The Great Garden Revolution (2021–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - Episode #2.2 - full transcript
Spring is finally here...
..and there's a garden revolution
sweeping the nation.
Once you start gardening,
it stays with you
for the rest of your life.
Does anyone like radish?
Spring is here, winter's over -
get involved,
get immersed
in the experience of the garden.
So we want to invite you
to join in...
Just go for it, enjoy it
and put your stamp on it.
..inspiring you
with possibilities...
Nature's the most beautiful thing
of all.
..and totally transforming
our ordinary gardens.
How cool is this?!
We'll be sharing tips and tricks...
You should all grow
this tomato, seriously.
..and the jobs to do right now.
Over the next few weeks, we're gonna
be meeting fellow revolutionaries...
..people who think along
the same lines as us.
You can still make
gardening fashionable.
Yes, in fact there is -
yes, look, there's a lemon!
So wherever you are,
with whatever you have,
it's time to join
the garden revolution.
At this time of year,
so many of you are getting produce
in the ground,
so this weekend we're exploring
gardens where we can grow our own.
This is our greenhouse, and we're
making lots of vegetables!
In Bradford we're turning
an unutilised plot into
an edible haven.
I love that these are all plants
that we're not necessarily used to.
We'll show you a great way
to look after your produce
with natural pest management.
It's basically booby traps
to protect my plants.
We'll discover how
to welcome in useful predators.
I'm going to do a little sign so
the hedgehog knows which way to go.
And we're making
the ultimate outdoor eating area
in a prime location in the garden.
It will allow them to take in
this beautiful scenery
that they're blessed with having.
What more could you ask for?
And TV personality Scarlett Moffatt
confesses all.
This is where I like
to spend most of me time.
No point in having a house, really.
I'd camp out here.
We're never happier than when
we're encouraging people
to get out there and grow their own.
Once you start gardening,
it stays with you for
the rest of your life.
That's what's comforting about it,
to have something in your life
that you will never,
ever get to the end of.
It becomes more of a companion
than a task.
For me, the garden is
the most valuable space
in the house, because it has
the potential to bring
the most happiness.
I mean, I'll never be done
with gardening!
When you have your hands in soil
or you're concentrating on
sowing some seeds,
you're completely removed
from everything else
that might be going on in your life.
It can transport you
to a different place.
What's in a garden isn't always
defined by the plants.
I think it's also defined
by the aesthetic and the design of
the furniture.
I think there's a good symbiotic
relationship between the two things,
that a good garden has both.
This week, we're going to help
a family from Bradford
start out on their gardening
journey - the Stewarts.
My name is Nadia. I'm from Bradford.
I'm 44, I'm Mum, and I'm a carer
for my daughter
and the dog and my son...
..and anybody who walks in...
And the house! And the house!
They live on a new-build
housing estate
and their garden is a simple
grass plot
concealed from
the neighbouring countryside.
I've lived here
for around seven years since
the house was first built
and I've never done anything
in the garden
because I just don't know where
to start with it.
It has so much potential,
so every time I look at it,
I feel, like, a bit disappointed
in it
and in my skill levels.
With the rising cost of living, like
many families around the country,
the Stewarts like the idea of
utilising their garden.
It'd be really nice if we could
almost get
a level of sustainability going.
You know, maybe somewhere
we could plant fruit and veg,
a little area
or something as such.
As well as wanting space
to grow produce,
Nadia's daughter Mia needs a
sheltered haven for protection.
I can't really go outside
and enjoy the garden
because it's too sunny.
I have oculocutaneous albinism,
which means I have no colour
in my skin,
eyes and hair,
so I burn really easily
and why I can't see very well
and why the sun hurts my eyes,
so it'd be nice to have some shade
so I can go outside
and enjoy the garden with everyone.
The Stewarts aren't the only ones
who want to grow their own.
I'm trying to pack in as many
vegetables as I can
by growing them in containers.
So if you want to share what you've
been up to,
use the hashtag "garden revolution".
We're getting straight down
to business, and designing
an easy-to-maintain, grow-your-own
garden for the Stewart family.
This week's all about growing
your own food.
Actually, it was
a way into gardening for me
because it's so simple to do.
The garden currently is a really
familiar garden
that I come across all the time.
It's basically just grass,
so firstly we want to try
and create some shade
because of Mia's health condition,
and then we want to cram edible
produce into that garden.
There's something just
so special about planting
the seeds, nurturing a plant,
and eating your own produce.
It just doesn't get any better
than that.
We've created a plan for this garden
that will enable them
to grow their own produce
in a space where the whole family
can socialise outdoors.
The focal point is
a colour-contrasting pergola
which provides shade over a seating
area that looks out
over the breathtaking
Yorkshire countryside.
I'm using a special technique
called Hugelkultur
that uses garden waste that was
destined for landfill
to maximise edible planting space.
There'll be an edible layer garden
with produce
the family can cook with and enjoy.
And I'm building a drop-down fence
so it can be shared with Nadia's
best friend, who lives next door.
We think this design is going to
really give them what they need
to get started on
their gardening journey,
and these ideas will work
in almost any garden,
so you can be outside this weekend
trying it yourself.
I think if you can learn or discover
how you can grow
some of these things at home,
it just adds to the experience
of life in general.
Like so many gardens,
Nadia's has a shady side,
but that shouldn't stop you from
growing edibles.
I have an ingenious way of planting,
and this apple tree is
going to sit at its heart.
So, OK, Dylan, so we've got this
apple tree. It's a Blenheim Orange.
Mm-hm.
What we've designed for you here is
an edible layer garden.
To create a garden like this,
you will need to think about
a canopy layer above,
a shrub layer...
So, for example, here we've got this
Arbutus unedo.
They call it the strawberry tree.
There's some little fruits
developing on that.
..and ground cover...
Things like chard and spinach.
..and the right plants can create
an ecosystem that will sustain
itself without too much work.
Are they all things that are pretty
easy to grow, then,
for a beginner or...?
Oh, absolutely.
I think they're generally
relatively low-maintenance.
I think there'll always be
a little bit of weeding.
Yes, Dylan.
Is that going to be your job, Dylan?
Most definitely, I'd imagine so.
Growing in layers echoes planting
that exists in nature.
You might have encountered it
in forests,
where many species work in harmony
and thrive on the combination
of moist soil and dappled light.
If your soil has
a quite heavy clay content,
by breaking up the outer section,
it means that the roots of the tree
will be able to spread out.
Oh, I've got you.
A good tip for knowing how deep
to plant a tree
is to measure with a spade.
The correct depth will be
the same depth as
the tree is planted in
at the moment. Yeah. Mm-hm.
That looks about right.
Packing in edible varieties is
a great introduction
if you're looking to get more
from your space.
Why did you decide to grow your own
veg? What got you interested?
I really enjoy cooking
and I've always wanted
to know more about growing my
own things
and being a little bit
more self-sufficient.
And then when the cost
of living went so high,
I thought to myself, "Well, this is
probably a perfect time to try."
Brilliant. Well, we're doing it now.
We are.
The benefit of planting
a mature tree like this
is that you've instantly got
that canopy above. Yeah.
That's gonna be casting some shade
and that's gonna be useful
for the plants that we're growing
beneath it.
It'll be really good, as well,
to have some extra shade
in the garden for Mia, so when she
walks through the garden,
she can go from shade to shade
instead of just being out
in the brightness all the time.
Yeah, lovely. Yeah.
Yeah, she'll love it.
While some of the garden will be
exposed to full sun,
which is great for lots of
the plants we'll be adding,
I'm giving Mia
a sheltered destination.
It's just like
a normal pergola, really.
Putting these roof joists up.
Where you're standing now, there's
going to be a roof over all of this.
I'm going to put some batten
behind you on them walls,
so I'm just trying
to block all that sunlight.
Do you think it's going
to be a good idea?
Yeah, I think it'll be good cos
then I'll get to sit in the shade
and spend time with everyone
out in the garden
whenever I want and don't have
to wait for the sun to move.
The other idea I thought was
we wanted to get
a little bit of colour in.
Do you find that easier to see?
Yeah, it's easier to see
if it, like, contrasts well.
Well, that's sort
of the plan, really.
Although it's practical,
it's a good excuse to try
and get some brightness in there.
A bit of colour, a bit of joy.
You got it? Yeah.
To complete the outdoor eating area,
we're gonna need something stylish
but functional for the family
to sit at.
Hey, buddy, how you doing?
Yo, Bruce.
Nice lightweight table
you've made there! Yeah!
And the man for the job is our
carpentry wizard Bruce Kenneth.
The seating area's absolutely
crucial in a back garden.
It's the first thing you should be
thinking about.
Just like when you put your TV in
your house and your couch,
it's the same idea. You want to be
able to sit in the seating area,
look out on the garden,
all the hard work you've done
and appreciate it,
and I think if those two things are
done right,
you can spend many, many hours
outside enjoying it.
The design of the table is a nice,
modern aesthetic.
It's geometric, kind of angular.
I went with a steel base
because I wanted to kind of contrast
the oak tops that I've made.
As this ages and weathers, it will
actually look better.
The imperfections actually
enhance its character.
I'm painting it to give it
a layer of protection.
I don't want it rusting all over
the new deck that we're putting in.
We want to entice the family
out more to eat
and enjoy
the fruits of their labour,
and this is the perfect thing
for them,
so that it'll allow them to take
in the nature,
take in this beautiful scenery that
they're blessed with having.
A gorgeous day like today,
what more could you ask for?
With the pergola constructed, I've
enlisted Bruce's painting skills
to add a touch of colour.
It is bright, isn't it?
It is bright.
This is a great way to highlight
any area in your garden,
and it's clearer for Mia to see.
So why red, Joel?
Ah, because red is
the colour contrast of green.
OK. The theory is if you choose
colours opposite each other
on the colour wheel, they're both
going to accentuate each other.
We're also painting the fence green
so the pergola contrasts
with more than just the plants.
Using opposing colours is a
clever trick employed by designers,
but it's all around us in
the natural world.
The reason fruit is red is cos it
contrasts so well with green.
You know, it's evolved
so it's easy to see,
creatures can eat that fruit.
And also Mia sees the colour
contrasts, you know, a lot easier.
Yes. It's different.
I like it, you know.
It's making a statement, for sure.
If you're confused or scared
about choosing colours,
it's a good idea to get yourself
a colour wheel
to help visualise your options.
And also the colours that are
directly next to each other
are gonna go really well,
so think of orange going into red.
Orange to yellow kind of thing.
Yeah.
On the new decking,
I'm adding a darker shade to make
the greenery stand out.
Just using a bit of stain,
because I want to take this decking
down a little bit,
give it a more natural look,
the colour of soil or something.
It feels a bit more like the plants
do the talking then.
You don't want to be distracted
by looking down at something bright.
With the upper canopy
and shrub layer in place,
I've drafted in Joel
to help me fill in the rest of
the edible layer garden
with plants that can tolerate moist,
shady conditions.
So we're getting in
the herbaceous layer.
So we're getting in
the bits that sit at the bottom.
Oh, and I love that these are all
plants that we're not necessarily
used to, Errol.
Absolutely. We've got some really
interesting things.
We've this kiwi, which will go
up the pergola and fruit.
Chaenomeles, generally grown
for its flower,
but you get like a small
quince fruit that's edible.
You can cook it up with pork
or you can turn it into a jam.
Absolutely delicious.
You know, it doesn't just
need to be carrots, spinach...
Yeah. ..courgettes. Yeah,
it's a great way to start, isn't it?
But you soon sort of branch out.
Yeah, and, you know, if you've got
an area of the garden
that's a little bit shadier,
you might struggle with some of
those traditional edibles,
like cucumbers that want
all the sun. Yeah, yeah.
But things like
cob nuts, strawberries,
the wild garlic,
you know, you still can harvest some
produce from your garden.
If you're growing your own
for the first time,
don't think that it has
to be rows of veg.
It can be beautiful and natural too.
You've got the blossom and all
the different types of foliage.
Then it's gonna change through
the seasons,
cos it's, you know, a lot of the
shrub and trees are deciduous,
so you've got lovely autumn colour
as well. Plenty of food and forage
for birds and animals.
Gonna be brilliant. Yeah.
I love this
kind of gardening, Errol.
I've got a soft spot for it.
It tastes better, it's cheaper.
Better for your health. Zero food
miles, better for the environment.
Yeah, I couldn't agree more, Joel.
Sharing gardening with people
who are new to gardening
is an absolute privilege.
We're setting them off
on their gardening journey. Yeah.
Still to come, we'll show you
how to get fruit and veg
for the whole growing season.
It's just a way of ensuring that
you've got a crop constantly coming.
And I create a space for the bounty
of food to be enjoyed and shared.
I've made you
a bespoke drop-down bar.
Across the UK, more and more of us
are finding the joy
of planting crops
and harvesting the fruits
of our labour.
Cheeky chops!
This week, we're all about
grow-your-own gardens,
and in Bradford, we're creating
a foodie haven
packed full of fruit and veg.
Taken from the German word for hill,
Hugelkultur creates growing areas
with a difference.
They hold moisture,
build in fertility
and, importantly,
maximise surface area for planting.
First we need to,
yeah, dig a trench,
get these logs in
and then build up slowly.
They're made by creating a mound
with unwanted natural materials
that might otherwise
end up in landfill.
Why would you go
to all of this effort
and not just put
a normal raised bed in?
Essentially, this method
saves you a lot of bother.
You've built in your nutrients
into the bed,
and therefore you don't necessarily
need to do so much
in the way of mulching
or putting in nutrients
as you go each year.
It's slowly breaking down.
So it's like storing energy,
a bit like a battery or something.
I think that's quite
a good analogy, actually.
If you want your Hugelkultur bed
to be efficient over time,
you need to build up each layer
with different materials.
Those closest to the surface
need to break down faster to allow
the roots of plants to access
the nutrients.
We're putting the timbers
that are most recently cut,
so the ones that aren't quite
breaking down yet.
They go into the base
and they become like a furnace
buried deep in the ground
and they're going
to absorb moisture,
they're going to slowly break down
and release that moisture
and nutrients back.
And that's the big one
for you there, though.
Yeah, I saw that.
Tactically took the little ones!
It's important to avoid including
anything that might have been
treated, as chemicals prevent
materials breaking down
and could be harmful to yourself
and to the environment.
Really, a Hugelkultur bed is
probably good
for about, I'd say,
three to five years.
Yeah. And then you might
want to think about redoing it.
If you don't have these materials
readily available,
you should avoid collecting
them from a forest,
as this would disturb
natural ecosystems.
Instead, you could ask
a tree surgeon,
see if your mates are throwing
anything out
or, if you're doing any
work in the garden, keep a log pile.
If you think about composting,
composting requires sort of like
layers... Mm. It's very similar.
..of nitrogen and carbon.
Yeah. There's your green layers,
your brown layers and that's
essentially what we've created here.
Yeah.
We then invert the turf
we dug up earlier,
add a layer of mulch,
give it a drink of water
to get some moisture in,
and finish off with some compost
and top soil.
In terms of watering... Yeah.
..because you've got that reservoir
of logs that are going to absorb
lots of moisture and release that
back out into the soil,
you'll find that actually
you probably won't need
to water as much.
And, of course,
all of this means less work,
and the more time I can spend
sipping Pimm's
and tending to me tomatoes,
the better.
To discover how
fellow revolutionaries
are growing their own,
I've come to Wales
to meet Michelle Fitzsimmons,
who has spearheaded a movement
which rejects some of
the old rules of veg planting.
You've got flowers
and you've got edibles.
Yeah. And doesn't it look lovely?
It's what I call
an edible landscape.
Growing lots of things to eat,
but a more relaxed approach to it.
Whether it's a classic flowerbed,
a woodland path or a few spare pots,
Michelle has set out to prove
that they can all be packed
full of things we can eat.
This produce is not in straight
lines, in straight rows.
No, no. I mean, people do natural
flower areas,
so why not do natural
vegetable areas?
So this area here
is a self-seeding area.
Got cabbage-type plants,
brassicas, chard,
random things like fennel.
The way you've got these wild leeks
coming out from the geraniums. Yeah.
Historically, produce and decorative
flowers have been kept separate,
one for feeding
and one for aesthetics,
but edible landscapes revolutionised
the idea that veg plots
aren't pretty.
Traditionally, if they've got
a veggie patch, they put it
right at the end of
the garden, out of sight,
cos it's the ugly bit, you know?
You can actually make veggies
and salads
and all sorts of things look
really lovely.
Now, you might think that growing
an edible landscape doesn't allow
for beautiful flowers,
but Michelle takes
a more relaxed approach to her veg,
leading to some beautiful results.
The foliage of some
of these crops is really lovely.
Yeah. But often people don't let
them flower.
No. I mean, imagine seeing this
at a flower show.
Yeah, yeah. And you'd say,
"Oh, what species is this?"
Yes, yeah, it's a cabbage, mate!
It's a cabbage, mate!
Letting things go to flower
isn't just a great way
to bring extra flavours
to your plate,
it's also a chance
for some pest management -
something all veg growers need.
I let things flower, for example,
it's really, really great
for insects
and then the birds come in,
beneficial insects lay their eggs,
larvae then eat the aphids.
Yeah. This is a really clean garden,
in terms of very few pests.
Michelle has invited me to stay for
lunch, as long as we pick our own,
and there's a whole garden
to choose from.
That's land cress,
so that's a bit like watercress,
but really hot and spicy.
Ooh, you only need
a little bit of that!
Green garlic.
The full works today!
Cabbagey cress. A flower that
tastes of cabbage -
what more could you want?
That's sweet cicely.
Oh, my gosh, yeah. It's liquorice.
Yeah. It's basically like a sweet,
isn't it?
Yeah, and this is really
the star attraction here,
Cape gooseberry.
I feel like I'm Willy Wonka! Finding
these lovely little presents
throughout your garden.
Yeah, I know!
I look a bit like Willy Wonka
as well!
With a good haul,
we can get to eating,
and our salad is going to be packed
with produce we can all be growing,
whatever size space we have.
Even if you've got
a garden no bigger than
the size of this table, you can grow
heaps of salad leaves on it.
It's just like you can grow lettuce,
rocket, fennel...
Oh, lovely bit of ruby chard.
Look at that colour.
Yeah. Isn't it gorgeous?
Gonna save you
an absolute fortune!
Yeah! This is the finishing touch.
We're just going to put a little
bit of dressing on it...
And there you go.
Wow. Mm!
So many flavours going on
in there. Mm, yeah.
It's not like a salad at all,
is it? No.
It's a really nice way
of appreciating your garden,
eating healthily, just getting
the most out of your garden.
Yeah, I'm gonna take everything
I've learnt with me
and maybe try and introduce
some of this in my garden,
so thank you so much. Great.
Very welcome.
It's been a pleasure.
Back at our Hugelkultur bed,
we've built a stone wall
to secure it in place
and Nadia's going to help me plant
some produce
that will enjoy the sunny position.
These are broad beans.
I'm dividing them because if we were
to plant them all like that,
they're going to compete
with each other too much.
We've focused on perennials
like Babington leek
and wild strawberries, as they will
keep providing food
year after year.
What would you say are
the key things that I need to know
to be able to get a good crop?
I think it's great to start
with growing things that you
enjoy eating,
cos there's no point otherwise,
right? Yeah.
You want to keep the weed down
cos it competes with your plants
and then keep a close eye on pest
and disease.
Another great feature
of Hugelkultur is the capacity
to plant all over the mound,
so if you're short on space, this
will help you make the most of it.
I've tried to find things that
are a little bit more perennial...
Yep. ..so that they'll continue
year after year.
Kale is often considered as being
an annual, but the Taunton Kale,
you just continue
to just pick the leaf
and it'll keep coming back
year after year.
And then, over here, we've got
the rhubarb.
Do you eat rhubarb?
I do eat rhubarb, yeah.
Fantastic in a crumble.
It's important when you harvest
the rhubarb
to just pull the stalks down.
Like snapping it. Snap them off
and peel them off,
rather than cut them off.
If you cut them off, sometimes rot
can sort of go into the plant.
And, of course, many of the things
you grow can be eaten raw.
So those are nasturtiums,
and you can eat the leaves.
In fact, just taste that.
Quite peppery.
Yeah, it is, isn't it?
Chuck it, chuck it all in, go on.
It IS like pepper.
And the more sun it gets,
the pepperier it gets.
See that after-hit?
You're feeling it now?
Yeah, it's like... Hoo-hoo!
It is spicy!
By growing a wide variety of fruit
and veg,
you can create a kitchen garden
that will create produce
for many months.
So your strawberries,
they're already in flower,
so I'd say that's probably
going to be
one of your first harvests.
We've got lettuce as well.
Now that the weather has started
to warm up,
they're just going to completely go
for it.
And with your courgettes,
the more you harvest,
the more you get.
I didn't realise that there were
so many different fruit
and vegetables that we could grow
in our own gardens,
apart from the basics,
potatoes, carrots.
Yeah, and even if you've got a
window box, I think you can grow
something. I mean, you can certainly
grow those lovely rainbow radishes
and some Chantenay carrots.
You know, there's no reason
why you couldn't do that.
With so much to grow,
it's handy Nadia's such good friends
with next door
that they sometimes take
the fence out.
And she's not alone.
Around the country,
so many of us have been finding ways
to have fun with our neighbours.
And I want to build
something special
that will allow her
to share her produce.
So we're going to create
a drop-down bar.
We're going to take the fence
and cut it in half
and actually hinge it
and allow it to drop down
so they can share a meal,
share a drink.
You can either use the fence
you have in place or make
a fence panel or replace
the one that's already existing.
I've got the measurements between
the two posts here.
I need to cut four lengths of 3x2.
The height,
I'm gonna choose about 900mm high,
so just about waist high,
and then the top part's gonna fold
into the yard. So that's gonna
be prevented from falling forward
by a couple of bits of chain.
We have the opportunity to rethink
all the things we have in a garden.
People see a fence as a barrier,
I see it as maybe a window,
and this is going to create
a window with the neighbours,
and it really does open up
the space.
All right, that's everything cut.
All I need to do is start nailing
these to these.
So, fence panels all made.
And all that's left to do
is secure it in place.
So what I've done is I've made you
a bespoke drop-down bar.
Thank you. During lockdown, because
I'm on my own with my children,
so we cut a hole in the fence
so that we could socialise.
Sometimes we'd eat, we'd have
a takeaway. There's nothing wrong
with that. We'd have a couple of
drinks. Yeah, it were really good.
I'm going to put some chains here,
so you'll be able
to set it like this
and get some chairs underneath it.
Here it's plenty wide enough
for drinks... Definitely.
..play a card game. Maybe share
a meal with your neighbour.
It's really good having it closer
to the house as well,
it's more accessible. The kids are
going to love it as well.
Good, that's what we want.
They might start, like, growing
their own vegetables
and stuff like that.
If they're growing them themselves
as well,
maybe they might cook more.
That'd be nice!
That's wishful thinking, but yeah!
THEY LAUGH
The finishing touch to this new
fence is a coat of protection.
All I've got now to do
is mix this fence paint up.
Just add some water,
and we're good to go.
Sowing your fruit and veg at regular
intervals throughout
the growing season is
a clever way to get
a steady supply of produce,
so I'm going to show you a job
you can be doing right now.
So this time of year,
it's a really great time
to sort of start thinking about
successional planting,
cos otherwise, you know, you can get
what gardeners commonly call
a glut, so you get loads and loads
of produce all at the same time,
and in this way, you can have
a couple of plants,
then follow it with some more that
will come behind.
We've got some chard here
that's a good size,
but it's quite important to think
about what's going to follow it.
So we've also got
some chard seedlings,
and by the time those are
a little bit too woody and old,
we'll whip that one out of
the ground
and then we'll have some nice
new ones following behind.
It's just a way of ensuring that
you've got a crop constantly coming.
I'm putting in small seedling plants
but you could sow a row of seeds,
because at this time of year, chard
will be up in a matter of weeks.
You can do it with all sorts of
things. I do it with carrots
and radish. They grow so quickly,
so it makes a lot of sense
to sort of stagger that -
two-week intervals
you sort of sow some more,
and you can keep that going
throughout the growing season,
really, and when you're thinking
about growing for a family,
you want a wide variety of produce
so that you're not just eating chard
for weeks on end.
You've got
lots of different things coming,
and this way
you just get to eat fresh
for a longer period of time,
which is ideal.
Still to come,
we discover why Scarlett Moffatt is
buzzing about her garden.
I'd love to be a bee-er.
I don't know the proper, like,
name for them bee people.
Beekeepers - that's it!
And I'll be showing you how
sacrificial planting
can keep you and the pests happy.
At best, you're gonna protect
your courgette
and you will also get a harvest
of some fantastic lettuce.
Across the country, we're loving
our gardens more than ever before.
I'm going to make tea with
the herbs from our balcony garden.
I have mint,
yarrow
and lemon balm,
and we're good to go.
Back in Bradford,
we're working hard to turn
the Stewarts' unused plot
into a bountiful back yard.
The lettuce leaf is nice
and juicy and soft and lush.
This location has
so much nature on its doorstep,
and welcoming wildlife into
our garden is something
we all need to be doing,
plus it's so easy.
I'm just looking
to see if there's any possibility
that we'll get hedgehogs around
here. There's a lot evidence
to say that hedgehogs are moving
from these rural areas
to semi-rural areas.
It's part of what's happening
with modern agriculture.
In recent years,
intensive farming techniques
and urbanisation have contributed
to a loss of habitat in rural areas,
making it difficult
for hedgehogs to navigate,
find food and hibernate.
If you imagine being a hedgehog
for a moment,
you've got to go
all the way out into the driveway
and back into a garden,
back out again.
It's not a natural path.
But there is a way we can all be
doing our bit,
and it's a great little
community project
that doesn't take much effort.
And it's just such
a really simple thing to do,
to cut a hole in your fence
and then if we can talk our
neighbours into doing it
and potentially spread the word
and create this route through
that the hedgehogs can use
and thereby just reverting
to the way
that they would have lived
in the past.
And don't forget,
hedgehogs are beneficial to us.
They're going to be feeding
on these slugs
which are the bane of many
gardeners' lives,
but it's a much more successful way
of having a healthy garden
is to allow natural predators
to be doing this work
so that we don't use chemicals.
To make your own hedgehog highway,
just grab yourself a spade,
a saw and a tape measure.
Once you've found, erm,
a route in for the hedgehog,
next you need to provide access
to your own garden.
We only need 13cm for a hedgehog.
I'm going to chop this section out,
which won't damage the fence at all.
And that's going to be enough
for the hedgehog to pass through.
I'm going to do a little sign
for this,
saying "Hedgehog Highway",
so the hedgehog knows
which way to go.
Job's a good 'un.
Inviting hedgehogs in
isn't the only natural way we can
protect our crops.
With some clever planting,
it's possible to grow enough
to satisfy everyone.
We want to live in harmony
with nature,
and sort of having that attitude,
it's a much more enjoyable way
of gardening,
otherwise you can view
the garden as a battleground
and then you're much more inclined
to reach
for pesticides and chemicals.
But we know that they're bad for
the environment.
The common blue slug pellets,
containing metaldehyde,
are now completely
illegal in this country,
so we have to be considering
other ways
that we can manage pests
and disease.
One interesting way is
to sort of plant sacrificial plants.
We've grown here a courgette plant
and so the idea is that we're going
to sort of encircle
the courgette plant
with some lettuce
in the hope that
the slugs will eat the lettuce
before they eat the courgette.
Of course, there is
a risk that you could lose the lot.
HE LAUGHS
But sometimes you just have
to take those losses.
At best, you're going to protect
your courgette
and you will also get
a harvest of some fantastic lettuce.
It's basically booby traps
to protect my plants,
you know, to make sure I get a crop.
Out front, I'm adding a coat of
protection to the benches
for the seating area,
which is going to have pride
of place in the garden.
And along the rear fence line
we've added another drop-down panel
to allow Nadia to keep her privacy
but also have the option
to enjoy her view.
Just get this bench in place.
Ah, look at that.
This I just made out some oak
sleepers I cut down,
so it's still green oak,
so it will dry out in the sun.
It's going to crack,
it's going to weather,
cos I want it to kind of, you know,
settle in the landscape,
if you will. It goes nice against
the black base, doesn't it?
It's a nice contrast to the red
and the green.
I love it, Bruce.
You can literally reach over,
can't you?
Grab a strawberry.
Yeah, and just tuck in.
Nurturing new growth has made more
and more of us turn to our gardens.
What have you planted, Seb?
Courgettes.
And for some, it's a new discovery.
Hi, I'm Scarlett Moffatt and I'm
part of the garden revolution.
This is like... Well, we call it
our summerhouse,
but it's not really a house,
cos you can still get rained on
and the birds still like
to leave you little treats.
During lockdown, me and Scott,
my boyfriend,
we just, like,
we just became green-fingered.
We absolutely love it!
This is my proudest
gardening achievement.
This old horse trough was getting
thrown out by our neighbour
and I seen it in the skip
and I was, like,
"You can't throw that out!"
So we changed all the wood,
we treated it, we lined it,
and then we got all of these
beautiful, lovely flowers.
We've only lived here a year
but we're hoping to just keep
putting, like, loads
of native trees, so birch trees,
hawthorns, hazels,
so it's all in keeping with the
village,
and just plant them everywhere.
I'm going to say
I'm more of a novice.
I do like to, like, ask my
nanny and pappy for advice,
cos they're keen gardeners,
and I try, you know.
As any craftsman,
I'm still learning my art!
SHE LAUGHS
These are my special bee gloves -
got to love the bees.
You can still make
gardening fashionable.
You can still do it with some bee
gloves and a little white blazer!
I think there is this new craze now
about people, like,
growing their own herbs and flowers
and vegetables,
and it's, yeah, it's become
like a cool thing,
whereas I think, before, if someone
said they grew their own vegetables,
like me dad, for example,
I'd just instantly think
of an old man at an allotment.
I've got my little,
tiny insect house here
and, like, these are all bushes
that bees love.
I'd love to be a bee-er.
I don't know the proper, like, name
for them bee people.
Beekeepers - that's it!
And going out and being like, "Oh,
I've got fresh honey for the toast!"
I'd love that - that's the dream.
This is me till I die now.
I'm a gardener.
And whenever I'm back from filming
or whatever I'm doing,
this is where I like
to spend most of my time.
No point in having a house, really.
I'd camp out here!
The garden revolution is gripping
the country
and we're loving growing our own.
Oh, the crunch. It's so sweet.
So use the hashtag
if you're joining in.
A little green plant.
As the garden revolution
continues throughout the UK,
we're making the most
of our outdoor spaces.
In Bradford, we're creating
a grow-your-own garden
packed full of delicious
fruit and veg.
They used to have wall-to-wall turf,
but I want to show you
an alternative to grass
that's a more sustainable way
of creating a lawn.
We obsess sometimes in this country
over our lawns, don't we?
Mowing it two or three times a week.
You know, get rid of any
other plant that's in the lawn.
But really what we're creating is
a monoculture
that is really not good
for wildlife at all.
So I've decided to make
an edible lawn in this area.
And the great thing about it is
it can be mown and walked on
like a regular lawn
but it offers so much more.
I've just chosen
a few of my very favourites.
These are violets.
They're great ground cover,
so they're gonna stop
any unwanted plants.
I use lemon balm a lot to make teas,
but it can quite easily be used in
things like desserts, on ice cream,
in custard, things like that.
I'm gonna plant these
reasonably tight together
and eventually there won't be
any gaps between them.
Mmm.
That is lovely!
I will polish this off in no time.
Most of the plants are in
but there's just enough space for
this beautiful, versatile perennial.
This is myrtle. Myrtle communis.
It's one of my favourite shrubs -
absolutely stunning plant.
It's from Europe and North Africa.
Perfectly hardy over here.
It can cope with
a little bit of dappled light.
It just wants some
free-draining soil at the base,
nothing too wet and claggy.
It's a pretty easy,
trouble-free plant
that's gonna give you a lot of joy.
In Greek mythology,
apparently if a farmer saw this
plant or the blossom in his dreams,
it was auspicious,
so really good luck.
Renowned for
its herbal menthol fragrance,
the oil's considered good
at relieving respiratory conditions.
You get a beautiful flower that sort
of the pollinators absolutely love
and they're followed by a blue-black
berry that's really ornamental.
You can eat the berries.
Italians have a long history
of using the berries
to create a deliciously
herbal liqueur.
This is some myrtle syrup
that I made.
It makes a fantastic cocktail,
absolutely delicious.
I think that Nadia,
she's got some grown-up kids,
and that's a way to get the older
kids sort of into gardening.
You know, if they can get
an alcoholic drink out of it,
they're quids in!
HE LAUGHS
And at the end of a great project,
it would be rude not to indulge
in a well-earned cocktail
for ourselves.
It's all in homage to the myrtle.
You get some gin here.
There you go.
Right, and the final flourish -
a little strawberry flower. OK.
Cheers, guys. Cheers. Cheers.
To another great garden.
To another job well done.
Oh! That's delicious. Isn't it?
That's pretty good, eh?
That is the business.
ERROL LAUGHS
Maybe if this gardening thing
doesn't work out,
get a job as a bartender.
Two days ago,
Nadia's garden was an unused plot
with no access to
the neighbouring countryside views.
This family wanted a place
they could all socialise in
and space to grow
their own kitchen garden.
Now this back yard is transformed...
..into a wildlife haven
with edibles for everyone.
The brightly-painted pergola
has created a shelter
for Mia to enjoy valuable time
outside with her family.
The Hugelkultur bed and edible layer
garden are planted up with produce,
making the most of
every inch of growing space,
whether it's sunny or shady.
And the drop-down fence means
they can share it
with their neighbours,
while sitting at
their handmade table,
enjoying that stunning
Yorkshire scenery.
I'm feeling amazed that
all this has been able to fit
into my garden. I'm really excited.
I'm gonna enjoy growing all
my own fruit and vegetables
and being able to
use them in cooking
and it will be nice if I could
just save a little bit of money
here and there and use it
for other important things.
I love this garden because
it's perfect for this family.
It's gonna introduce them
to growing their own vegetables,
growing their own produce,
and hopefully that's going to be
a gateway into gardening as a whole.
I'll just use me hands.
I'll have to get used
to getting them dirty, won't I?
True gardener!
Growing your own vegetables and
fruit are important because
you know where it's come from, you
know everything that's gone into it,
and they're able to do that now
and it's been
an amazing garden to be a part of.
Cheers.
Cheers, Mia. Cheers. Chin!
I can't believe
how different it looks.
I like that little corner
as well for Mia,
so she doesn't have to go in
all the time when we're outside.
Dylan and Mia, they're excited about
what they've been helping us with
in the garden, and I know that
Nadia is really excited
about cooking
with some of the produce,
and once you've grown it
with your own hands,
you're gonna be hooked.
You're gonna come back each year
and be excited about growing again.
Lovely tomatoes
in there for you, Mia. OK.
There you go. Thanks, Mum.
I'm really excited for the future.
I'm excited to be able
to add things into the garden
and I'll be able to talk
with my children
and see what other things
they like eating
and I'll definitely be planting
a few more extra things.
Take a bit of that leaf
and taste it.
Wow. Ain't it?
Yeah, it's quite surprising
actually. It's nice, though.
You know, I would encourage
everyone to grow.
Get out there this weekend.
It doesn't really matter
how much space you've got,
always grow produce.
And maybe you could try
something a little bit unusual,
because there's so much
you can do out there.
You know, the possibilities
are endless.
Next time...
One, two, three. Ah, it's a beast.
..we're all about
inviting wildlife into our gardens
as we head to Stockport.
Ooh, it's nice.
Having a little paddle.
We build some five-star luxury
to welcome in the wildlife.
Ooh, hello.
Already got
a little fellow moving in.
We give you tips on how
to increase your plant collection.
And we've got two
decent-sized pieces.
And we get creative
with beautiful, bespoke builds.
Something natural. Kind of ties in
with everything we've got going on.
Ooh, do you know what?
That's the one.
..and there's a garden revolution
sweeping the nation.
Once you start gardening,
it stays with you
for the rest of your life.
Does anyone like radish?
Spring is here, winter's over -
get involved,
get immersed
in the experience of the garden.
So we want to invite you
to join in...
Just go for it, enjoy it
and put your stamp on it.
..inspiring you
with possibilities...
Nature's the most beautiful thing
of all.
..and totally transforming
our ordinary gardens.
How cool is this?!
We'll be sharing tips and tricks...
You should all grow
this tomato, seriously.
..and the jobs to do right now.
Over the next few weeks, we're gonna
be meeting fellow revolutionaries...
..people who think along
the same lines as us.
You can still make
gardening fashionable.
Yes, in fact there is -
yes, look, there's a lemon!
So wherever you are,
with whatever you have,
it's time to join
the garden revolution.
At this time of year,
so many of you are getting produce
in the ground,
so this weekend we're exploring
gardens where we can grow our own.
This is our greenhouse, and we're
making lots of vegetables!
In Bradford we're turning
an unutilised plot into
an edible haven.
I love that these are all plants
that we're not necessarily used to.
We'll show you a great way
to look after your produce
with natural pest management.
It's basically booby traps
to protect my plants.
We'll discover how
to welcome in useful predators.
I'm going to do a little sign so
the hedgehog knows which way to go.
And we're making
the ultimate outdoor eating area
in a prime location in the garden.
It will allow them to take in
this beautiful scenery
that they're blessed with having.
What more could you ask for?
And TV personality Scarlett Moffatt
confesses all.
This is where I like
to spend most of me time.
No point in having a house, really.
I'd camp out here.
We're never happier than when
we're encouraging people
to get out there and grow their own.
Once you start gardening,
it stays with you for
the rest of your life.
That's what's comforting about it,
to have something in your life
that you will never,
ever get to the end of.
It becomes more of a companion
than a task.
For me, the garden is
the most valuable space
in the house, because it has
the potential to bring
the most happiness.
I mean, I'll never be done
with gardening!
When you have your hands in soil
or you're concentrating on
sowing some seeds,
you're completely removed
from everything else
that might be going on in your life.
It can transport you
to a different place.
What's in a garden isn't always
defined by the plants.
I think it's also defined
by the aesthetic and the design of
the furniture.
I think there's a good symbiotic
relationship between the two things,
that a good garden has both.
This week, we're going to help
a family from Bradford
start out on their gardening
journey - the Stewarts.
My name is Nadia. I'm from Bradford.
I'm 44, I'm Mum, and I'm a carer
for my daughter
and the dog and my son...
..and anybody who walks in...
And the house! And the house!
They live on a new-build
housing estate
and their garden is a simple
grass plot
concealed from
the neighbouring countryside.
I've lived here
for around seven years since
the house was first built
and I've never done anything
in the garden
because I just don't know where
to start with it.
It has so much potential,
so every time I look at it,
I feel, like, a bit disappointed
in it
and in my skill levels.
With the rising cost of living, like
many families around the country,
the Stewarts like the idea of
utilising their garden.
It'd be really nice if we could
almost get
a level of sustainability going.
You know, maybe somewhere
we could plant fruit and veg,
a little area
or something as such.
As well as wanting space
to grow produce,
Nadia's daughter Mia needs a
sheltered haven for protection.
I can't really go outside
and enjoy the garden
because it's too sunny.
I have oculocutaneous albinism,
which means I have no colour
in my skin,
eyes and hair,
so I burn really easily
and why I can't see very well
and why the sun hurts my eyes,
so it'd be nice to have some shade
so I can go outside
and enjoy the garden with everyone.
The Stewarts aren't the only ones
who want to grow their own.
I'm trying to pack in as many
vegetables as I can
by growing them in containers.
So if you want to share what you've
been up to,
use the hashtag "garden revolution".
We're getting straight down
to business, and designing
an easy-to-maintain, grow-your-own
garden for the Stewart family.
This week's all about growing
your own food.
Actually, it was
a way into gardening for me
because it's so simple to do.
The garden currently is a really
familiar garden
that I come across all the time.
It's basically just grass,
so firstly we want to try
and create some shade
because of Mia's health condition,
and then we want to cram edible
produce into that garden.
There's something just
so special about planting
the seeds, nurturing a plant,
and eating your own produce.
It just doesn't get any better
than that.
We've created a plan for this garden
that will enable them
to grow their own produce
in a space where the whole family
can socialise outdoors.
The focal point is
a colour-contrasting pergola
which provides shade over a seating
area that looks out
over the breathtaking
Yorkshire countryside.
I'm using a special technique
called Hugelkultur
that uses garden waste that was
destined for landfill
to maximise edible planting space.
There'll be an edible layer garden
with produce
the family can cook with and enjoy.
And I'm building a drop-down fence
so it can be shared with Nadia's
best friend, who lives next door.
We think this design is going to
really give them what they need
to get started on
their gardening journey,
and these ideas will work
in almost any garden,
so you can be outside this weekend
trying it yourself.
I think if you can learn or discover
how you can grow
some of these things at home,
it just adds to the experience
of life in general.
Like so many gardens,
Nadia's has a shady side,
but that shouldn't stop you from
growing edibles.
I have an ingenious way of planting,
and this apple tree is
going to sit at its heart.
So, OK, Dylan, so we've got this
apple tree. It's a Blenheim Orange.
Mm-hm.
What we've designed for you here is
an edible layer garden.
To create a garden like this,
you will need to think about
a canopy layer above,
a shrub layer...
So, for example, here we've got this
Arbutus unedo.
They call it the strawberry tree.
There's some little fruits
developing on that.
..and ground cover...
Things like chard and spinach.
..and the right plants can create
an ecosystem that will sustain
itself without too much work.
Are they all things that are pretty
easy to grow, then,
for a beginner or...?
Oh, absolutely.
I think they're generally
relatively low-maintenance.
I think there'll always be
a little bit of weeding.
Yes, Dylan.
Is that going to be your job, Dylan?
Most definitely, I'd imagine so.
Growing in layers echoes planting
that exists in nature.
You might have encountered it
in forests,
where many species work in harmony
and thrive on the combination
of moist soil and dappled light.
If your soil has
a quite heavy clay content,
by breaking up the outer section,
it means that the roots of the tree
will be able to spread out.
Oh, I've got you.
A good tip for knowing how deep
to plant a tree
is to measure with a spade.
The correct depth will be
the same depth as
the tree is planted in
at the moment. Yeah. Mm-hm.
That looks about right.
Packing in edible varieties is
a great introduction
if you're looking to get more
from your space.
Why did you decide to grow your own
veg? What got you interested?
I really enjoy cooking
and I've always wanted
to know more about growing my
own things
and being a little bit
more self-sufficient.
And then when the cost
of living went so high,
I thought to myself, "Well, this is
probably a perfect time to try."
Brilliant. Well, we're doing it now.
We are.
The benefit of planting
a mature tree like this
is that you've instantly got
that canopy above. Yeah.
That's gonna be casting some shade
and that's gonna be useful
for the plants that we're growing
beneath it.
It'll be really good, as well,
to have some extra shade
in the garden for Mia, so when she
walks through the garden,
she can go from shade to shade
instead of just being out
in the brightness all the time.
Yeah, lovely. Yeah.
Yeah, she'll love it.
While some of the garden will be
exposed to full sun,
which is great for lots of
the plants we'll be adding,
I'm giving Mia
a sheltered destination.
It's just like
a normal pergola, really.
Putting these roof joists up.
Where you're standing now, there's
going to be a roof over all of this.
I'm going to put some batten
behind you on them walls,
so I'm just trying
to block all that sunlight.
Do you think it's going
to be a good idea?
Yeah, I think it'll be good cos
then I'll get to sit in the shade
and spend time with everyone
out in the garden
whenever I want and don't have
to wait for the sun to move.
The other idea I thought was
we wanted to get
a little bit of colour in.
Do you find that easier to see?
Yeah, it's easier to see
if it, like, contrasts well.
Well, that's sort
of the plan, really.
Although it's practical,
it's a good excuse to try
and get some brightness in there.
A bit of colour, a bit of joy.
You got it? Yeah.
To complete the outdoor eating area,
we're gonna need something stylish
but functional for the family
to sit at.
Hey, buddy, how you doing?
Yo, Bruce.
Nice lightweight table
you've made there! Yeah!
And the man for the job is our
carpentry wizard Bruce Kenneth.
The seating area's absolutely
crucial in a back garden.
It's the first thing you should be
thinking about.
Just like when you put your TV in
your house and your couch,
it's the same idea. You want to be
able to sit in the seating area,
look out on the garden,
all the hard work you've done
and appreciate it,
and I think if those two things are
done right,
you can spend many, many hours
outside enjoying it.
The design of the table is a nice,
modern aesthetic.
It's geometric, kind of angular.
I went with a steel base
because I wanted to kind of contrast
the oak tops that I've made.
As this ages and weathers, it will
actually look better.
The imperfections actually
enhance its character.
I'm painting it to give it
a layer of protection.
I don't want it rusting all over
the new deck that we're putting in.
We want to entice the family
out more to eat
and enjoy
the fruits of their labour,
and this is the perfect thing
for them,
so that it'll allow them to take
in the nature,
take in this beautiful scenery that
they're blessed with having.
A gorgeous day like today,
what more could you ask for?
With the pergola constructed, I've
enlisted Bruce's painting skills
to add a touch of colour.
It is bright, isn't it?
It is bright.
This is a great way to highlight
any area in your garden,
and it's clearer for Mia to see.
So why red, Joel?
Ah, because red is
the colour contrast of green.
OK. The theory is if you choose
colours opposite each other
on the colour wheel, they're both
going to accentuate each other.
We're also painting the fence green
so the pergola contrasts
with more than just the plants.
Using opposing colours is a
clever trick employed by designers,
but it's all around us in
the natural world.
The reason fruit is red is cos it
contrasts so well with green.
You know, it's evolved
so it's easy to see,
creatures can eat that fruit.
And also Mia sees the colour
contrasts, you know, a lot easier.
Yes. It's different.
I like it, you know.
It's making a statement, for sure.
If you're confused or scared
about choosing colours,
it's a good idea to get yourself
a colour wheel
to help visualise your options.
And also the colours that are
directly next to each other
are gonna go really well,
so think of orange going into red.
Orange to yellow kind of thing.
Yeah.
On the new decking,
I'm adding a darker shade to make
the greenery stand out.
Just using a bit of stain,
because I want to take this decking
down a little bit,
give it a more natural look,
the colour of soil or something.
It feels a bit more like the plants
do the talking then.
You don't want to be distracted
by looking down at something bright.
With the upper canopy
and shrub layer in place,
I've drafted in Joel
to help me fill in the rest of
the edible layer garden
with plants that can tolerate moist,
shady conditions.
So we're getting in
the herbaceous layer.
So we're getting in
the bits that sit at the bottom.
Oh, and I love that these are all
plants that we're not necessarily
used to, Errol.
Absolutely. We've got some really
interesting things.
We've this kiwi, which will go
up the pergola and fruit.
Chaenomeles, generally grown
for its flower,
but you get like a small
quince fruit that's edible.
You can cook it up with pork
or you can turn it into a jam.
Absolutely delicious.
You know, it doesn't just
need to be carrots, spinach...
Yeah. ..courgettes. Yeah,
it's a great way to start, isn't it?
But you soon sort of branch out.
Yeah, and, you know, if you've got
an area of the garden
that's a little bit shadier,
you might struggle with some of
those traditional edibles,
like cucumbers that want
all the sun. Yeah, yeah.
But things like
cob nuts, strawberries,
the wild garlic,
you know, you still can harvest some
produce from your garden.
If you're growing your own
for the first time,
don't think that it has
to be rows of veg.
It can be beautiful and natural too.
You've got the blossom and all
the different types of foliage.
Then it's gonna change through
the seasons,
cos it's, you know, a lot of the
shrub and trees are deciduous,
so you've got lovely autumn colour
as well. Plenty of food and forage
for birds and animals.
Gonna be brilliant. Yeah.
I love this
kind of gardening, Errol.
I've got a soft spot for it.
It tastes better, it's cheaper.
Better for your health. Zero food
miles, better for the environment.
Yeah, I couldn't agree more, Joel.
Sharing gardening with people
who are new to gardening
is an absolute privilege.
We're setting them off
on their gardening journey. Yeah.
Still to come, we'll show you
how to get fruit and veg
for the whole growing season.
It's just a way of ensuring that
you've got a crop constantly coming.
And I create a space for the bounty
of food to be enjoyed and shared.
I've made you
a bespoke drop-down bar.
Across the UK, more and more of us
are finding the joy
of planting crops
and harvesting the fruits
of our labour.
Cheeky chops!
This week, we're all about
grow-your-own gardens,
and in Bradford, we're creating
a foodie haven
packed full of fruit and veg.
Taken from the German word for hill,
Hugelkultur creates growing areas
with a difference.
They hold moisture,
build in fertility
and, importantly,
maximise surface area for planting.
First we need to,
yeah, dig a trench,
get these logs in
and then build up slowly.
They're made by creating a mound
with unwanted natural materials
that might otherwise
end up in landfill.
Why would you go
to all of this effort
and not just put
a normal raised bed in?
Essentially, this method
saves you a lot of bother.
You've built in your nutrients
into the bed,
and therefore you don't necessarily
need to do so much
in the way of mulching
or putting in nutrients
as you go each year.
It's slowly breaking down.
So it's like storing energy,
a bit like a battery or something.
I think that's quite
a good analogy, actually.
If you want your Hugelkultur bed
to be efficient over time,
you need to build up each layer
with different materials.
Those closest to the surface
need to break down faster to allow
the roots of plants to access
the nutrients.
We're putting the timbers
that are most recently cut,
so the ones that aren't quite
breaking down yet.
They go into the base
and they become like a furnace
buried deep in the ground
and they're going
to absorb moisture,
they're going to slowly break down
and release that moisture
and nutrients back.
And that's the big one
for you there, though.
Yeah, I saw that.
Tactically took the little ones!
It's important to avoid including
anything that might have been
treated, as chemicals prevent
materials breaking down
and could be harmful to yourself
and to the environment.
Really, a Hugelkultur bed is
probably good
for about, I'd say,
three to five years.
Yeah. And then you might
want to think about redoing it.
If you don't have these materials
readily available,
you should avoid collecting
them from a forest,
as this would disturb
natural ecosystems.
Instead, you could ask
a tree surgeon,
see if your mates are throwing
anything out
or, if you're doing any
work in the garden, keep a log pile.
If you think about composting,
composting requires sort of like
layers... Mm. It's very similar.
..of nitrogen and carbon.
Yeah. There's your green layers,
your brown layers and that's
essentially what we've created here.
Yeah.
We then invert the turf
we dug up earlier,
add a layer of mulch,
give it a drink of water
to get some moisture in,
and finish off with some compost
and top soil.
In terms of watering... Yeah.
..because you've got that reservoir
of logs that are going to absorb
lots of moisture and release that
back out into the soil,
you'll find that actually
you probably won't need
to water as much.
And, of course,
all of this means less work,
and the more time I can spend
sipping Pimm's
and tending to me tomatoes,
the better.
To discover how
fellow revolutionaries
are growing their own,
I've come to Wales
to meet Michelle Fitzsimmons,
who has spearheaded a movement
which rejects some of
the old rules of veg planting.
You've got flowers
and you've got edibles.
Yeah. And doesn't it look lovely?
It's what I call
an edible landscape.
Growing lots of things to eat,
but a more relaxed approach to it.
Whether it's a classic flowerbed,
a woodland path or a few spare pots,
Michelle has set out to prove
that they can all be packed
full of things we can eat.
This produce is not in straight
lines, in straight rows.
No, no. I mean, people do natural
flower areas,
so why not do natural
vegetable areas?
So this area here
is a self-seeding area.
Got cabbage-type plants,
brassicas, chard,
random things like fennel.
The way you've got these wild leeks
coming out from the geraniums. Yeah.
Historically, produce and decorative
flowers have been kept separate,
one for feeding
and one for aesthetics,
but edible landscapes revolutionised
the idea that veg plots
aren't pretty.
Traditionally, if they've got
a veggie patch, they put it
right at the end of
the garden, out of sight,
cos it's the ugly bit, you know?
You can actually make veggies
and salads
and all sorts of things look
really lovely.
Now, you might think that growing
an edible landscape doesn't allow
for beautiful flowers,
but Michelle takes
a more relaxed approach to her veg,
leading to some beautiful results.
The foliage of some
of these crops is really lovely.
Yeah. But often people don't let
them flower.
No. I mean, imagine seeing this
at a flower show.
Yeah, yeah. And you'd say,
"Oh, what species is this?"
Yes, yeah, it's a cabbage, mate!
It's a cabbage, mate!
Letting things go to flower
isn't just a great way
to bring extra flavours
to your plate,
it's also a chance
for some pest management -
something all veg growers need.
I let things flower, for example,
it's really, really great
for insects
and then the birds come in,
beneficial insects lay their eggs,
larvae then eat the aphids.
Yeah. This is a really clean garden,
in terms of very few pests.
Michelle has invited me to stay for
lunch, as long as we pick our own,
and there's a whole garden
to choose from.
That's land cress,
so that's a bit like watercress,
but really hot and spicy.
Ooh, you only need
a little bit of that!
Green garlic.
The full works today!
Cabbagey cress. A flower that
tastes of cabbage -
what more could you want?
That's sweet cicely.
Oh, my gosh, yeah. It's liquorice.
Yeah. It's basically like a sweet,
isn't it?
Yeah, and this is really
the star attraction here,
Cape gooseberry.
I feel like I'm Willy Wonka! Finding
these lovely little presents
throughout your garden.
Yeah, I know!
I look a bit like Willy Wonka
as well!
With a good haul,
we can get to eating,
and our salad is going to be packed
with produce we can all be growing,
whatever size space we have.
Even if you've got
a garden no bigger than
the size of this table, you can grow
heaps of salad leaves on it.
It's just like you can grow lettuce,
rocket, fennel...
Oh, lovely bit of ruby chard.
Look at that colour.
Yeah. Isn't it gorgeous?
Gonna save you
an absolute fortune!
Yeah! This is the finishing touch.
We're just going to put a little
bit of dressing on it...
And there you go.
Wow. Mm!
So many flavours going on
in there. Mm, yeah.
It's not like a salad at all,
is it? No.
It's a really nice way
of appreciating your garden,
eating healthily, just getting
the most out of your garden.
Yeah, I'm gonna take everything
I've learnt with me
and maybe try and introduce
some of this in my garden,
so thank you so much. Great.
Very welcome.
It's been a pleasure.
Back at our Hugelkultur bed,
we've built a stone wall
to secure it in place
and Nadia's going to help me plant
some produce
that will enjoy the sunny position.
These are broad beans.
I'm dividing them because if we were
to plant them all like that,
they're going to compete
with each other too much.
We've focused on perennials
like Babington leek
and wild strawberries, as they will
keep providing food
year after year.
What would you say are
the key things that I need to know
to be able to get a good crop?
I think it's great to start
with growing things that you
enjoy eating,
cos there's no point otherwise,
right? Yeah.
You want to keep the weed down
cos it competes with your plants
and then keep a close eye on pest
and disease.
Another great feature
of Hugelkultur is the capacity
to plant all over the mound,
so if you're short on space, this
will help you make the most of it.
I've tried to find things that
are a little bit more perennial...
Yep. ..so that they'll continue
year after year.
Kale is often considered as being
an annual, but the Taunton Kale,
you just continue
to just pick the leaf
and it'll keep coming back
year after year.
And then, over here, we've got
the rhubarb.
Do you eat rhubarb?
I do eat rhubarb, yeah.
Fantastic in a crumble.
It's important when you harvest
the rhubarb
to just pull the stalks down.
Like snapping it. Snap them off
and peel them off,
rather than cut them off.
If you cut them off, sometimes rot
can sort of go into the plant.
And, of course, many of the things
you grow can be eaten raw.
So those are nasturtiums,
and you can eat the leaves.
In fact, just taste that.
Quite peppery.
Yeah, it is, isn't it?
Chuck it, chuck it all in, go on.
It IS like pepper.
And the more sun it gets,
the pepperier it gets.
See that after-hit?
You're feeling it now?
Yeah, it's like... Hoo-hoo!
It is spicy!
By growing a wide variety of fruit
and veg,
you can create a kitchen garden
that will create produce
for many months.
So your strawberries,
they're already in flower,
so I'd say that's probably
going to be
one of your first harvests.
We've got lettuce as well.
Now that the weather has started
to warm up,
they're just going to completely go
for it.
And with your courgettes,
the more you harvest,
the more you get.
I didn't realise that there were
so many different fruit
and vegetables that we could grow
in our own gardens,
apart from the basics,
potatoes, carrots.
Yeah, and even if you've got a
window box, I think you can grow
something. I mean, you can certainly
grow those lovely rainbow radishes
and some Chantenay carrots.
You know, there's no reason
why you couldn't do that.
With so much to grow,
it's handy Nadia's such good friends
with next door
that they sometimes take
the fence out.
And she's not alone.
Around the country,
so many of us have been finding ways
to have fun with our neighbours.
And I want to build
something special
that will allow her
to share her produce.
So we're going to create
a drop-down bar.
We're going to take the fence
and cut it in half
and actually hinge it
and allow it to drop down
so they can share a meal,
share a drink.
You can either use the fence
you have in place or make
a fence panel or replace
the one that's already existing.
I've got the measurements between
the two posts here.
I need to cut four lengths of 3x2.
The height,
I'm gonna choose about 900mm high,
so just about waist high,
and then the top part's gonna fold
into the yard. So that's gonna
be prevented from falling forward
by a couple of bits of chain.
We have the opportunity to rethink
all the things we have in a garden.
People see a fence as a barrier,
I see it as maybe a window,
and this is going to create
a window with the neighbours,
and it really does open up
the space.
All right, that's everything cut.
All I need to do is start nailing
these to these.
So, fence panels all made.
And all that's left to do
is secure it in place.
So what I've done is I've made you
a bespoke drop-down bar.
Thank you. During lockdown, because
I'm on my own with my children,
so we cut a hole in the fence
so that we could socialise.
Sometimes we'd eat, we'd have
a takeaway. There's nothing wrong
with that. We'd have a couple of
drinks. Yeah, it were really good.
I'm going to put some chains here,
so you'll be able
to set it like this
and get some chairs underneath it.
Here it's plenty wide enough
for drinks... Definitely.
..play a card game. Maybe share
a meal with your neighbour.
It's really good having it closer
to the house as well,
it's more accessible. The kids are
going to love it as well.
Good, that's what we want.
They might start, like, growing
their own vegetables
and stuff like that.
If they're growing them themselves
as well,
maybe they might cook more.
That'd be nice!
That's wishful thinking, but yeah!
THEY LAUGH
The finishing touch to this new
fence is a coat of protection.
All I've got now to do
is mix this fence paint up.
Just add some water,
and we're good to go.
Sowing your fruit and veg at regular
intervals throughout
the growing season is
a clever way to get
a steady supply of produce,
so I'm going to show you a job
you can be doing right now.
So this time of year,
it's a really great time
to sort of start thinking about
successional planting,
cos otherwise, you know, you can get
what gardeners commonly call
a glut, so you get loads and loads
of produce all at the same time,
and in this way, you can have
a couple of plants,
then follow it with some more that
will come behind.
We've got some chard here
that's a good size,
but it's quite important to think
about what's going to follow it.
So we've also got
some chard seedlings,
and by the time those are
a little bit too woody and old,
we'll whip that one out of
the ground
and then we'll have some nice
new ones following behind.
It's just a way of ensuring that
you've got a crop constantly coming.
I'm putting in small seedling plants
but you could sow a row of seeds,
because at this time of year, chard
will be up in a matter of weeks.
You can do it with all sorts of
things. I do it with carrots
and radish. They grow so quickly,
so it makes a lot of sense
to sort of stagger that -
two-week intervals
you sort of sow some more,
and you can keep that going
throughout the growing season,
really, and when you're thinking
about growing for a family,
you want a wide variety of produce
so that you're not just eating chard
for weeks on end.
You've got
lots of different things coming,
and this way
you just get to eat fresh
for a longer period of time,
which is ideal.
Still to come,
we discover why Scarlett Moffatt is
buzzing about her garden.
I'd love to be a bee-er.
I don't know the proper, like,
name for them bee people.
Beekeepers - that's it!
And I'll be showing you how
sacrificial planting
can keep you and the pests happy.
At best, you're gonna protect
your courgette
and you will also get a harvest
of some fantastic lettuce.
Across the country, we're loving
our gardens more than ever before.
I'm going to make tea with
the herbs from our balcony garden.
I have mint,
yarrow
and lemon balm,
and we're good to go.
Back in Bradford,
we're working hard to turn
the Stewarts' unused plot
into a bountiful back yard.
The lettuce leaf is nice
and juicy and soft and lush.
This location has
so much nature on its doorstep,
and welcoming wildlife into
our garden is something
we all need to be doing,
plus it's so easy.
I'm just looking
to see if there's any possibility
that we'll get hedgehogs around
here. There's a lot evidence
to say that hedgehogs are moving
from these rural areas
to semi-rural areas.
It's part of what's happening
with modern agriculture.
In recent years,
intensive farming techniques
and urbanisation have contributed
to a loss of habitat in rural areas,
making it difficult
for hedgehogs to navigate,
find food and hibernate.
If you imagine being a hedgehog
for a moment,
you've got to go
all the way out into the driveway
and back into a garden,
back out again.
It's not a natural path.
But there is a way we can all be
doing our bit,
and it's a great little
community project
that doesn't take much effort.
And it's just such
a really simple thing to do,
to cut a hole in your fence
and then if we can talk our
neighbours into doing it
and potentially spread the word
and create this route through
that the hedgehogs can use
and thereby just reverting
to the way
that they would have lived
in the past.
And don't forget,
hedgehogs are beneficial to us.
They're going to be feeding
on these slugs
which are the bane of many
gardeners' lives,
but it's a much more successful way
of having a healthy garden
is to allow natural predators
to be doing this work
so that we don't use chemicals.
To make your own hedgehog highway,
just grab yourself a spade,
a saw and a tape measure.
Once you've found, erm,
a route in for the hedgehog,
next you need to provide access
to your own garden.
We only need 13cm for a hedgehog.
I'm going to chop this section out,
which won't damage the fence at all.
And that's going to be enough
for the hedgehog to pass through.
I'm going to do a little sign
for this,
saying "Hedgehog Highway",
so the hedgehog knows
which way to go.
Job's a good 'un.
Inviting hedgehogs in
isn't the only natural way we can
protect our crops.
With some clever planting,
it's possible to grow enough
to satisfy everyone.
We want to live in harmony
with nature,
and sort of having that attitude,
it's a much more enjoyable way
of gardening,
otherwise you can view
the garden as a battleground
and then you're much more inclined
to reach
for pesticides and chemicals.
But we know that they're bad for
the environment.
The common blue slug pellets,
containing metaldehyde,
are now completely
illegal in this country,
so we have to be considering
other ways
that we can manage pests
and disease.
One interesting way is
to sort of plant sacrificial plants.
We've grown here a courgette plant
and so the idea is that we're going
to sort of encircle
the courgette plant
with some lettuce
in the hope that
the slugs will eat the lettuce
before they eat the courgette.
Of course, there is
a risk that you could lose the lot.
HE LAUGHS
But sometimes you just have
to take those losses.
At best, you're going to protect
your courgette
and you will also get
a harvest of some fantastic lettuce.
It's basically booby traps
to protect my plants,
you know, to make sure I get a crop.
Out front, I'm adding a coat of
protection to the benches
for the seating area,
which is going to have pride
of place in the garden.
And along the rear fence line
we've added another drop-down panel
to allow Nadia to keep her privacy
but also have the option
to enjoy her view.
Just get this bench in place.
Ah, look at that.
This I just made out some oak
sleepers I cut down,
so it's still green oak,
so it will dry out in the sun.
It's going to crack,
it's going to weather,
cos I want it to kind of, you know,
settle in the landscape,
if you will. It goes nice against
the black base, doesn't it?
It's a nice contrast to the red
and the green.
I love it, Bruce.
You can literally reach over,
can't you?
Grab a strawberry.
Yeah, and just tuck in.
Nurturing new growth has made more
and more of us turn to our gardens.
What have you planted, Seb?
Courgettes.
And for some, it's a new discovery.
Hi, I'm Scarlett Moffatt and I'm
part of the garden revolution.
This is like... Well, we call it
our summerhouse,
but it's not really a house,
cos you can still get rained on
and the birds still like
to leave you little treats.
During lockdown, me and Scott,
my boyfriend,
we just, like,
we just became green-fingered.
We absolutely love it!
This is my proudest
gardening achievement.
This old horse trough was getting
thrown out by our neighbour
and I seen it in the skip
and I was, like,
"You can't throw that out!"
So we changed all the wood,
we treated it, we lined it,
and then we got all of these
beautiful, lovely flowers.
We've only lived here a year
but we're hoping to just keep
putting, like, loads
of native trees, so birch trees,
hawthorns, hazels,
so it's all in keeping with the
village,
and just plant them everywhere.
I'm going to say
I'm more of a novice.
I do like to, like, ask my
nanny and pappy for advice,
cos they're keen gardeners,
and I try, you know.
As any craftsman,
I'm still learning my art!
SHE LAUGHS
These are my special bee gloves -
got to love the bees.
You can still make
gardening fashionable.
You can still do it with some bee
gloves and a little white blazer!
I think there is this new craze now
about people, like,
growing their own herbs and flowers
and vegetables,
and it's, yeah, it's become
like a cool thing,
whereas I think, before, if someone
said they grew their own vegetables,
like me dad, for example,
I'd just instantly think
of an old man at an allotment.
I've got my little,
tiny insect house here
and, like, these are all bushes
that bees love.
I'd love to be a bee-er.
I don't know the proper, like, name
for them bee people.
Beekeepers - that's it!
And going out and being like, "Oh,
I've got fresh honey for the toast!"
I'd love that - that's the dream.
This is me till I die now.
I'm a gardener.
And whenever I'm back from filming
or whatever I'm doing,
this is where I like
to spend most of my time.
No point in having a house, really.
I'd camp out here!
The garden revolution is gripping
the country
and we're loving growing our own.
Oh, the crunch. It's so sweet.
So use the hashtag
if you're joining in.
A little green plant.
As the garden revolution
continues throughout the UK,
we're making the most
of our outdoor spaces.
In Bradford, we're creating
a grow-your-own garden
packed full of delicious
fruit and veg.
They used to have wall-to-wall turf,
but I want to show you
an alternative to grass
that's a more sustainable way
of creating a lawn.
We obsess sometimes in this country
over our lawns, don't we?
Mowing it two or three times a week.
You know, get rid of any
other plant that's in the lawn.
But really what we're creating is
a monoculture
that is really not good
for wildlife at all.
So I've decided to make
an edible lawn in this area.
And the great thing about it is
it can be mown and walked on
like a regular lawn
but it offers so much more.
I've just chosen
a few of my very favourites.
These are violets.
They're great ground cover,
so they're gonna stop
any unwanted plants.
I use lemon balm a lot to make teas,
but it can quite easily be used in
things like desserts, on ice cream,
in custard, things like that.
I'm gonna plant these
reasonably tight together
and eventually there won't be
any gaps between them.
Mmm.
That is lovely!
I will polish this off in no time.
Most of the plants are in
but there's just enough space for
this beautiful, versatile perennial.
This is myrtle. Myrtle communis.
It's one of my favourite shrubs -
absolutely stunning plant.
It's from Europe and North Africa.
Perfectly hardy over here.
It can cope with
a little bit of dappled light.
It just wants some
free-draining soil at the base,
nothing too wet and claggy.
It's a pretty easy,
trouble-free plant
that's gonna give you a lot of joy.
In Greek mythology,
apparently if a farmer saw this
plant or the blossom in his dreams,
it was auspicious,
so really good luck.
Renowned for
its herbal menthol fragrance,
the oil's considered good
at relieving respiratory conditions.
You get a beautiful flower that sort
of the pollinators absolutely love
and they're followed by a blue-black
berry that's really ornamental.
You can eat the berries.
Italians have a long history
of using the berries
to create a deliciously
herbal liqueur.
This is some myrtle syrup
that I made.
It makes a fantastic cocktail,
absolutely delicious.
I think that Nadia,
she's got some grown-up kids,
and that's a way to get the older
kids sort of into gardening.
You know, if they can get
an alcoholic drink out of it,
they're quids in!
HE LAUGHS
And at the end of a great project,
it would be rude not to indulge
in a well-earned cocktail
for ourselves.
It's all in homage to the myrtle.
You get some gin here.
There you go.
Right, and the final flourish -
a little strawberry flower. OK.
Cheers, guys. Cheers. Cheers.
To another great garden.
To another job well done.
Oh! That's delicious. Isn't it?
That's pretty good, eh?
That is the business.
ERROL LAUGHS
Maybe if this gardening thing
doesn't work out,
get a job as a bartender.
Two days ago,
Nadia's garden was an unused plot
with no access to
the neighbouring countryside views.
This family wanted a place
they could all socialise in
and space to grow
their own kitchen garden.
Now this back yard is transformed...
..into a wildlife haven
with edibles for everyone.
The brightly-painted pergola
has created a shelter
for Mia to enjoy valuable time
outside with her family.
The Hugelkultur bed and edible layer
garden are planted up with produce,
making the most of
every inch of growing space,
whether it's sunny or shady.
And the drop-down fence means
they can share it
with their neighbours,
while sitting at
their handmade table,
enjoying that stunning
Yorkshire scenery.
I'm feeling amazed that
all this has been able to fit
into my garden. I'm really excited.
I'm gonna enjoy growing all
my own fruit and vegetables
and being able to
use them in cooking
and it will be nice if I could
just save a little bit of money
here and there and use it
for other important things.
I love this garden because
it's perfect for this family.
It's gonna introduce them
to growing their own vegetables,
growing their own produce,
and hopefully that's going to be
a gateway into gardening as a whole.
I'll just use me hands.
I'll have to get used
to getting them dirty, won't I?
True gardener!
Growing your own vegetables and
fruit are important because
you know where it's come from, you
know everything that's gone into it,
and they're able to do that now
and it's been
an amazing garden to be a part of.
Cheers.
Cheers, Mia. Cheers. Chin!
I can't believe
how different it looks.
I like that little corner
as well for Mia,
so she doesn't have to go in
all the time when we're outside.
Dylan and Mia, they're excited about
what they've been helping us with
in the garden, and I know that
Nadia is really excited
about cooking
with some of the produce,
and once you've grown it
with your own hands,
you're gonna be hooked.
You're gonna come back each year
and be excited about growing again.
Lovely tomatoes
in there for you, Mia. OK.
There you go. Thanks, Mum.
I'm really excited for the future.
I'm excited to be able
to add things into the garden
and I'll be able to talk
with my children
and see what other things
they like eating
and I'll definitely be planting
a few more extra things.
Take a bit of that leaf
and taste it.
Wow. Ain't it?
Yeah, it's quite surprising
actually. It's nice, though.
You know, I would encourage
everyone to grow.
Get out there this weekend.
It doesn't really matter
how much space you've got,
always grow produce.
And maybe you could try
something a little bit unusual,
because there's so much
you can do out there.
You know, the possibilities
are endless.
Next time...
One, two, three. Ah, it's a beast.
..we're all about
inviting wildlife into our gardens
as we head to Stockport.
Ooh, it's nice.
Having a little paddle.
We build some five-star luxury
to welcome in the wildlife.
Ooh, hello.
Already got
a little fellow moving in.
We give you tips on how
to increase your plant collection.
And we've got two
decent-sized pieces.
And we get creative
with beautiful, bespoke builds.
Something natural. Kind of ties in
with everything we've got going on.
Ooh, do you know what?
That's the one.