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00:00In town and country, passionate gardeners spend every spare moment creating their very
00:06own horticultural masterpieces. Now, Carol Klein and Dermot Gavin are visiting some of
00:13them, the finest gardens in Northern Ireland.
00:16You'll need buchettes, won't you?
00:18That's it.
00:19We'll be judging them on planting, design and good gardening practice.
00:24And each week we'll be joined by a celebrity.
00:27Who, like me, loves getting their hands dirty.
00:31Treasures around every corner.
00:33I can't believe it.
00:34The mother in me is beaming. I mean, what a way to grow up.
00:38I'm sharing my sniff with lots of bumblebees.
00:41What a lovely thing. Football terraces filled with daisies.
00:44Yeah.
00:45We're going to visit gardens of every size and shape.
00:49Today we're focusing on three of the bests.
00:51And the winner will go through to our grand final.
00:54We have our work cut out for us, but we're ready.
00:58We're on the hunt for the greatest gardens.
01:05Joining Dermot and Carol is a very special, enthusiastic guest gardener.
01:11I'm Penny Lancaster and really proud of my glorious garden and getting green fingers.
01:19Penny and her rock star husband, Rod Stewart, love their garden.
01:25We have quite a lot of land. We're very lucky for that.
01:29It's broken up into rooms.
01:32There's an adventure behind every gate and every hedgerow and every beautiful garden wall.
01:44The first of today's three contenders is Ivy Dean Garden, near Cumber, County Down.
01:51Spread across three acres, Robert and Michael have three separate areas of planting.
01:57A formal layout at the front of their home.
02:00A secret garden at the side.
02:02And at the back, a wildflower meadow and woodland area.
02:08Well, I've always had a passion for gardening.
02:10My mum loved gardening and I think just must be in the genes.
02:13So it's just something I love.
02:16In a charity shop, I got a stack of gardening magazines and I just got obsessed with gardening.
02:21I lived in California for a couple of years and going out into the desert.
02:25We really got into succulents and cactus, that sort of thing.
02:29And we're now creating a succulent house.
02:33When people come to visit here, they just lose themselves in it.
02:36They just relax, which is what I do and Michael does.
02:41Which is nice, just to be able to relax and just enjoy.
02:45If I'm going to have people over for dinner, I say, right, can I cut some flowers?
02:49I get a basket and he walks around with me and says, yeah, you can cut that.
02:52It's only because he loves flowers so much.
02:54So you can cut the ones that are like, just about to go.
02:58Not the ones that are in full steam.
03:00Yeah.
03:09Wow.
03:10Look at that.
03:11This is magical.
03:13It's like that moment when the gates of the chocolate factory open.
03:17Look at it.
03:18But isn't it just so romantic?
03:21Oh, look at that phylectrum.
03:23Shooting up.
03:24Shooting up but fluffy on the top.
03:26Fluffy on the top.
03:28Bit like you, Dermot.
03:33All the hues of the different purples and lavenders coming together.
03:39It's kaleidoscopic, isn't it?
03:41It really is.
03:42And then you have these two ewes standing sentry-like but framing everything as you go.
03:48Look at that, the orange ball tree.
03:51Pomponges.
03:51Yes.
03:52It's a buddlier, isn't it, the curl?
03:54Globosa.
03:55Yeah.
03:55Because it's got lots of little globes.
04:01But look at this.
04:03Oh!
04:04Couldn't you just dive in this?
04:06This is a double geranium and a very, very special one.
04:10But I've never seen such a magnificent plant.
04:13And look at that single one with the dark eyes.
04:17Yeah.
04:18Psilis salmon.
04:19Psilis salmon.
04:20With the dark eyes.
04:21Yes.
04:22Smouldering.
04:22Again, just like Dermot.
04:24There you go.
04:26And these are all different kinds of geraniums.
04:30Look at these kind of iris.
04:32They're like mini ones.
04:33Is there a reticular variety that's that small?
04:36Because I'm used to seeing the slightly larger.
04:38Yeah, reticulata is the little one in the spring.
04:41But this is probably, I don't know, iris sibirica or something like that.
04:45Oh, tiny!
04:45And again, just like that black centre.
04:47So these are pollen lines just to draw the bee in and show it the way.
04:51And it's got little beards for the bees to latch onto because they've got hooks on the legs.
04:57It's like a little runway.
05:17Look at that.
05:18I found an early hairy gooseberry.
05:21But I found this kind of courtyard area.
05:24And it just shows what you can achieve in a very small space.
05:28In the back, we have a wonderful greenhouse with nectarines growing.
05:32Then the garden tumbles with roses.
05:36With delphiniums.
05:38And you leave with this glorious profusion, I think, of peonies.
05:43This is magic in a small space.
05:52This is just a tiny, narrow little border against this hawthorn hedge.
05:57It's packed with treasures everywhere you look.
06:00Look at that.
06:01A strand here.
06:02A strand here's shaggy.
06:05But I think this has to be the pièce de résistance.
06:08Look at this.
06:10It's Lobelia tupper.
06:12Often known as devil's tobacco because, apparently, if you smoke its leaves, it's hallucinogenic.
06:19I've never tried it naturally.
06:21I'm satisfied with just admiring the plant.
06:24These soft, felty leaves.
06:26And this is just the beginning.
06:28Soon, these flowers will open.
06:31Bright orangey-red, really flame-coloured.
06:34This is Libertia.
06:36Probably Libertia formosa.
06:39Formosa means beauty.
06:41Wow.
06:50Wow.
06:52Now, this is the plant that everybody needs to see.
06:55It's the giant Cardiocrinum.
06:57It's an Alice in Wonderland type plant.
07:00It's from the Himalayas and it grows for about two metres.
07:02But it's covered in long trumpet-like flowers.
07:0720 to 40 of them.
07:09It's a real challenge to grow.
07:11So this is the wonder of the garden.
07:12It needs rich soil and quite moist.
07:15That is the best plant in the garden.
07:17But when it finishes flowering, it dies.
07:20But it leaves lots of little baby bulbs behind it.
07:34The garden is just full of roses everywhere.
07:37Every description.
07:38But I think this has to be one of the most beautiful.
07:41It's also one of the most simple, with these big single flowers.
07:46It's called Nevada.
07:47And it'll keep on flowering right the way through, probably into August.
07:52And growing at its feet is this gorgeous Campanula.
07:55This is Campanula persisifolia.
07:59In other words, a peach-leafed bellflower.
08:02Right now, this Campanula is really just doing its thing.
08:05And if you look here, you can see more buds to come on.
08:10And if you look at the base, you can see why it's called a peach-leafed bellflower.
08:15Because its leaves look like peach leaves.
08:22Look at those!
08:23Little Chinese lanterns.
08:27Gorgeous!
08:29Oh!
08:30Little treasures around every corner.
08:33Wow!
08:34Now, I recognise this.
08:35I'm not sure what it's called, but we have one at home.
08:37And I just love how the branches sort of stretch out like a beautiful umbrella.
08:44And the detail, that's like a brooch.
08:48I'm going to have to pick one.
08:50Ask a few more questions.
08:56Hi, guys.
08:57I found the most beautiful flowers and these overhanging plants.
09:01And I just don't know the name of them.
09:02So how about this?
09:03It's like a Chinese lantern.
09:05That's a crinodendron.
09:07Crinodendron hooker eye from Chile.
09:09I'm not going to remember that.
09:10I'm going to need a note.
09:11Yeah.
09:11Me too.
09:12Lots of notes.
09:15There's one final treat.
09:17A walk around a very important part of these gardens.
09:20The wildflower meadow is a diverse habitat for pollinators and a haven for wildlife.
09:26I just love the meandering part around the oak tree in the meadow.
09:32When Rod and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary at home, we had a marquee in the garden and we
09:37deliberately picked some of the grasses from our wild meadow and introduced them to the flower displays on the table
09:42just to kind of really bring nature in.
09:45Look, tiny little orchids.
09:47Look, tiny little orchids.
09:48And this is just the first of them.
09:50There are going to be masses and masses.
09:54People worked for years to establish yellow rattle in a meadow.
09:58It's everywhere.
10:01You just feel like running in it.
10:03It's a flake advert.
10:10It's so beautiful, the whole thing, and we've just enjoyed ourselves.
10:15How important is it for you to share your garden with other people?
10:19Oh, I love sharing the garden with people because I get a great pleasure from it.
10:23Visitors come along and you can see they enjoy it.
10:26Gardens are for sharing.
10:28Carol did whisper to me and say it's not only gardens that are for sharing.
10:31You want some seeds, don't you?
10:33I'd love some seeds.
10:33They could be arranged.
10:34Oh, yes, we could.
10:35It's a possibility.
10:37I don't want you to dig up your garden, but send us a few seeds of some of these really
10:42special plants.
10:43That's good.
10:45Thank you, Carol.
11:01After the quiet of the countryside, the judge's next stop is Lisburn and a biker's backyard with some tropical va
11:09-va-voom.
11:11The main three passions of life would be motorcycles.
11:17Rock music and tropical gardening.
11:21I started the tropical plants three years ago.
11:25I'd done a lot of research and it was really, really interesting.
11:29The size of the leaves you could grow, the size of plants growing one season.
11:34Rather than just walking around the garden and saying, your grass is nice, it was, this is Pollywana, the fastest
11:41growing tree in the world.
11:43Is this the right place?
11:44Has to be it.
11:45Oh.
11:46Wow.
11:47That's a bit of me.
11:48That is extraordinary.
11:52And how about that for a backdrop?
11:55Oh, yeah, we're here for plants.
11:56That's the hardy palms.
11:58That's the hardy palms, trache corpus.
12:00And look, cardiocrinum.
12:02Cardiocrinum?
12:03Cardiocrinum.
12:04Cardiocrinum.
12:04It's a lily that grows taller than you.
12:09We've travelled through the fields and highways and byways and we're in the tropics.
12:14It's a bit Jurassic Park almost.
12:16That's exactly what it is, Penny.
12:18That's exactly what it is.
12:19It feels Jurassic.
12:22Look at this realm.
12:24So that's the false rhubarb.
12:26A kind of rhubarb.
12:27Oh, from China?
12:29Yeah.
12:29A big, dramatic leaf.
12:30So it's a perennial.
12:31It dies down, but at this time of the year, it explodes.
12:41Look at that, Carol.
12:42What's that?
12:43Oh, this elder.
12:44Yes.
12:45Elder and better.
12:46The purple elder.
12:47That's me.
12:49So it's been cut, instead of being a huge, great big tree or enormous shrub, it's been
12:55cut right down to the ground, so this is all new growth.
12:58Normally it would be...
12:59It would grow to how tall?
13:00Well, as tall as an elder.
13:03Really huge, massive.
13:09Look at this, the Gunnera Manicata, with those massive leaves underneath the Dixonia tree
13:15ferns.
13:15So that loves the moisture, as does the Dixonia, but that's going to divide this garden totally
13:21in another month or two.
13:22You'll need buchettes, won't you?
13:23That's it.
13:25And then the baby Dixonia, so that's all the way from Tasmania in Australia.
13:33This is one of my very favourite plants, and I grow loads of these in my garden.
13:37They're hardy tree ferns that do very well when there's moisture in the air, with a little
13:43bit of protection, but very slow growing.
13:45So it's almost like counting the rings of a tree.
13:48You can count how old that plant is by counting the amount of fronds.
13:53Every year, a new layer of fronds.
13:55So is that a baby?
13:55Well, that's one flat every ten years, so that's about ten years old.
14:00Look at that one.
14:01That's huge.
14:04Owner George has invested an enormous amount of time and money researching and sourcing
14:09plants from all around the world.
14:13It's very expensive.
14:15They're unique and they're rare, and because they come from all tropical parts of the world,
14:21you've got different plant passports and import taxes and that sort of thing.
14:26By the time you get them here, there is a quart chunk on it.
14:30You would lose a lot of things trying to overwinter them.
14:33Paying 100 odd pounds for a plant, and you'd maybe lose it just through no fault of your own.
14:40But it's the determination just to keep going and to keep trying and trying.
14:50It keeps giving, doesn't it, this garden?
14:52It's a surprise every couple of steps.
14:54Oh, I love the pokers.
14:56There's some really vibrant ones back there.
14:59So these are actually primulas.
15:00That's a primula viallii, isn't it lovely?
15:03But that's what they call it, red-hot poker primula, for obvious reasons.
15:15Look what I've just found. Strawberries.
15:18Strawberries.
15:19Strawberries.
15:20And a little strawberry just emerged beside nasturtiums.
15:23It's all brilliantly exuberant and personal.
15:37Oh, look at these cardoons. They're amazing.
15:45So these are a lovely pair of coconuts, or are they bananas?
15:49Well, they're amazing because they're Japanese hardy bananas.
15:52So that's Musa Bajiu.
15:54And they will survive outside in Northern Ireland.
15:57So they're herbaceous, they die down, but they come back up at this time of the year.
16:00And I think they're magnificent here.
16:02I think it's about time we talk to George, don't you?
16:05Oh, thank you.
16:05George, yes, let's meet him.
16:15George, thank you so much for inviting us into your magical garden.
16:19Thank you, you're welcome.
16:21It's absolutely amazing.
16:22It's not a cheap hobby, though, when I see some of the plants that you've invested in.
16:27Yes, it was an investment.
16:29We're into thousands of pounds there, like.
16:31But it's my passion.
16:32It's my love.
16:33I don't drink or smoke.
16:35If I was looking at something, I'd save up hard for it.
16:38And I eventually do get there, like.
16:40But I got the odd wee surprise in them, because you get seeds in them, as you know, Dermot.
16:45Yeah.
16:45And you get the odd tropical flower coming up in it.
16:48I know.
16:49Absolutely.
16:49So you've a wee bonus.
16:50But you sound like you do loads of research, so you can really make it feel at home.
16:55Yes, definitely.
16:56And everything does look at home, apart from.
17:00Why have you got these little bedding plants here and there?
17:03Right.
17:04It's a family garden.
17:05Right.
17:06Ah.
17:06The wife loves her bedding plants and whatnot, so I had to come to compromise, yes.
17:11George, I didn't think I could love you any more.
17:14Yeah.
17:14That is so sweet.
17:15So, George, you're so unique with this incredible garden you've got here.
17:19Surely there was another hobby that came before this.
17:22Oh, it was, like, motorcycling.
17:24OK.
17:24Bodybuilding and ACDC.
17:28Yes, George!
17:29Let's rock on!
17:34Absolutely wonderful!
17:37From George's rockin' garden, the judge's final visit is to an actual rock garden in Balna
17:44Hinch.
17:44A large expanse of native rock dominates in this four-acre garden created by Bridget.
17:53It's evolved organically over the years, and the rock really designed the garden.
17:58So you're working along the rock all the way through.
18:02Plants do particularly well in certain areas, certainly with the rock.
18:07So you're going to have very, very dry areas.
18:09You can put some alpines in.
18:13There's also extremely wet, boggy areas, and they can actually run right beside a very dry
18:18area.
18:20But it's workable.
18:21It's extremely attractive once you get it cleaned back and actually see what is there.
18:30On the whole, anything that is planted works fairly well here.
18:34So I must be doing something right, I think.
18:53Oh, here we are.
18:55Yeah.
18:55What do you think of it then?
18:57Well, I'm impressed.
18:58I mean, how tricky is it to get the right combination of planting when you've got all this sort of
19:04rockery?
19:04And I love how it sort of meanders round.
19:06It's almost like there's going to be a big reveal.
19:08And the planting's lovely.
19:10Lots of colour.
19:11Taste of what's to come.
19:12Come on.
19:12Let's have a look.
19:13It does invite you to explore.
19:22What I really love about this is the undulating nature of the garden, the pathways and the
19:27general landscape, topsy-turvy.
19:29Yeah.
19:30Beautiful.
19:31It just makes you want to run up and down.
19:35Wow.
19:36Look at the colours of those.
19:38Oh, they're great.
19:38They're drumstick primulas.
19:41Drumsticks.
19:41I love them.
19:42No, they're not.
19:43They're not?
19:44They're candelabra.
19:44Oh, candelabra.
19:45Sorry.
19:46Sorry.
19:46Absolutely.
19:47But they tell you it's a nice, boggy gardener because they love their feet and the kind
19:52of moisture.
19:54But the wonderful thing about them is how long they last because they open one wall of flowers,
19:59go up a storey, another one, and they can have, I don't know, eight to twelve of those.
20:05It's like fireworks, isn't it?
20:06Yeah.
20:07And it really does attract all the butterflies and bees.
20:10Yeah.
20:10Beautiful.
20:11That butterfly rejected it.
20:12It obviously hasn't read the script.
20:16Ooh.
20:20And around every corner there's a new view.
20:23Look at that.
20:23Yeah.
20:30So you have the yellow lupins and then those poppies.
20:33The red poppies.
20:33It's like a stage set, a wonderfully undulating one.
20:38But isn't that yellow fantastic here, especially in this light?
20:42Yeah, and that contrast with the red poppy.
20:44We just planted some wild poppy seeds in our garden as a celebration for the 80 years of
20:49the end of the war.
20:50So they remind me of that but I know they're not the same type of poppies.
20:53And what's interesting is how close these are, these ones.
20:57And then there's others that are quite open for the pollination.
21:00So they're all opium poppies.
21:02Papavus somniferum.
21:04Because it sends you to sleep.
21:05Yeah.
21:06But they're all annuals.
21:08Okay.
21:09So they'll just do that and then fizzle down.
21:17Bridget has propagated many of the plants here from clippings gifted by family and friends.
21:23It's a garden filled with love that supported her through good times and bad.
21:29I love being in the garden.
21:31I love being outside.
21:32Particularly when I got unwell, I had breast cancer.
21:35During my treatment, every day coming out and seeing plants growing,
21:43it gives you so much hope for the future.
21:51I really like this sweep of this grand staircase.
21:55But it really introduces this dingly dell, doesn't it?
22:00It's just perfect.
22:01I love these hostas, but look at them.
22:04They're perfect.
22:08Do you know what I really love?
22:09I love that geranium palmatum that floats in the dappled shade of these trees,
22:14that floats under everything.
22:16Yeah, and they're self-seeding.
22:18Yeah.
22:18So it must be really happy.
22:22I'm loving this Santa Disha.
22:25Isn't it gorgeous?
22:26I saw it as we were coming down, that sweeping staircase,
22:29and in this dark area, it just lights everything up.
22:32And what a beautiful contrast between the twirly flowers
22:36and then these beautiful shiny leaves.
22:44Look at this.
22:47We could call that a bog.
22:49And the way, actually, your London pride is draping down to it,
22:53the flag iris.
22:54So iris pseudocoris fairy garden.
22:57It'll turn green later on in the summer,
22:59but right now it's at its spectacular best.
23:03And it displays a real knowledge of where plants like to grow,
23:07just that part of the garden.
23:09Right plant, right place.
23:17Oh, and another surprise around another corner.
23:21Isn't it lovely to have water in a garden?
23:23Lots of rocks, isn't it, though?
23:25It's a bit harsh, I suppose, between the grass and the water.
23:29What do you think?
23:30I just don't like ponds in the middle of lawns.
23:34I guess you could soften it.
23:36We have lavender around our pond,
23:38and it is a nice introduction of colour and texture,
23:41it breaks things up a bit.
23:43Providing the soil around the edge is dry.
23:46There are.
23:46Because lavender wants the opposite conditions.
23:49Well, with it being rocky,
23:50then you would think that that would be the case here, wouldn't you?
23:53Yes, absolutely, because that's a kind of arid landscape,
23:56so lavender should do well,
23:57and they should plant something in there, shouldn't they?
24:00But bees love a bit of dirty water,
24:02so that's a good thing to a garden.
24:05Yeah.
24:06Bees must drink.
24:08They must.
24:09Must drink.
24:09But not necessarily from a pond in the middle of the lawn.
24:13OK.
24:18Walk in the plank.
24:30Hi, Bridget.
24:32We have had the nicest time wandering around your garden
24:36and getting to know it.
24:37I love it, because I just love being outside.
24:40It becomes easier as you're just getting experience in it.
24:45Because I'm always learning,
24:46because I want to learn more, you know,
24:48because I'm not a, you know, a gardener as such.
24:50You are a gardener.
24:51Yes, yes.
24:52You might not have...
24:53I'm not qualified.
24:54What's that got to do with it?
24:56It's the experience, isn't it,
24:58of doing it that turns you into a gardener.
25:03Well, Bridget, you have given us loads of food
25:06for thought.
25:07It's been a real privilege to wander around your garden.
25:10What you've created is amazing.
25:13Absolute inspiration, truly.
25:15Thanks, Bridget.
25:25Three wonderful gardens.
25:27But which of the three gardens will the judges pick?
25:31Let's talk about Robert and Michael's garden.
25:33Right from the moment you walked in,
25:36you just knew that this was going to be gorgeous.
25:40Every plant in that garden looked healthy and happy.
25:44It was a great reveal, I think, wasn't it?
25:47Because you got that little introduction
25:50to sort of hint to what might be behind the door.
25:54And as we walked through,
25:55we just got one surprise after another.
25:58It was breathtaking.
25:59Every element of it smiled back at you.
26:02Yeah.
26:02It wasn't pompous.
26:03It wasn't showing off.
26:05It was really built with love.
26:06If my garden looked like that,
26:08I'd be the happiest woman in the world.
26:10I just thought the planting was superb.
26:13Let's talk about George's garden.
26:16It said, welcome to the jungle.
26:18And you were like, okay,
26:19we've got some rock and roll in here too.
26:22It was a mix of everything.
26:24You were getting a real great sense of a playful personality
26:28and somebody who knew and loved a certain type of planting.
26:31That this was something that he'd come to
26:34and he was going to do it.
26:36And he was going to do it, you know, 125%.
26:40Any penny that he had is saved
26:43because he knew the next plant he wanted to get.
26:46He gave you those areas that opened up with a bit of space,
26:49but then he gave you the plants that were going to be
26:51the big garden dividers.
26:53And then you saw these huge tree ferns
26:56picking up above everything.
27:03Now, Bridget's garden.
27:05She worked with the land.
27:06She was sympathetic to what she was working with.
27:10Lots of rock.
27:12So that was a challenge in itself
27:13in finding the right plants to grow in that type of soil.
27:17There was one big exception to the whole thing,
27:21which was this pond in the middle of the grass.
27:24But to be very positive,
27:26she's obviously got a real feeling for plants.
27:30And, you know, she used very simple plantings in some places,
27:34but lots of it, you know, very generous with the planting,
27:38that boggy bit down at the bottom.
27:40Oh, wonderful.
27:41She has put every ounce of herself into it.
27:45So which one is it going to be?
27:47It's hard.
27:48Hmm.
27:49I've made my mind up.
27:51It's unanimous.
27:53The garden going forward is Ivy Dean.
27:57There they are, look.
27:59Come on out.
28:00Hi, Carol.
28:01Hi, Dermot.
28:01Good to see you.
28:03One at a time.
28:04Good to see you.
28:05And listen, well done.
28:06Thank you very much.
28:07Enormous congratulations.
28:09Thank you very much.
28:09Yes, absolutely.
28:10And we'll see both of you at the final.
28:13Love you.
28:14See you then.
28:15Bye.
28:17Robert and Michael are now one of five finalists,
28:21all with their eyes on the prize,
28:23each hoping that theirs will be the greatest garden.
28:26.
28:27.
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