COSTA Georgiadis is returning to screens across the country in a new, hour-long version of Gardening Australia.
Expanded from its previous half-hour format, Georgiadis is excited by what the longer show allows him to do.
"It gives us that chance to dive a little bit deeper into the storytelling but it also gives us a chance to have a regular segment like 'what to do in your part of the country'," he said.
"That's a big thing for everyone gardening because someone in Brisbane isn't planting or operating the same method that someone in Hobart is operating."
There's a new timeslot too, from a Saturday evening to Friday at 7.30pm.
Georgiadis hopes this will bring new viewers, although he's already starting to see a younger crowd become hooked.
"It has traditionally had an older demographic but where we're really working hard and getting headway is through social media, through the internet and through our website," he said.
"The Gardening Australia website is the most visited website in the ABC and over the last five years we've been building Facebook, Instagram and hooking in this younger audience.
"This year we plan to continue to cut our stories and put them out into social media and on YouTube and iView and that way this younger audience who probably don't even own a television are getting into succulents and bonsai and natives and growing their own food."
A huge part of the fresh engagement, Georgiadis says, has been the different food and lifestyle movements people are embracing.
"They have access to more information and they're concerned about where their food is coming from and what's in it.
"Our real mission is to say, 'You don't need a massive garden, you can do it on a rooftop or a balcony or a courtyard or go to a community garden'."
*Gardening Australia airs on Friday at 7.30pm (AEDT) on ABC.
