Big dollar Gardens

I guess like many people who are interested in gardens we get a bit excited about watching new tv programmes about the topic. Alas, we find the current trend is to call in a garden designer and part with exorbitant amounts of cash .Call me old fashioned or "cheap " but it really takes the fun out of it for me. Just imagine the banter , google box style that is going on in most homes as some surburban home gardens  get a  big dollar revamp . Is it the gormless owners who want a pastiche of a garden to fill in that tiresome space around the mansion or is it the insipid presenters who cast a few doubts but always come around to loving the outcome . 

 One such garden and I use that term loosely was no more than a car space at the back of the house. Naturally the whole thing has to be decimated so a " blank canvas " could be the starting point even a mature tree removed which naturally enough was providing shade to the house and needed to be replaced with a fancy roll out blind. Others have gone to great lengths with industrial scale earth works and hard landscaping all with the goal of being able to sit down and have a glass of wine in it when it's finished. The fact is you can sit down and have a glass of wine in your garden without the hoo haa. It is the predictability that sends me off to make cups of herbal tea so I probably haven't managed to watch one entire programme yet !! Did I miss something ?

 Where are the gardeners who will actually assess a property and start to retain mature trees and a broad palette of plants? Where are the landscapers who don't feel they have to build an edifice of hard surfaces with little pockets for plants? In all the eco talk , the bottom line is that doing less is far more sustainable . Generations of people have created gardens that haven't overwhelmed  the dwelling or the suburb.It seems a bit ridiculous that the statement about growing your own vegies is juxtaposed with the three redimix  trucks lined up in the driveway . 
 It simply isn't necessary and if you have a lot of excess cash go and fund a wing at the local hospital in preference to building a mega mansion,garden extravaganza and pretending that you have  eco /sustainable credentials. Give me a humble dwelling and garden any day.
Look I obviously need a glass of wine so I will go and sit down at my stone circle /fire, which is just a circle of actual stones(no expense spared ) and wait for the fire ban to lift. Kyleigh