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Great British Garden Revival ep.5 - Rock Gardens and Herb Gardens

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In this episode, plantswoman Carol Klein shares her infectious passion for a style of gardening that she thinks is in much need of a revival - the rock garden. She tracks the history from its pinnacle during the Victorian era, visits a community in Bolton who have pulled back their local rockery from neglect and drops in on an old friend in the Midlands to find out more about this much-maligned gardening style. From her base at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, Carol demonstrates tried and tested techniques for growing success as she shows us how to plant up a trough with some of her treasured rock garden favourites and gives advice on the best alpine bulbs for containers. Toby Buckland is on the campaign trail for herb gardens. On his revival, he discovers how useful herbs have been throughout history, he learns that there was no such thing as a weed in Tudor times; meets a woman whose garden is overflowing with herbs we've forgotten and a botanist who grows plants to capitalise on th

Great British Garden Revival ep.4 - Cut Flowers and Trees

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Great British Garden Revival continues, as Britain's top television gardening talent inspire us to the save the nation's rich gardening heritage. In tonight's show Rachel de Thame investigates the decline of Britain's cut flower industry. At New Covent Garden she discovers that 90 per cent of our cut flowers are imported; she meets a man who has dedicated his life to growing sweet peas and joins a florist who uses some surprising flowers in the wedding bouquets she creates. Throughout the show from her base at the cutting garden of Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire, Rachel gives us her tips on how to grow, cut and arrange flowers. Great British Garden Revival ep.4  Also in tonight's show, Joe Swift wants us all to get planting trees in our gardens. On his revival he visits the magnificent elm trees of Brighton, which didn't fall victim to the devastating Dutch elm disease as it ravaged Britain in the 1970s, and he marvels at the national collection of bi

Great British Garden Revival ep.3 - Cottage Gardens and House Plants

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As a passionate plantswoman, Carol Klein wants everyone to embrace one of the most iconic and quintessentially British styles of gardening - the cottage garden. She shares her years of experience with her ultimate guide to the best cottage garden plants, along with money-saving tips on how to grow favourite plants from scratch. In the Lake District, she visits the home of Beatrix Potter and a cottage garden which features in some of the most famous children's books ever written. She also encourages the people of Nantwich to get gardening in the Great British Seed Swap. As a plant hunter, Tom Hart Dyke wants Britain to fall back in love with the house plant. He has a chilling encounter with an orchid he last saw when he was kidnapped in Columbia 13 years ago, discovers that house plants can have a positive impact on people's well-being and productivity at work and shares tips on how to care for house plants and grow them from cuttings. Great British Garden Revival ep.3

Great British Garden Revival ep.2 - Topiary and Roof Gardens

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Rachel De Thame sharpens her shears to champion topiary, the great tradition of trimming and shaping plants. Rachel charts the rise and fall of topiary from Elizabethan times to the present day, meets a topiary-obsessed woman in Kent who has transformed her entire garden using amazing topiary creations and witnesses the hedge handiwork of a man in north London who is causing a buzz in the local neighbourhood with his living sculptures. Rachel shows that, with a little know-how and confidence, everyone can share in the sense of fun that topiary can bring to Britain's gardens. James Wong, meanwhile, is up on the roof. He uncovers the hidden horticultural past of the capital's rooftops, visits a woman who has moved her entire garden to her rooftop apartment and heads to Birmingham's new city centre library with an innovative rooftop addition. James shares his tips and shows us that, when it comes to roof gardens, containers are king. He also reveals the best plants that are

Great British Garden Revival ep.1 - Wild Flowers and Front Gardens

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Monty Don is on the campaign trail for wild flowers. 98 per cent of wild flower meadows have been lost since the first part of the 20th century, a shocking statistic which he believes all gardeners can do something about. On his revival, he tries his hand at making hay the old-fashioned way in a coronation meadow, visits the largest biodiversity hotspot in the world - Kew's Millennium Seed Bank - and shows how to grow wild flowers, even without a garden. Meanwhile, Joe Swift is determined to return the nation's front gardens to their former glory. He bases his campaign at the award-winning Rockcliffe Avenue in Whitley Bay and shares his tips on how to transform front gardens in a few simple steps. He also discovers that greener streets reduce pollution and hits the road to get the message across in his Great British Plant Giveaway. Great British Garden Revival ep.1