Why Zach Galifianakis’s New Gardening Show Belongs On Your Netflix Must-Watchlist

If your Netflix algorithm is anything like mine, it tends to swing wildly between high-stakes drama, comfort rewatches, vintage sci-fi, and (ahem) Bridgerton. It rarely, if ever, serves up any gardening – which is why I'm so excited for This Is A Gardening Show, an uncomplicatedly joyful series which does exactly what it says on the tin.

Well, except for the fact that this actually isn’t your typical gardening show. Forget the usual bevy of perfectly pressed linen shirts, intimidating Latin plant names, and overwhelming sense that you’re being judged for not knowing your perennials from your annuals that we've been served in the past.

Instead, host Zach Galifianakis positions himself exactly where most of us are: curious, slightly clueless, and incredibly eager to learn. Because as he puts it, "For human beings and the world itself, the only future is agrarian."

Watch the trailer This Is A Gardening Show below:

This Is a Gardening Show | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube

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From the jump, This Is A Gardening Show makes it clear that it’s less about expertise and more about enthusiasm. Galifianakis isn’t here to teach in the traditional sense; he’s here to ask questions ("Is this poisonous?" "What is a tomato?" "How dare you buy your food from a supermarket?"), to marvel, and occasionally to completely misunderstand something in a way that somehow makes it stick better.

It’s the kind of show where you come for the jokes, but leave with a surprising amount of actual knowledge, a sudden desire to look up your USDA Planting Zone, and (fair warning) a pressing urge to start buying soil in bulk when Zach starts looking into survival garden crops... in a funny, non-terrifying way.

Honestly, if you know him from his more deadpan, offbeat comedy, you’ll recognize that same timing in This Is A Gardening Show. It means that Zach has a knack for making even the most unexpected details sound irresistible – like convincingly describing horse manure as the “chocolate soufflé” of gardening.

Still, there's no denying that the comedian feels less like he's playing a character and more like he's leaning into a version of himself that is quietly delighted by the world – and as such, the humor never undercuts the heart of the show.

To put it in the words of producer Brook Linder, Zach is “genuinely interested in how to grow stuff”, and that sincerity is the series’ secret weapon. There’s something deeply endearing about watching a grown man visibly gasp at being shown the proper way to plant a seed, as if he’s just witnessed a magic trick. Largely because... well, because it is a magic trick, and we've all been there, right?

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I guess, more than anything, This Is A Gardening Show is about connection. Not just to the earth (although there’s plenty here to inspire even the most committed indoor person to at least consider a windowsill herb situation) but to other people.

The gardeners that Zach interviews aren’t framed as gurus on a pedestal (even as he does ask them what it's like to be educated). They’re passionate, knowledgeable, and, above all, generous with their time and insight. The show gives them space to share what they love, and in doing so, quietly celebrates the communities that form around growing things.

And even cuter? He speaks to kids about food gardening, too. He asks them questions and listens to the answers. He takes the time to awaken their own deeply ingrained passion for gardening (because we're born with it, people!) and make them every bit as excited about his favorite hobby as he is. After all, with"what we're leaving this next generation? They may have to know this stuff," he says.

A very charming, very funny man getting excited about compost and hammering home a few hard truths along the way? It couldn't sound more watchable, honestly.

This Is A Gardening Show will be available to stream via Netflix from April 22.