BBC Gardners' World viewers fume as they make same complaint minutes into show

The BBC's beloved gardening show Gardeners' World is facing a wave of backlash with furious viewers claiming the programme has become "a lifestyle program for people with chronic anxiety." Friday's episode (June 20), which aired around the summer solstice, saw Frances Tophill gardening at Damson Farm, a magical garden set in the glorious Somerset countryside. But long-time fans were quick to accuse the show of straying too far from its roots.

"Percy Thrower would be turning in his grave. He was a great gardener," one fan fumed on X, formerly known as Twitter, invoking the legendary presenter who fronted the series in the 1970s. Tophill was seen exploring edible gardens and wildlife-friendly planting, while Carol Klein shared her tips for colourful summer containers. Adam Frost also met a grower adapting her garden to survive annual floods. Despite the lush visuals and heartfelt stories, some fans weren't impressed.

And it's not just the lack of hands-on gardening that's got Gardeners' World viewers worked up - now even the birds are under fire.

One of the show's most consistent targets is the abundance of birdsong at Monty Don's Longmeadow garden, with sceptical fans accusing the BBC of layering in fake sound effects.

But according to Monty, the chorus of chirping is 100% real - and sometimes even a little too real.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Gardeners' World podcast, Monty addressed the long-running complaint: "We've had a number of letters along the lines of: 'I watch Gardeners' World and I really enjoy it, but it's spoiled for me by the fact that you impose this bird song which is so unrealistic and so over the top... why don't you just record the natural sounds?' And the answer is: 'I hate to disappoint you, but that is the natural sound'."

"Not much horticultural guidance on #GardenersWorld these days," one viewer complained.

Another wrote: "#GardenersWorld is becoming a lifestyle program for people with chronic anxiety. I remember when it taught you how to garden. Now anything goes."

In fact, he says the birdsong can be so intense that it sometimes interferes with filming. "It is really loud. And occasionally when we're filming, we delay filming because the bird song is so loud, that even to us it feels a bit odd and unnatural."

Monty and his wife Sarah took over Longmeadow back in 1991, transforming a neglected two-acre field into the lush landscape that now appears on the show.

Surrounded by farmland stripped of biodiversity, their garden has become a haven for wild birds - precisely because of modern farming's overuse of pesticides and herbicides.

"So Longmeadow is like, literally an oasis surrounded by not-so-good," Monty said. "We have great density of blackbirds and song thrushes and blackcaps and all kinds of songbirds."