really 'up' myself here, but I'll say this anyway QD is one of those shops you go into that you hope no-one see's you in! (I know, I sound terrible).
It is based at a local centre that is really run down and awaiting council funding for a face lift, but it is soooo cheap, everyone I know goes there, in secret (but in two's)!!!! I don't know if it is nationwide though Piggingardner. I think it used to be owned by Rainbow, if thats any help. Sorry I can't give you more info.
I know I am going to sound like I'm really 'up' myself here, but I'll say this anyway QD is one of those shops you go into that you hope no-one see's you in! (I know, I sound terrible).Ìý
I know what you mean HSL, something akin to Poundland..... I've not come across QD before so it must be local to you. Enjoy your bargains!
Must say that a couple of months ago I bought a purple climbing rose, a cornus and a buddleja at the pound shop and they're all romping away and looking very healthy.
I agree. spending money on my garden usually goes on the plants. I make my own obelisks out of canes they dont look to bad. anyway they are soon coverd by plants. I too love GW but its time for them to get back to the ordinary gardeners way of gardening. Watching Geoff was pure delight, he was my insperation to begin gardening.
How we laughed at the 'not too expensive' obelisks that look horrid sa well. What we really need is a clearly demonstarted method of tying bamboo canes so the knot at the top of the wigwam doesn't slip or look untidy... Some of us can't afford the plastic thingys to make a wigwam so have to make do with string or salvaged thin wire (off broken chain link fences - it worked quite well when my grandpa did it years ago). Come on GW, let's get back to the Real World. wg
garden shows put on stuff like this just to taunt the viewers.
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