The Best Garden Documentaries
There’s something that is wonderful about the documentary style film/movie and gardeners. There’s an educational love to all things garden. To garden is to continue learning, each plant, each season, and with that comes a lot of beautiful films. My favorites are the ones that are specifically about gardening - yes the verb “to garden” - whether edible or ornamental, vs. the vast number of nature-focused films.
The Gardener
The Gardener - One of the most beautiful interview style documentaries about gardening, this film is a true dedication to Frank Cabot, “amateur” gardener who impacted the garden world tremendously. The film goes through his creation of his family home’s garden in Quebec Quatre Vents as well as his impact through social change in his area, along with the creation of The Garden Conservancy.
Portrait of a Garden
Portrait of a Garden - This movie is unlike many documentaries in that it is unlike most other documentaries out there. No overt message in the interviews, just a camera man following around the wonderful 85 year old Gardener an espalier master. This is in dutch, so subtitle reading plus the meditative quality of the film, it’s like a look into a year in the life of a garden.
Back to Eden Documentary - this is a wonderful EDUCATIONAL film about no-till gardening. Note if you are interested in organic gardening, and want to learn more about no-till or no-dig this is a great place to start. It is not the “pretty pictures of flowers” movie, it’s the knowledge and understanding of creating great soil through organic no-till methods.
Hoping to add to this list soon:
Five Seasons
The Gardens of Piet Oudolf
The Five Seasons - The film about Piet Oudolf - the gardener and genius behind the highline garden in NYC. Check out the trailer HERE, and if you are local (and read this before May 2019) you might want to watch this at Blithwold on the 14th or 28th of April - check out more info HERE.