Glorious Gardens From Above

After such a long time of getting it wrong the BBC have finally managed to get gardening right with their new series, Glorious Gardens from Above, in which Christine Walkden visits some of our great national horticultural treasures. This series manages to bring in new angle on gardens; with the aid of a hot air balloon our presenter encourages us to appreciate these gardens from an angle we are unlikely to see them from ourselves, from the air.

Even though the series is not yet even halfway through I am confident to say that excellent gardens have been chosen. From the intimacy of Beth Chatto's garden in Essex to the grandeur of Powys Castle in Wales, and from the rugged extremes of St. Michael's Mount to the enviable microclimate of Trebah (both in Cornwall), someone has had the unenviable task of choosing just two gardens to represent each county, and yet has managed to choose and to choose gardens with an interesting blend of inspiration, horticultural difficulties and challenges, as well as concise but fascinating human elements.

Trebah in Cornwall, a garden well worth visiting!

In many ways this programme is held together by the excellent choice of presenter; Christine Walkden is eminently likeable, with her down-to-earth approach and her willingness to express, in front of TV cameras, the excitement that excellent horticulture brings to many of us. This show isn't as pretentious as too many programmes about gardens manage to be, neither is it patronising, and Christine Walkden goes a long way to make the somewhat exclusive world of the big gardens accessible and inspirational to a wide audience.

There is of course a but.

But why is this programme being shown at 3.45pm on weekdays? The sheer quality and accessibility of this series would surely make this absolutely perfect for that niche in the schedules where broadcasters need gentle but uplifting broadcasting? Or maybe a winter alternative to Gardener's World? Does the BBC assume that the only people who will want to watch this series are retired or aren't at work? If they do think this then why commission such a high quality series to sit between 'Escape To The Country' and 'Flog It'? Quite simply there is only one thing wrong with this series: it's simply too good to be consigned to an afternoon slot.