TV gardener Charlie Dimmock says the biggest ever garden TV hit Groundforce will never return. The show drew 12m viewers a show during its 1997-2005 run, which made stars of Charlie, Alan Titchmarsh and Tommy Walsh. Charlie is now a daytime regular on BBC1 presenting Garden Rescue with the Rich brothers, Harry 30, and David, 27.
New series
Charlie, 51, said: โGroundforce is definitely over. Me and the boys are having a laugh on Garden Rescue and itโs keeping us busy. Weโre filming until the end of October and we started on 6 February, not that Iโm counting or anything.
โGroundforce is still repeated, horrifyingly but weโve all moved on and are doing different things. Garden Rescue is similar to Groundforce but whatโs different is it is actually their money, which I think is much more interesting and makes them think long and hard about whatโs important.”
Death knell for decking?
The Groundforce series was credited with helping the increase in sales of garden decking in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to its use during the series. Retailer B&Q had sales rise from ยฃ5,000 in 1997 to ยฃ16 million in 2001. Alan Titchmarsh said: “I am partly to blame for the decking boom, and I am sorry, I know it’s everywhere these days.”
But Charlie defended the much derided gardening style: โDecking is still around. On Groundforce I went through all the old episodes and found we only used it 20% of the time, so we didnโt use it as much as people think. One year at Chelsea Flower Show there was no decking, but there were lots of wooden walkways and wooden patios!”
Friendly banter
Dimmock’s first TV appearance was on Grass Roots with Titchmarsh in 1993 before starting at Groundforce in 1997, presenting alongside gardener Titchmarsh and landscaper Tommy Walsh.
โTommy phoned me up the other day because they are repeating Groundforce. He said โIโve got dark hair and you look quite slim Charlie.โ Thanks for that Tommy you charmer!โ
โAlan was the main presenter and me and Tommy were in the background. There were a lot of laughs. A lot of what we did wouldnโt be able to go out until after the watershed.โ
Real budgets
She says Garden Rescue has replaced Groundforce in her life: โItโs a bit like Groundforce. We do the garden in two days. What the difference is itโs actually them that contribute the money.
โIf Alan said it went slightly over budget on Groundforce that means we went way over budget. In the first series Tommy and I went and bought what we needed but we quickly realised that was not practical.โ
She says the Rich brothers who star alongside her on Garden Rescue are โreally young. They make me laugh. They say โwe were allowed to stay up late to watch Groundforce. I say โcan you let me punch you!โ
She said the first part of the show is already filmed and she and the Rich Brothers have drawn their designs before they discuss with the householders what they want.
โWe ask them โis there anything you donโt want in your garden, which is a risk because weโve already designed it. โDeckingโ they replied. So my design ended up with a โwooden patioโ and the boys had a โwooden boardwalkโ in theirs.
