- 10 hours ago
Greatest Gardens (2026) Season 1 Episode 1
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00En el país y el país, los passionatos de jardines spenden cada momento en crear sus propias horticulturales.
00:09Ahora, Carrol Cline y Dermot Gavin están visitando algunos de los mejores jardines en el norte de Irlanda.
00:16¡Verdad!
00:17¡Verdad!
00:18¡Verdad!
00:19¡Verdad!
00:20¡Verdad!
00:20¡Verdad!
00:20¡Verdad!
00:20¡Verdad!
00:22¡Verdad!
00:24¡Verdad!
00:28¡Verdad!
00:30¡Verdad!
00:31¡Verdad!
00:32¡Verdad!
00:33¡Verdad!
00:34¡Verdad!
00:34¡Verdad!
00:34¡Verdad!
00:35¡Verdad!
00:35¡Verdad!
00:36¡Verdad!
00:36¡Verdad!
00:36¡Verdad!
00:37¡Verdad!
00:38¡Verdad!
00:39¡Verdad!
00:40¡Verdad!
00:41¡Verdad!
00:41¡Verdad!
00:42¡Verdad!
00:43¡Verdad!
00:44¡Verdad!
00:44¡Verdad!
00:45¡Verdad!
00:47¡Verdad!
00:48¡Verdad!
00:49¡Verdad!
00:57¡Verdad!
00:59We're on the hunt for the greatest gardens.
01:03Helping decide which garden will be the showstopper, our guest judge.
01:07I'm Prue Leaf, probably better known for eating cake on telly than for gardening, but I love it.
01:16Prue is the proud owner of a relatively young garden.
01:19It was a concrete jungle and a field, and so it's been a lot of work,
01:25but at last, after four years, it's beginning to look like something.
01:34Today's first garden is in Balnehinch, County Down.
01:38Three and a half acres, lovingly crammed with more than 4,000 different plants.
01:45Well, my name's Thomas McCaw, and we have lived here for the past 12 years.
01:50When we moved in, this was a donkey sanctuary, so we've got very fertile ground because of that.
01:58And my name is Thomas Raju, and we both have our individual areas that we work in,
02:05but we always are talking to each other in terms of what needs to be done.
02:10I always say that he's the head gardener, and I'm the opinionated under-gardener.
02:16And I always say he's the very opinionated under-gardener.
02:23We spend a lot of time in the garden, of course, but particularly May, June, July.
02:28And it could be up to 10 hours a day.
02:30We typically have our dinner at midnight.
02:34So we are here till the very last rays of sunlight,
02:38and sometimes we have our head torches on as well.
02:41But sure, as I always say, you have to do something to fill your time, you know,
02:45so you might as well be outside.
02:48Despite being an exposed, windy site with a heavy clay soil,
02:53the two Thomases have successfully planted a mix of themed beds,
02:58herbaceous borders, and a wide range of shrubs and trees.
03:04Oh, isn't this lovely?
03:06I reckon that this garden is about 10 years old.
03:09How do you tell that?
03:11Just from the age of the bigger shrubs.
03:13But have you ever seen anything like the maintenance?
03:16I mean, it's immaculate.
03:17There's not a pine needle under-prison.
03:20No.
03:20There isn't a hint of wildness yet.
03:22Not apart from you, Dermot.
03:24Right, let's explore.
03:28The two Thomases' garden is a vibrant series of distinct areas,
03:34with colour-themed planting giving each a unique character.
03:45Look at that.
03:46Don't you just love that froth with those great big gorgeous roses?
03:51Oh, that's London pride, isn't it?
03:53Yes, it is.
03:54I love it.
03:54I think it's sort of frothy.
03:56I know that lots of people think it's sort of common or something,
03:59but I think it's really pretty.
04:03All of those soft plumes.
04:05I love the Arulancas.
04:06It's beautiful.
04:07Yeah, it is.
04:08That's a bit wonky, isn't it?
04:09It's leaning, isn't it?
04:10Leaning up the hill.
04:11It seems to me that it should be down at ground level
04:15and that they've built that up around now.
04:18All the action in a tree happens just below the bark level
04:21and that's where the water goes up
04:23and all the nutrients are transferred and all of that.
04:26So putting soil against it will eventually kill it.
04:28A bit mean it'll lean even further then.
04:30And what about the planty underneath?
04:32Those sedums aren't happy.
04:34They want to be baked in the sun.
04:36And this is kind of a forest.
04:39It's dappled shade.
04:41Dappled shade.
04:41Loveliest light, wrong plants.
04:43Wrong plants.
04:44Well, I'm learning a lot.
04:46He's very professorial, isn't he?
05:02Look at this.
05:03Well, don't just look at it.
05:04It's for sniffing.
05:07So that's my favourite daylily.
05:09Do you get pollen on your nose?
05:11Not of that, have I?
05:13No.
05:13No, good.
05:15Lilio asphidallus.
05:16I just think it's easy, straightforward.
05:18It spreads like mud.
05:19And what a combination, eh?
05:24Big, voluptuous orange poppies.
05:27And then the daintiness of these little floating gem flowers.
05:31What I really love here is a little bit of amusement
05:35in the planting.
05:36So we have that lollipop pear and then this lunetra nittata, I think it is, onion domes.
05:43But at comical angles, like tentacles.
05:46It's very successful, isn't it?
05:47But see down here.
05:48Have a look at this, Carol.
05:50Oh, how agile you are.
05:52This valerian.
05:54People would regard this as a weed.
05:56It grows on railway embankments out of the crevices.
05:59It grows out of every wall you can find.
06:00It really does.
06:01But what a great colour against the reds and the oranges.
06:05Yeah, if you like that sort of thing.
06:06I like that sort of thing.
06:08The Romans introduced that plant, didn't they?
06:11Did they?
06:11Yeah.
06:12And nettles.
06:12Do you remember?
06:28Carol?
06:29Yeah?
06:29What's this tree?
06:31It's a columnar elm.
06:33A golden one at that.
06:35I've never seen one like it.
06:36But what do you think of peonies?
06:38I love peonies.
06:40I think they need a few more of them, to be honest.
06:44But what about this erodium and the geranium next to it?
06:48That's really lovely, I think.
06:49Is this an erodium?
06:50Yeah, that's an erodium.
06:52I think it's one called Manus cavii.
06:55Pelagoniums, geraniums and erodiums.
06:57They're all in the same sort of group.
06:58I've always loved this.
07:00This is Johnson's Blue.
07:02It's got that really rich blue.
07:04It's beautiful.
07:05Great stuff.
07:06You got it in your garden?
07:07I have.
07:07I have lots.
07:09Indispensable.
07:29For me, the most beautiful, maybe the most successful part of this garden is right at the very top.
07:37It's this winding woodland walk.
07:40So we're up underneath a pine forest and all the planting is edge of woodland.
07:46We have these beautiful trees being put in, but we have a shrubby cover at their base.
07:51It's well mulched and some really gorgeous specimens like this crinodendron from Chile.
08:00A lovely snakebark maple.
08:06And over here, and over here, and over here, we have the type of plants that you might find in
08:10a shady spot in your own garden.
08:13The hellebores, the ferns, and the hosses.
08:25Thomas and Thomas, we have loved a ramp through your hillside garden today.
08:30Yeah.
08:32Who does what?
08:32I do a lot of the maintenance, going around weed, weed, weed, weed, because I don't work anymore, which is
08:37great.
08:38And Thomas, what do you do?
08:40Well, I'll answer it slightly differently.
08:44I would say we both have our respective skills.
08:46I think I am good at the overall when I look and say, I say, let's have a border here.
08:51I think it will flow better.
08:52So are you the artist?
08:54Yes, but we do discuss a lot about every plant before we place it.
08:58Where are you going with this garden?
09:00Is there a limit to the herbaceous border?
09:02We will have more herbaceous borders, but, you know, there comes a time when we will have to say that
09:09enough's enough
09:09because there's only so much two people can maintain.
09:12It's been absolutely lovely to visit you and your amazing garden today.
09:17Thank you very much.
09:18Thank you for coming as well.
09:19Thank you.
09:20It's so educational and such fun.
09:22Thank you.
09:23Thank you.
09:24Thanks for the garden.
09:25Thank you.
09:26Bye-bye.
09:31Next up, a spectacular suburban garden in Jordanstown, County Antrim, created by Karen.
09:40My favourite plant changes from season to season, from day to day, even from the morning to the afternoon.
09:47I would actually say my favourite plant is the one I'm actually looking at at the time, you know.
09:54Because it's a small garden, everything in the garden has to earn its place.
09:57So, if it doesn't earn its place, it goes onto the compost tape.
10:04But will Karen earn her place as one of our finalists?
10:10I think the main sori is probably around here.
10:18Look at this.
10:20Wow.
10:21Wow.
10:23Wow.
10:28The real story of this garden is that it's a long, green corridor, planted on either side to make the
10:35most of the space.
10:37I am listening, I promise you, Dermot, but I'm distracted.
10:41I mean, that Fremont dendron, I've never seen one like that.
10:45Californian glory, and it looks glorious.
10:48How long does it bloom?
10:49Does it go on all summer?
10:50It does.
10:51Yeah, it lasts a good while.
10:52And I think it loves the heat of the brick.
10:55I have never seen one with so many flowers on it.
10:59It's usually, they're more sparse.
11:03And what is this?
11:04That's crinodendron from Chile, the lantern plant.
11:08It's actually, I thought at first it was berries, but they're flowers.
11:12They're flowers.
11:12Aren't they wonderful?
11:14You're oblivious of the boundary, aren't you?
11:17Absolutely, you get lost in the different layers of trees.
11:19And they're big plants.
11:20A lot of them are huge.
11:22Always a good idea, isn't it?
11:24In a small garden, big plants.
11:32Aren't these lovely?
11:33Do you know the thing about sea hollies?
11:35They start off silvery like this, and then they turn blue.
11:39So the moment they turn blue is when the flowers start to open,
11:42and there's actually some pollen and nectar available.
11:45But do they all start with green, or do some of them grow up blue?
11:49Most of them are green, or green and silver, and then become blue, gradually.
11:54Oh, I didn't realise that.
11:55It's nice.
11:56It's wonderful, isn't it?
11:57It's layer after layer after layer.
12:09I love this.
12:11The hawthorn, the really wild part of the garden, and then into the controlled.
12:18Exactly.
12:19I love hawthorns.
12:20I think everybody ought to grow in if they possibly can.
12:23But here's another hawthorn.
12:25Look at this water hawthorn.
12:27That's a water hawthorn.
12:28Yeah, it's got a great long Latin name that I can't pronounce.
12:32First of all, you just see the water lily, don't you?
12:35But then those lovely...
12:36Oh, the long leaf.
12:37I see what you mean on the white floor.
12:38Yeah, it's a beautiful contrast, isn't it?
12:41I think it's lovely.
12:42Yeah.
12:42I really do.
12:43I think it's just in the perfect place.
12:46Yeah.
12:46And it distracts you from, you know, more sort of mundane areas, really, doesn't it?
12:52Yeah.
12:52It's making the most of the space, doesn't it?
12:54Yeah.
12:55Doubles it, doesn't it, water?
12:56Every plant in Karen's garden has a story, an ever-evolving record of friends and family.
13:04As we built the house, my father started collecting plants for the garden.
13:08He collected seedlings and cuttings from everywhere he went.
13:12He always had a plastic bag in his pocket.
13:14And by the time we had the house finished two years later, he had about 100 trees and shrubs,
13:19tiny little things ready to go.
13:21And he carried them up here in the pockets of his coat on the train.
13:24And that started the basis of all the boundary hedges around the garden.
13:33Two gardening experts.
13:34Hooray.
13:35You're going to tell me something I've never been able to crack.
13:38Blue poppies, Himalayan poppies.
13:40Yeah.
13:40Why don't they grow?
13:42I can't get them to grow.
13:43The answer lies in the soil.
13:45You're in the cox holes, aren't you?
13:47Horrible clay.
13:48But it's the conditions, isn't it?
13:50They don't like alkaline soil.
13:52Yeah.
13:53So if it's a bit on the chalky side, forget it.
13:56Grow something else that's blue and just as gorgeous.
13:59We always, as gardeners, want to grow the plant.
14:02We can't.
14:03No, we don't.
14:04Except for you.
14:05And do they need damp?
14:07Imagine the hillside in the Himalayas.
14:09So it's actually quite well drained underneath.
14:12But there's constant cloud cover.
14:14So there's all this dew.
14:16And if you look at the leaves, they've got these lovely sort of hairy leaves.
14:19And they collect all the moisture in there.
14:21And then that drips down.
14:23So damp as much as that.
14:36I've spotted two things here that I love, absolutely.
14:40This aquilegia.
14:41It's got really long sort of spurs.
14:44I think it might be longissima.
14:46Isn't it gorgeous?
14:47It's so dainty.
14:48Really lemony.
14:49It's such a lovely colour, isn't it?
14:51Yeah, it is.
14:51It's such a clean colour.
14:52I love that.
14:53Is it granny's bonnet?
14:55Yeah.
14:56Aquilegia, like an eagle.
14:57But it's also called columbine, like a dove.
15:01So it's a real contradiction.
15:02But it's a gorgeous colour, isn't it?
15:04Beautiful.
15:05I love them.
15:06And I love this.
15:07Hmm.
15:09This is not my favourite colour.
15:10No.
15:11It's a sort of muddy mauve.
15:13I like clean.
15:14I mean, I love that colour.
15:16I like clean.
15:16We know what colours you like.
15:17Yeah.
15:18And I don't...
15:18Sorry, darling.
15:19I don't like it.
15:20But, Prue, you do get that in a really beautiful yellow.
15:24Oh, I know.
15:25The common one.
15:26The common one.
15:27The common mullein.
15:28Well, I bet I have found a colour that you will love over here.
15:35Look at this Prue.
15:37That's one you have to be in love with.
15:39That is properly yellow.
15:41Yeah.
15:41It looks so exotic here, doesn't it?
15:44It's a pineapple broom.
15:47Cytosis basundiri.
15:48Broom, doesn't that mean it's a pea flower?
15:51Yeah, exactly.
15:52And each individual flower is a separate little pea flower.
15:56Yeah.
15:56But have a sniff.
15:58Yeah, got it?
16:01I'm sharing my sniff with lots of bumblebees.
16:03Yeah, because it's full of them, isn't it?
16:05It's a buzz with them.
16:07Wonderful.
16:11Karen, we have delighted in our visit to your wonderful garden today.
16:15I'm so fascinated by the variety of plants that you have in this garden.
16:19Do you propagate them or buy them just because you like them and then find a place to prop
16:24them in?
16:25Or do you have some kind of grand plan?
16:27I see a plant somewhere and I really like it, but then I sort of think, will it work in
16:31my garden?
16:32And if it doesn't work in my garden, if I really, really like it, I will still give it a
16:37chance.
16:38And then sometimes I'll propagate if I can because I get more satisfaction out of propagating.
16:42But I've got seeds I planted last week and they are up.
16:45And you get such a kick when you see it.
16:47Isn't it great?
16:48And even when you see the seed and you think it's levitating a little bit and you know it's
16:51got roots, even though it hasn't got a top yet.
16:53Yeah.
16:53You mean you see the soil just going up and you know that shoot's going to come through?
16:57You know, it's so lovely because you can actually see the emotion.
17:01It's like having children.
17:03They've got to grow and you want to see them do well.
17:05And sometimes the sun shines.
17:08You have a whole garden full of sun.
17:10Well, it's been a delight rejoicing in your propagating success.
17:15Thank you very much for having us.
17:17Thank you.
17:17Thank you.
17:18Thank you so much.
17:19Happy gardening.
17:21I love this garden.
17:29Holly House, near Crumlin in County Antrim, is today's final contender.
17:35Everything in this six-acre farmhouse garden has been planted over the last 27 years by retiree Will.
17:47Pride of Place goes to a plant circle that has been years in the making.
17:54I think this garden is quite different from other gardens that I've seen.
18:00Things like the Irish Circle and just using one plant and repeating and repeating,
18:04I think that's quite a new idea or a different idea, I might say.
18:09I would describe my garden as quite different, almost eccentric perhaps.
18:15And it suits my personality, I think, as well.
18:21What will our judges make of Will's design choices?
18:26So, at first glance, it's, well, it's very pretty.
18:30This is quite a garden for a farmhouse.
18:34Normally you'd go to the house, but you don't want to, do you?
18:36You want to straight away.
18:38Down the garden path.
18:39Yeah.
18:40Or up it.
18:43Look at this.
18:44Look at these irises.
18:46Aren't they glorious?
18:48Glorious.
18:48And the phthalictrum nodding at a lily pond.
18:54Do you know what I think is so extraordinary?
18:57Is that each bed, they've got a sort of main player, haven't they?
19:01This is phthalictrums.
19:04That's sedum.
19:05Yeah.
19:06And over there you have box.
19:09It's as if he's giving one plant sense of stage and then just putting a few other things with it.
19:14It's very eclectic, don't you think?
19:16Yes.
19:16Straight away.
19:23What's this, Carol?
19:25It's Darmira paltata.
19:27It's the umbrella plant.
19:29Because if they get big enough, you really could use them for that.
19:31But what makes them so sort of round and umbrella-like is all those camassias in between.
19:38I know, spiking up through them.
19:40Well, look at that whole lot of camassia along there.
19:42Yeah.
19:43And perhaps they self-seeded into this.
19:45Yeah, it does self-seed really easily.
19:49And that skunk cabbage.
19:51Yeah.
19:51Do they in fact stink?
19:53Yes.
19:53They do.
19:54Really stink.
19:55Do they only smell when they're in flower all the time?
19:57It's just the flower that's flower.
19:58Just the flower.
19:59To attract its pollinators, which presumably are blue bottles, flies of every description.
20:05Woo-hoo!
20:06Let's get cracking.
20:11Within his six acres, Will has created a variety of different spaces.
20:17Close to the farmhouse, there's a modern take on a formal design.
20:22With rills and other water features.
20:28And in a woodland area, he's working on a rewilding scheme.
20:33I think I'm going to go into more wildness to fill parts of the garden.
20:39If you think about garden plants, they all came to the wild at one time anyway.
20:43But wild plants have a lot of charm too with them.
20:46And I think that's where I'm going to go next.
20:54Isn't it just glorious everywhere you look?
20:57It's a triumph.
20:58Yeah.
20:59Look at that salmon pink poppy.
21:01Just decided, I want to be here.
21:04But, I mean, who'd stick an oriental poppy right in the middle of that?
21:07But it works, doesn't it?
21:09He's created an amphitheatre and then filled it.
21:12And it's...
21:13And all the rules are broken.
21:14Yeah.
21:15And that's why it works.
21:19And look at all these candelabras.
21:21It's a Liberace fest here with the neon primulas.
21:26But in the background, that vermilion of the poppy again.
21:30I mean, how cheeky is that?
21:34And look at these hostess everywhere, hardly a leaf eaten.
21:38I mean, that's extraordinary.
21:49And the lady's mantle with the droplets of water on it, more blousy poppies.
21:53I mean, it shouldn't work, but it's magnificent.
21:56But it does.
21:56Because it can't help but have you smell this one.
22:00Himalayan cowslip.
22:03Is it a nice scent?
22:04Yes, of course it is.
22:05I wouldn't get you to smell something that didn't smell nice.
22:08Yeah, it's all right.
22:09Oh!
22:13It's lovely.
22:15Beautiful.
22:16It is gorgeous.
22:17There's another unique feature to be discovered in this garden.
22:21A carefully curated alpine bed.
22:25Look at all these amazing little plants.
22:28The alpines on this raised bed.
22:31The space that they really love.
22:34Loads of companionless sedums.
22:38But everything you might find in your own garden.
22:41It's magnificent.
22:44Come on, look at this.
22:45Look!
22:46Isn't it gorgeous?
22:48Goodness.
22:49It's just Jacob's Ladder, isn't it?
22:51Yeah, just Jacob's Ladder, but doing its thing, yeah?
22:54And in this light, that blue is just so intense, isn't it?
22:59Holimonium ceruleum blue as can be, yeah.
23:04This, I have to say, is the first flat rockery I've ever seen.
23:09Yeah.
23:09It's the plateau, isn't it, rather than the mountain.
23:12But doesn't it work brilliantly?
23:13It does, it does.
23:16And I think one of the best things in a rockery are saxopharynge.
23:20Is that how you say it, saxopharynge?
23:21Yeah, saxopharynge.
23:22It means breaking rock, because that's why they grow.
23:27I love the way the leaves are little rosettes.
23:31And this one is one of those encrusted ones, so it's encrusted and crunchy.
23:36Have a feel.
23:38You're right.
23:39Beautiful contrast with those little dinky flowers.
23:43What is this yellow stuff?
23:45I think it's so pretty.
23:46It's chiastopharynge, oppositifolium, and it's great for any kind of alpine position or rockery, but it'll grow in shade, too,
23:55really well.
23:56And it grows out of the cracks.
23:57Yeah, yeah.
23:58It's just perfect, isn't it, here?
24:06Will, thank you so much for inviting us to visit your, I think, wonderland is the only way we could
24:13describe it.
24:14Astonishing.
24:14Thank you very much.
24:15I just feel like my name should be Alice.
24:17Yes.
24:19It's just lovely.
24:21Everywhere there are these blocks of just one plant.
24:24Yes.
24:25And I've never seen it done before.
24:26I think if you get the design right, it works.
24:30Those irises took me years.
24:32When we first came here, there was a clump of those irises, and I split them and divided them, and
24:38eventually had enough of them to go into them.
24:41So it's exponentially divide and divide and divide.
24:43Divide and divide and divide.
24:44What a good idea.
24:49It's been such a treat for us.
24:52Thank you for allowing us in.
24:54You're very kind.
24:55Thank you so much.
24:55Thank you.
24:56I feel like Kurt seemed to tell you the truth.
25:01Wow.
25:02Wow.
25:13Three superb gardens, but only one can go through to the final.
25:19I have to say that every single one of those three gardens I've gone in, I've thought this is going
25:24to be the winner.
25:26So let's start with Thomas and Thomas Prue.
25:29What did you think?
25:30I was absolutely blown away by Thomas and Thomas.
25:33I couldn't believe the size of it, the near immaculate maintenance of it, the fact that the two of them
25:40do it all by themselves.
25:42And it really re-inspired me about the idea of herbaceous borders, which I'd sort of given up for grass
25:48gardens.
25:49But I'm now going straight back to plant herbaceous border.
25:52I loved, absolutely loved the plants in there.
25:56It had a wealth of plants.
25:58Their plantsmanship was great.
26:00I mean, they really know their stuff and know what things like.
26:04And then there was a woodland walk up the top that I thought was...
26:08It was quite secret.
26:09Exquisite.
26:12Karen's garden, the first thing I think of is Fremontodendron.
26:17I mean, that plant, trained against the wall.
26:19I've seen a lot of those, but that was the best ever.
26:24I thought she'd made the best possible use of what she got, and I was just full of admiration for
26:31her plantswomanship.
26:32I really liked it because she had planted up this corridor of a garden really beautifully.
26:39And I particularly loved the pineapple plant.
26:41The love was there, wasn't it?
26:44I mean, it was there in buckets full.
26:46She just loves the plants.
26:47She loves gardening.
26:49Let's talk about Will's garden.
26:51Oh, do let's.
26:54Ah, I love that extraordinary iris circle and the flat alpine bed.
27:03It was amazing.
27:05With that iris maze, one plant he started off with, and now there are hundreds and hundreds.
27:13So he had the idea and then just gradually, gradually worked at it and carried it through.
27:19He had pretty much everything.
27:20He had the quirky, modernist garden.
27:23He had the dingley dell.
27:24He had the shade walk.
27:26It was quite magical and wonderful and exuberant.
27:30It was a lovely garden.
27:36I think I know who our winner is going to be.
27:42Yeah.
27:43Yeah, without any doubt.
27:45Oh, there you go.
27:47The garden going forward is Holly House.
27:55Here he is.
27:57Hello.
27:57Oh, hello.
27:59Lovely to see you.
28:00Lovely to see you too.
28:01We want to say congratulations.
28:03Thank you very much indeed.
28:05Yes.
28:05That was marvellous news.
28:06Really well done.
28:06Thank you so much.
28:07Thank you for allowing us to romp around your garden.
28:11And we will see you at the final.
28:13Yes.
28:13Thank you so much.
28:17Will is now one of five finalists, all with their eyes on the prize,
28:23each hoping that theirs will be the greatest garden.
28:27Thank you.
28:28Thank you.
28:56Gracias por ver el video.
28:59Gracias por ver el video.
Comments