Customer Reviews

The Martha Stewart Gardening Collection - Martha's Spring Garden

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is another one of the wonderful DVD's that Martha has been creating to help us take care of the home; except this time it's on the outside. She has obviously started with the first season of the year and as always, it's the one that gives us the greatest joy of all that is hopeful and ready to burst with anticipation of what is to come! Spring! Ah, my heart begins to beat again after that dormant winter!

Martha gives us a 2-disc set along with printable instructions for those who like having something in hand to guide us along as we wake up our gardens. The are as such:

Disc One

PLANTING: dividing hellebores/ early spring fertilizers/planting primroses, lilies, clematis, sweetpeas/ etc.

ANNUALS: self-sowing annuals/ early season weeding/ etc.

SEEDS: seed-starting tips/ seed test/ seed compost/ etc.

VEGETABLES: staking peas/ sowing leeks/ edible peas/ etc.

COOKING FROM THE GARDEN: Fontina and asparagus bruschetta/ spring garden cake/ rhubarb crisp/ etc.

TOOLS: pruning tools/ 5 essential garden tools/ lopper 101/ etc

GARDEN TOURS: Gerbera daisies/ Hellebores/ Brooklyn Botanic Garden/ Keukenhof bulb garden/ diversity of orchids/ Japanese stroll garden

Disc Two

POTTING: potting mix glossary/ potting dahlia's/ succulent pots/ repotting plants/ etc

INDOOR GARDENING: houseplant tune-up/ terrariums/ fragrant houseplants/ indoor parterre/ etc

GARDEN MAINTENANCE: spring garden clean-up/ lawn garden clean-up/ garden tool care/ etc

SPECIAL FEATURES: garden design 101/ Skylands tour/ 14 tips and techniques/ printable instructions/ etc

The segments are from her former TV show several years back to more recent years. As usual, the film transfer to DVD is superb and the colors are so vivid that you want to run right out and start working. In the segments for "Arranging", the opening for "seasonal alliums" is just exquisite with deep and lighter shades of purple so perfect, crisp, and clear, that it made me put this flower on my top ten list for this years planting. Some of the segments are rather short (as in the "early spring fertilizer") but others are wonderfully extended enough to teach you what you need to know.

In all fairness, I do have a criticism with the price, in that I feel that it is way over the amount that this DVD was worth, even with the Amazon discount. And since I am assuming that the remaining 3 seasons will be out eventually, it makes for a rather stiff price in the end.

But if you are a die-hard fan, then sit back with pen and pencil in hand, and prepare yourself to start planning your garden.

This DVD is very informative and interesting. I have learned alot about when, where and what to plant and how to take care of them

I was happy to know this DVD was not just about trimming branches and planting flowers. It is a very deep dive into the many different types of gardening, starting in how to pick out and plant seeds, lawn care, flowers, soils up to many other bold and simple projects. Easy to follow and understand, it is a fine DVD to have and cherish.

Found this at my library, and saw that it had printable recipes and tips, which, after you watch the segments once or twice, are far more useful to access than the segments. Martha (and her guests) can get a bit long-winded at times, even though the information is good.

However, just like her website, where you can't seem to navigate to anything directly, she has chosen to make things as difficult as possible, by using some special program that interacts with her website, instead of having the printable items being accessed through Adobe files, as MOST other DVDs are set up to do. You cannot use these DVDs in a CD-ROM. While this is disclosed on the package, as is the need for the special program (of course requiring an internet connection), it is in very tiny print.

Seriously, how many times are you going to be watching the bonus material as opposed to simply using the printout material? Also, since this is going to another website, what about privacy concerns with the interactive software? If you don't want to install the software, take really good notes while watching these on the TV, remote in hand.

With these limitations, it is definitely NOT worth the new price, even with the Amazon discount. Too bad, too, because it is a pretty decent collection.