Ginette McDonald goes from vowels to trowels on Ground Force

By KATHERINE HOBY

Ginette McDonald is the first to admit she does not have green fingers. "Even Ray Charles could see gardening wouldn't be my forte," she quips.

Despite the admission, McDonald has just finished the fifth series of Ground Force, the popular gardening makeover show she prefers to describe as a "reality makeover experience."

The self-confessed gardenphobe says she must have been chosen for series one of Ground Force for her personality, not her prowess with a trowel.

But since then she has been "osmotically taking things in" from her garden-minded friends on the show.

"Now I've timidly gone out and got a few house plants - I'll see how I go with those."

The garden at her Wellington house might be "a windblasted desert with a few hardy yuccas" but the makeovers on other gardens on the show have been exceedingly popular.

"I like to think we take the gardens from suburban wasteland to tropical paradise," she says.

McDonald has her own theory on what keeps the viewers watching.

"I used to conduct straw polls in supermarkets and people told me they liked the makeovers, the element of surprise, and the humour."

And humour is one area in which McDonald is strong. "Being on the stage is like being on Ground Force at times - I have to think of something vaguely stimulating to say and to think on my feet, to improvise.

"No problem on where to source material, though. My life is one long, hilarious comedy."

Arguably McDonald's most famous persona - the gum-chewing, vowel-challenged, 80s Kiwi icon Lyn of Tawa - still lives.

"There is a certain confusion that Lyn does Ground Force. Or I can be earnestly discussing my finances with the bank manager, as I was the other day, when he'll say, 'That'll be fine, Lyn.' Lyn persists."

McDonald considers herself an actress rather than a comedian, however. Which is why it is no problem to resurrect Lyn of Tawa or to host a garden makeover show. "They're different parts for me, and different parts of me. I approach everything as a performance."

Comedy is a growth industry in New Zealand in the 21st century, McDonald says. She couldn't be more pleased, because "everyone needs to laugh."

"Ten years ago New Zealand didn't want to have much fun with itself because it was a bland place. There is a lot more disquiet now - things to play round with - and that's great."

As for what the future holds, McDonald is coy on her works in progress, saying only that she is working on a television project.

And she's considering a trip to Europe to track down French and Irish relatives she has never met. She'll be seeking ideas for a possible programme on family roots. "I'm always up for a challenge."

* The new series of Ground Force will culminate with a transtasman challenge, judged by former Wallaby David Campese and Canterbury Crusaders superboot Andrew Mehrtens. TV3 publicists say that when the episode aired in Australia, it grabbed the No 1 rating.

* Ground Force, TV3, 7.30 pm