BBC Countryfile star calls for major change to Gardeners’ World over outdated format

However, after he himself discovered his love for gardening at a young age, Wong told GB News he applauds the green-fingered members of the younger generation who've embraced gardening off their own backs but insisted mainstream media could do more to encourage others.

"At least the last 20 years when I've been working in horticulture, we've identified a problem with younger people not getting into gardening and we've tried desperately to get them involved," Wong said.

He explained: "Usually we've just been doing more of the same - more makeover shows, more this, more that... like it worked in the 90s, let's do a bit more of it, it'll carry on working and none of it worked.

"The amazing thing is young people have just done it for themselves. They haven't needed an industry campaign, they haven't needed lots of money being spent on trying to convince them.

"They've done it themselves through TikTok and through Instagram. They've created this parallel world of horticulture where there are all of these cool 'hipstery', 20 and 30-somethings who are all growing stuff.

"They're just not watching gardening TV, they're not listening, they're not reading gardening textbooks or magazines. They're doing it through different media."

While he was full of praise for millennials and other youngsters who've taken to their gardens through these means, he conceded it does have its cons.

"I do think there's a downside to that because you have these two parallel worlds, that younger generation is not learning from all of the accrued knowledge of older generations, which is really a shame," he said.

"But the upside is, because they're doing it for themselves, they're doing it in a totally original way. They're not (copying) what's come before, because to them they're discovering it for the first time.

"But I do wish there was more of a connection. So I think the media can do a much better job of talking to that younger generation in a way that's relevant to them and ultimately, that's relevant to everyone."

When asked if the likes of Gardeners' World for example - which has been on the air for over 50 years - should change its approach or if digital media was the way forward, Wong said: "I think both.

"Gardeners' World, I grew up with it. My grandma in Wales used to tape the VHS of it and she used to post it to me because I grew up in Singapore.

"I was watching Geoff Hamilton and he was just my hero as a kid, I would just absolutely worship everything he would do but I think it's important to move with the times.

"I think the show is incredible - it's comforting, it's beautiful, it's beautifully shot," Wong continued. "But I sometimes wonder whether the kind of gardens that they focus on - and this is beginning to change - are representative of an audience and whether that audience can feel like they can see themselves in that.

"If you are only showing rolling hills in Dorset, with walled gardens and beautiful glass houses that are historic, it makes great TV (but) does it make you feel like you could get involved?

"To some people, yes, and to some people, no. So I think the new media is already doing a great job."

Turning his attention back to mainstream media, Wong - who also addressed Ellie Harrison's exit from Countryfile in the interview - explained: "But (traditional) media, if it wants to keep relevant and it wants to engage with all of the people that currently engages with all of the other ones, it needs to start adding more diversity into that.

"What I mean is a diversity of styles of gardening. There's nothing wrong with vanilla as an ice cream flavour, it's one of my favorites, I have it all the time, but there are all these other flavours in the ice cream parlour.

"And you might think you don't like ice cream if you don't like vanilla, but hey, put vanilla aside, here's some kind of exotic tutti-frutti one maybe like this, then maybe people will discover all the other ones. So I think it's about showing those different options."

To emphasise his point, Wong delved into the ways in which cookery shows and programmes centred on food have managed to shift their focus over the years in order to engage with new audiences.

"Look at food!" he said. "When I was growing up, food shows would have the ingredients roll up on the screen, they would show you the exact amount, that person would be in a studio with a white chef's hat and it was very, very formal.

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"Like you do this and then you do this and then you do this. Nowadays, it's - Keith Floyd really broke this model, Keith Floyd, who is incredible - just going out into the middle of a Thai market and just picking stuff up there and mixing it up.

"And then the experience is really about travel and learning about new cultures and there was cooking involved, but he made it much more democratic.

"And then Jamie Oliver comes in after him and then you have the current food media whereas gardening media is still like, 'Jobs for the Week'.

"Imagine if food shows did 'Jobs for the Week'! Like, 'Now it's that time of year when you reorganise your spice rack and you will defrost your freezer.' It would be ridiculous.

"Gardening TV still does that to a big extent - and there's nothing wrong with that, it just shouldn't be the running (format)."

Gardeners' World remains a mainstay on the BBC's schedule with Monty Don - who recently shared the heartbreaking news his dog Nell had died - fronting the show.

One of Wong's first forays into gardening media came thanks to Gardeners' World but nowadays he's spending more of his time encouraging people to embrace the outdoors in order to improve their physical and mental well-being.

Delving into the details of "grounding", a new trend endorsed by A-listers such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Emma Watson, Wong explained: "There's this idea that, for example, walking around barefoot connects you directly to the earth and as a result, there are a surprising amount of mental and physical health benefits.

"People will talk about improved immune systems, for example, they may even talk about reduced inflammation."

Wong continued: "We do have a lot of evidence for is being in the natural world. I think anecdotally if you're a gardener, or if you're someone who likes country walks or hikes... particularly in lockdown where our experience of nature was much more limited, (but) when you got to go out into a green space, you felt that difference.

"We now know that even very short periods of time and green space can help reduce feelings of anxiety and stress measurably reduced stress hormones.

"However, on the flip side of that, the sad thing is when you look at the latest data - there was a really interesting study carried out by Yeo Valley Organic, they found that although 76 percent of Brits wish they could improve their mood - and I think looking around the world today, that is quite understandable - 48 percent of them felt that they didn't spend enough time outdoors.

"Time, money and resources were key barriers that people found that were difficult. I think that's because people think that spending time in green space means that they've got to track down the Amazon, or they've got to have a weekend away and camping in a remote location.

"If you have a lunch break today, if you spend 15 minutes of it in a park or half an hour of it in a park, as much time as you possibly can manage, but even short bursts like that, the data suggests that can really improve your mood.

"So you don't have to do these huge interventions to actually make a significant impact."