The Chelsea Power Show

Gardening stars are ordered to speak Latin and stop messing about after viewer protests force the BBC back upmarket

One of the most enduring traditions connected with the Chelsea Flower Show is about to wilt and die. The annual festival of teeth-gnashing among the gardening public at the BBC's dumbed-down, celebrity and malarkey-filled coverage looks to have been killed off by a viewer rebellion.

So shaken has the BBC been by the widespread criticisms of last year's coverage, fronted by Alan Titchmarsh and Diarmuid Gavin, that it has sat up, taken notice and ordered a "shift of emphasis", as corporation executives call it, for this year's show. Out will go presenter horseplay and vacuous celebrity content; in will come far more time spent on the stands in the Great Pavilion, and even the naming on screen of the plants shown - in Latin, no less.

The changes are a response to viewers' protests, which first became apparent shortly after last year's show closed. A correspondent to The Daily Telegraph wrote from Suffolk: "I want an overview, then a detailed breakdown of all the displays... Instead, I get Alan Titchmarsh and some lad on a bench trying to be funny. If the pair so much as venture into the marquee, they plonk themselves in front of the displays and start yapping."

And on an online gardening message board, the comments of Sacha Hubbard, writing from Hillhouse Nursery in Devon, were typical of the complaints, demanding "less gurning TV presenters slapping each others' backs ... and that Alan and Diarmuid are not allowed within a mile of each other".

Ms Hubbard was one of some three dozen who wrote to the Royal Horticultural Society, organisers of Chelsea, protesting at the coverage. The RHS replied: "We have passed on to the BBC the concerns of viewers who have written to us and we are pressing the producers for improved coverage of the Great Pavilion and floral content in general." It is understood that a number of meetings between the RHS and BBC then took place at which these issues were raised.

But it was earlier this year, when Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time contained comments about the television coverage, that the scale of upset became clear. Listeners to the programme, the spiritual home of intelligent gardening in Britain, flooded it with critical letters and emails producing what is believed to be the show's largest ever postbag.

They demanded, in essence, "less presenter antics and more coverage of the plants", and they will now get that. Owen Gay, the executive producer in charge of the BBC's Chelsea shows, is interviewed on today's edition of Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time, and The Independent on Sunday has been passed a recording. In it, GQT's Bob Flowerdew says: "Listeners to this programme have been deeply unhappy with the coverage... Too much larking about by the presenters and not enough coverage of the real stars, the plants; trivial banter rather than horticultural substance are just some of the criticisms."

In response, Mr Gay says: "I would robustly defend our coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show" and quotes the programmes' impressive scores of the mid to high 80s on the BBC's appreciation index. But he concedes that the protesters have made some "very valid criticisms" and these have had an effect. "I absolutely take on board what GQT listeners say about their desire to see more horticultural detail, more fact," he said. "What they do want is actually to see the new plants that year and have more close-ups of those plants, have the Latin name so it can be sourced if they want to put them in their own gardens."

Elaine Patterson, the BBC's series producer, adds: "We will spend a lot more time at the floral pavilion this year..." and promises "many more in-depth stories about plants". And on BBC interactive, says Mr Gay, there will be an hour a day from plantswoman Carol Klein who will be "going round the pavilion, talking plants with the nursery and plants people who are exhibiting". Klein will be welcomed by gardening enthusiasts as one of a small circle of highly respected horticulture experts, (see our 'Who's Who' above), not all of whom make it onto the television screens.

There are other changes, unrelated to the viewer protest. Diarmuid Gavin can no longer, under BBC rules, present the show after signing a contract to promote a multi-purpose compost. He will contribute expert opinion, and be replaced as Alan Titchmarsh's presenting partner in the evening programmes by Joe Swift.

Forget the TV hype, here's the real who's who in the garden world

THE ENTHUSIAST'S GARDENER: CAROL KLEIN

Fine arts graduate ex-teacher with her portrait in National Portrait Gallery; runs award-winning Glebe Cottage Plants. Compost rating: Should be at the very front of the BBC's border.

THE PEOPLE'S GARDENER: PETER SEABROOK

Gardening editor of The Sun, famous for late, lamented Sunflower Street at Chelsea; championing small, cheery gardens. Compost rating: You'd trust him with your last shallot seedlings.

THE ORGANIC GARDENER: BOB FLOWERDEW

Farmer's son and UK's leading organic gardener. Grows bananas in East Anglia; is a Gardeners' Question Time panellist. Compost rating: Forget the hippy looks, he really knows his stuff.

THE BEEFCAKE GARDENER: MONTY DON

Cambridge graduate. Passionate about spring, organics, and, er, just about everything. Compost rating: A bit intense but shaping up as a true successor to the great Geoff Hamilton.

THE CELEBRITY GARDENER: ALAN TITCHMARSH

Trained at Kew, has won a Chelsea gold in the past. At his best when enthusing; at his worst when in Vaudeville mode. Can be truly inspiring. Compost rating: By no means ready to be turned into mulch.

THE INTELLECTUAL'S GARDENER: ROBIN LANE FOX

Oxford academic, ancient historian, father of Martha, Financial Times gardening writer. Articulate on the futility of the gardening process. Compost rating: A must for any well-heeled gardener's gazebo.

THE LITERARY GARDENER: ANNA PAVORD

An institution as The Independent gardening writer. Her book, The Tulip, was a best-seller, and she heads the National Trust Gardens Panel. Compost rating: Perhaps the most lucid garden writer in the world.

THE GARDENERS' GARDENER: PIPPA GREENWOOD

Trained as a botanist; one of Britain's foremost plant experts. Consultant to ITV detective series Rosemary and Thyme. Compost rating: The kind of person most gardeners want to see more of on screen.