TV Reviews : ‘Garden’ Documentary on KCBS Plows Familiar Ground

At last, a hard-hitting documentary on tree-planting. Surely, KCBS Channel 2 can do better than “How Does Your Garden Grow?” an hour documentary airing Sunday at 2 p.m. as part of the station’s ongoing project “2 Protect Our Planet.”

It’s not that I’d vote against tree-planting or the high-minded motivation of this show--far from it. But this Mickey and Judy, “Hey, kids, let’s plant a tree and make Southern California a better place to live!” cheerleading approach, produced by Tony Catenacci and fronted by weather wonder Steve Rambo and “thirtysomething’s” Melanie Mayron, is too simplistic for anyone knowing a root from a branch and not detailed enough for those who don’t.

Instead of spending so much time telling us that we can help the environment by conserving water, recycling and planting trees--not exactly a secret anymore--why not spend a little time really showing us how to do it? Urging us to get out our pencils to write down such hot tips as select the site and the tree to go with it carefully isn’t exactly breaking new ground.

Rather than extol the wonders of composting, which are many, why not detail what’s involved? It’s not quite as easy as the producers try to make it. Nor is shredding garden waste as simple as separating plastics from newspapers for recycling.

This joint effort with the TreePeople, leading up to a community push for fall tree-planting, is commendable in spirit, just lackluster and not too helpful in execution.