New beginnings
It's a funny old world. One door closes, another one opens. As we wistfully say goodbye to one gardening era we're suddenly turning to see the dawn of an exciting new season. Finally, after months of speculation, the news is out that Toby Buckland is to step into Monty's shoes and lead the Gardeners' World team through a whole new set of garden challenges. Are we delighted? Yes, we are absolutely thrilled!
I've known Toby for about seven years and in that time I've grown to admire and respect him as a gardener and presenter. His professional training is wide; from nursery jobs as a teenager to studies at Bicton, Hadlow and the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens; then years working both in England and abroad before returning to Cambridge as the Superintendent of their Woodland and Herbaceous sections. But it isn't just his training that has won my respect. It's because Toby's a real gardener too. I know it is not just a job, but a way of life for him and his wife Lisa and both garden just as passionately off camera as I've seen them do on camera. It's been a torturous few of weeks keeping the appointment under wraps when everyone has been asking who would be stepping up to the challenge this autumn. But now the news is out and there's a whole new buzz in the office as we start to plan the next gardening year. In Toby we've found a gardener with whom we can all share our gardening experiences, but ultimately someone from whom we can learn. In the past I think he may have been seen as the quiet man of gardening. Personally I'm over the moon that this quiet man has been given a new voice.
Comments