"I want a garden" on rte

Madge

Has anyone seen this show on RTE1 on thur nights?? what do you think?
Dirmuid Gavin seems like such a cowboy, I would never get him to design my garden.. He comes up with the most ridiculous designs, the gardens end up looking like jungles or theme parks.
He just does a brief sketch, gives it to the couple, then fcuks off, leaving the the couple (who have no real idea about gardening) and the labourers and builders to figure it out themselves!
He comes back irregularly, ONLY to criticise the work done. If it's not done according to his liking, (something usually isn't) he starts digging it all up again, then leaves it for the rest to finish it off. I know hes not the labourer, but the designer, but he really should have more input.

In last weeks ep, he did out a design for a couple's garden, it was a patio / floor area held up with huge wooden poles, get this, they never put concrete around the poles! It was not in his spec. The builder even questioned it as they were being put in. They just put them down in the earth, so the poles started moving! The couple eneded up spending 80 grand! 40 k over budget. That show ended with a 'to be continued'..
In the ep before that, he had a design for a field of corn, yes corn, to be grown in a couples garden. They even said they have no idea how to harvest or look after it. He persuaded them to do it- "sure it'll be lovely" etc. This garden was also designed like a golf course. :eek:
I thinks hes a fraud.

delly

Have to admit that when I first heard the promo for this program, I thought that RTE were taking the piss. Basically they will get somebody in to do a design but you have to provide the labour, plants, tools and any other equipment needed and RTE get a nice half hour slot out of it. Cheap bastardos.

Madge

I'm sure Mr. Gavin's services don't come cheap though, I'll bet he charges a fortune..

Sizzler

I heard his consultancy fee is 5K?? For that you pretty much get the few sketches that you described !

Major LOL at last weeks episode tho, I mean apart from the obvious fcuk up on the poles in the ground what were the couple thinking letting it go to 40K OVER budget?! At what point were they willing to say STOP! A classic case of more money than sense !
Ive seen every epsiode so far and not one of the designs has been within budget, but the last one took the biscuit. If you ask a builder to build you an extension and you tell him you have 20K he says grand and you agree at what you're gonna get, but this craic of going over budget is mad! Id be telling Diarmuid and his crew to fcuk right off if they asked me for one cent more than my stated budget.

An Tarbh

Surely though last weeks couple didn't need Gavin to tell them that they needed to reinforce the poles with concrete, the worrying thing is that your man was an engineer with ESB, you'd think he'd have some sort of cop on especially when it's such a sloping garden which will eventually get eroded away by the river.

Sizzler

An Tarbh wrote:

Surely though last weeks couple didn't need Gavin to tell them that they needed to reinforce the poles with concrete, the worrying thing is that your man was an engineer with ESB, you'd think he'd have some sort of cop on especially when it's such a sloping garden which will eventually get eroded away by the river.

ESB Engineer, he was prob a helper that still hasnt finished his apprenticeship lol ! Cant wait to see it all kicking off tomorrow night

BolBill

Gavin is everything that is wrong with the world, a celebrity gardener, f**k off Gavin would you !

The way he says Hellmans at the end of that ad makes me want to punch him repeatedly in the face.

BaZmO*

€40K for a bleedin garden?!?!?!?!? WTF?? And then to let it go to €80!!! That's just Ridiculous!!

I only saw a tiny bit of the show last week, actually the bit about the poles not being set in concrete. I didn't know what they were being used for but common sense would tell you that if they were supporting a structure that surely they should be set in concrete. Hell, if I was putting in a kids swing I'd set it in concrete!

Anyway, you wouldn't really expect anything less from RTE.

The show he used do on BBC where they used to do the garden and one room in the house with that flouncing git Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen was actually quite good. Mainly because they were always onsite project managing the job and always listened to what the client had to say and respected what they wanted. As a result the rooms and gardens always turned out really well.