It is the only gardening program directed by an expert in the field but starring people like you and me, mere amateurs. »Big Dreams, Small Spaces»Is a series where it is shown that no matter how small your garden is: if you have a dream, with patience and effort you can beautify it… a lot.
The most interesting thing is that you don't have to be in the UK - the place where it is recorded - to learn how to do it. Monty Don, who is the one in charge of the program, explains things using simple language, without technicalities.
Big Dreams, Small Spaces
Image - www.bbc.co.uk
Do you love plants? Do you have a patio or solar where you can create your garden? If you have answered yes to both questions, this is a television series with which you will learn a lot (and if not also 😉). Monty Don, who has written several books on gardening and has also done several programs related to plants and gardens, gives tons of tips on how to turn a small space into a paradise.
Regardless of what use they are put to, he listens to the owners, takes a look at their plans, and even helps them with jobs, rolling up their sleeves, putting on gloves, or getting their boots dirty if necessary.
Where you can see?
The series is broadcast on BBC2, but also is on Netflix subtitled in Spanish. It has three seasons of between 5 and 6 episodes, in which each one of them sees the creation of two gardens ... each one more beautiful. Seriously, I have seen it complete, and it is impossible for me to say which one I liked the most.
Although it is true that the Japanese garden of episode 5 of the first season made me fall in love. I am passionate about the plants typical of this type of garden; I actually collect japanese maples, and to see how what was a messy and bland lot became, at the hands of its owners, a place where a piece of Japanese nature came to life ... it was incredible. Marvelous.
Are the plants Monty Don recommends readily available?
Image - pickleshlee.wordpress.com
In the nurseries of each country (and each area) they sell plants that more or less know that they can grow well in those places, since it is not always interesting to commercialize species that cannot live there. But the truth is that Nowadays, thanks to the Internet and online stores, it is really easy to buy plants that you cannot find in the garden centers in your area..
I myself have bought the vast majority of Japanese maples from a nurseryman in the United Kingdom, because here in Mallorca (Spain) these shrubs / trees are not only tremendously difficult to get, but when you find them they are priced too high.
But beware: be very careful with online plant purchases. You must always keep in mind CUSTOMS (not all countries/communities allow the international import of plants) and CITES (it is an agreement that tries to protect species in danger of extinction).
So, if you have about 50 minutes each day free, I recommend you watch this series with which you are sure to learn a lot of things 🙂.