total tv - diarmuid gavin
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spheres,hasscoopedagold medal. But,whenitcomestothe crunch,isDiannuid thatbothered? 'Contrary towhat youmayhave heard,I'mnotholding outforthe gold.Imean,itwould belovely, butitdoesn'treallymatterto me... Everybody thinks itmatters tome,but,no,absolutely not.I'm surrealqualityandhavebeeninfluencedby anythingfrompopvideostoStarTrek: AndhisChelseagarden?'Forthelasttwo orthreeyearsnowIhavelikedFiftiesdesign. It'sanobsessionthatIhopethisgardenwill puttorestonceandforall.Butthekidsthat The Garden 'TRANSCRIPT
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The Chelsea Flower Show opens this week and maverick TV gardenerDiarmuid Gavinfinally finds out if his Fifties-inspiredgarden will get a medal
In for a dig:DiarmuidandLaurenceLlewelyn-Bowen hada mouthybut mateyreparteeon HomeFront InThe Garden
Diannuid Gavin, the enfant terribleof garden design, made asurprise announcement at lastyear's ChelseaFlower Show: in2004he was going to build agarden at Chelsea.Since then, the
world of gardening has watched and waited.Over the past four weeks, viewers have
been tuning in to Diarmuid's Big Adventure tofollow the maverick designer's ups anddowns as he creates his ambitious andcontroversial garden.
And this week, as The RHS ChelseaFlower Show opens, we can find out whetherhis Fifties-inspired design, with its sweepingcurves and brightly coloured metal
spheres, has scooped a gold medal.But, when it comes to the
crunch, is Diannuid that bothered?'Contrary to what you may haveheard, I'm not holding out for thegold. I mean, it would be lovely,but it doesn't really matter tome... Everybody thinks it mattersto me, but, no, absolutely not. I'mhoping that peoplewill standin i
the gardenand smile!' 'Diannuid, 40, is married to
Justine, also a gardener, whoprefers to stay out of the limelightwhile her husband has become
one of the UK's leading gardendesigners. His combination oftalent, rugged good looks andchann has also made him a TVfavourite on shows such asHomeFront In TheGarden.
But this isn't the first time thathe has entered a garden atChelsea. In fact, in 1995,he won a bronzemedal. At the time, he was an unknown fromDublin with an ailing gardening business.But, after his success,he was interviewed byAlan TItchmarsh, which led to his TV break.
Will Diannuid's 'Lollipop' gardenimpress this year's judges even more?Even he admits it's not very 'Chelsea'.'Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying todisplease the judges with my entry,because that would be silly. But, to behonest, they are not the kind of peopleI make gardens for. I don't want to p***people off, or shock. It's just a bit of fun:
So does Diannuid think The ChelseaFlower Show needs to move with the
times? 'Well, it is a bit stuffy. But the factthat they are allowing me in to do whatI do means it is changing. But evenwithout me it is still the best flower showin the world, and that has to be respected!I also hope that it will become moremulticultural in the future, as it's hard toseea face in the crowd that isn't white:
This week, Diannuid seemsto be takingover our televisions, and he's a littleembarrassed about it. 'It's so OTT!' Notonly will we seehim presenting at TheRHS Chelsea Flower Show, but his newshow Art Of TheGardenalso starts thisweek, and ties in with the exhibition at the
Tate celebrating the bicentenary of the RoyalHorticultural Society.
'In Art Of The Garden I talk about the iconsof gardening,' says Diannuid. 'It's fascinating,and I am privileged to be associated with it:The series focuses on 18th-centurygardener Capability Brown's achievementsat Blenheim Palace, where he created asweeping landscape complete with artificiallake.It alsoexplorestheworkof GertrudeJekyll,oftendescribedasthefirstgardendesigner. 'She is the godmother of themodem garden,'saysDiannuid. 'I find itreallyinterestingthat someonein the 1900scouldhavebeenso radical!'
Like Gertrude, Diannuid has tried to breakthe mould in theworldof gardendesign.'I alwaysthoughtof traditionalgardensasboringwhen I was a kid. I think for a longtime popular culture wasn't allowed into agarden.Buta lotof my gardenshave asurreal quality and have been influenced byanything from pop videos to Star Trek:
And his Chelsea garden? 'For the last twoor three years now I have liked Fifties design.It's an obsession that I hope this garden willput to rest once and for all. But the kids thathave seen it love it, and adults love it, too. Tobe honest, I'm just trying to create a bit of joy:
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