Episode 4 The Instant Gardener

Beautiful gardens are one of Britain's most glorious sights.

But if your green space is more mess than majestic,

making it over can be a daunting prospect,

especially if you're short on time and money.

Well, the Instant Gardener is here.

Da-da!

Danny Clarke is an expert at transforming gardens.

These are really bringing a smile to my face.

Each time, our gardening guru will be showing you

how to create gorgeous garden makeovers.

Doesn't that look great?

Each transformation will be packed

with brilliant ideas to help you get to grips

with your own outdoor space.

Just continually deadhead,

and you will keep getting that plant to flower.

He'll be turning garden junk...

Oh, look at that!

..into garden jewels...

It's going to be used as a planter,

and I think this is going to look absolutely terrific.

..and showing you how to spend a small budget wisely...

That's why Danny makes me bring a list!

OK.

..be it on shrubs or salvage.

Would you like that in your garden?

And because Danny is the Instant Gardener,

everything you see will happen in a single day.

Oh, my...

Oh, wow.

That's unbelievable.

Today, we're in the market town of Abingdon in the Thames Valley.

Once a thriving medieval trading post,

its population has grown rapidly in the last few decades,

with modern houses springing up like daisies,

along with their matching cookie-cutter gardens.

Not every family meets the nuclear stereotype,

and not every suburban garden meets everyone's needs.

I'm here to meet a dedicated mum

who's raising a daughter in difficult circumstances,

and whose garden has gone on the back burner.

-Hello!

-Hello.

-You must be Tania?

-Yes, nice to meet you.

-I'm Helen.

-Come on in.

-Thank you.

Tania Beale is the sole parent to her adopted daughter Amana,

who has spina bifida.

As well as being her mum,

Tania is Amana's full-time carer.

For Tania, caring for children with disabilities is a calling.

So far, she's fostered more than ten children, including Imogen in 2002.

But in 2013, life became much harder

when Imogen fell seriously ill,

passing away just two years later.

During those difficult years,

the garden fell into neglect

as Tania put all her time into her daughters' care.

Now it needs some TLC to make it an accessible,

relaxing haven once more.

Step forward the Instant Gardener.

A few days ago, Danny paid the garden a visit

to find out just what he's up against.

I've come here today to have a look at Tania's garden.

It's really important to look at the lay of the land

before we do anything.

This is very interesting.

There's some decking here, which really has seen better days.

I mean, look at that. Completely rotten.

In its present condition,

this garden is not accessible for Tania and her daughter.

Just look at this.

So, it's important that we make this wheelchair friendly.

The other thing I think that needs doing is this lawn.

The lawn is full of moss.

So, I would imagine there's a bit of a shade issue here.

And there's a lovely tree. I mean, it will need tidying up,

but I think this could make quite a good focal point in the garden.

I've looked at this wall. This wall is boring, very plain.

It's kind of screaming out for something to give it a big lift,

but maybe I'll have a light-bulb moment.

Light-bulb moments normally come at about 2am, unfortunately.

It would be nice to get them during the day for a change.

I would keep the layout as it is,

because I think it's quite well laid out.

It's a great job for the Instant Gardener.

I'm pretty sure we can make a big difference in a day.

A couple of days later,

Danny's back with a plan taking shape in his mind.

And we're both keen to find out more about the space

from this garden's owner.

-Hello, Danny.

-Hello, Helen.

-Good to see you.

-How are you?

-I'm good. This is Tania.

-Hello.

-Danny, Tania. Tania, Danny.

-Good to see you.

Tania, what a lovely little garden.

A little rough around the edges, if you don't mind me saying.

Just a little bit, yes.

Over the years, this has been a very well-used and well-loved garden.

How many children have used this?

Well, I've fostered 12 or 13. So, they've all had access to the garden

and they've all really enjoyed it, when it was better.

So, what has been going on with this garden?

My daughter Imogen was very ill

for two years and sadly

died just before Christmas.

Obviously, she was too ill.

I couldn't get out, I couldn't do anything.

So, it's just grown up...and overgrown. It got away from us.

You've had more important things to be getting on with?

Yeah, I think so.

We're obviously very sorry for your loss, in terms of Imogen,

but your other daughter, Amana,

is a character.

A sparky young woman.

She is, yes. And she loves being out in the garden.

You can see, at the moment, she can't get into the garden safely.

She is a wheelchair-user and it's just not safe for her at all.

OK. So, this lady needs a garden that is practical, functional,

but what about you, Tania?

What would you like to get out of the garden?

For me, what I loved about this garden was, it's my sanctuary.

It's the place where, first thing in the morning,

when I've finally finished all the medications

that I need to give, when I've got that time before the nurses are due,

I can just sat out here with a cup of tea, and you can hear the birds.

So peaceful. It's quiet.

Yeah, I can just breathe.

It's a lovely garden.

-And you can see it was once loved.

-Yep.

-We just need to renovate it.

We just need to take it to the gym and get it fit.

-That would be great.

-And that's what we'll try and do for you.

Now, is there anything here you'd like to keep?

Yes. I'd like to keep the rose that's over there.

It was given to me in memory of Imogen

by the nurses who used to care for her. So that's quite precious.

It doesn't have to stay there if you think there's a better place for it.

-OK.

-But I'd really like to keep that.

And also the fountain, that was Imogen's fountain.

-OK, so you'd like to keep that?

-I would.

-OK, that's fine.

For Amana's sake, she loves growing vegetables.

She'd be quite cross, I think, if that went.

Unless there was something else in its place that she could also reach.

Because, obviously, gardening from a wheelchair,

she can't reach anything on the floor. It's got to be up high.

Tania, you're a busy woman. Let's not make you work on the garden.

-You need a day away from it.

-Right.

-Let's go and have a look at some other gardens.

-OK.

And before you go, we've got the famous book.

There's some mint in there that I'd like you to get for me.

-OK.

-And some strawberries.

-Amana will be happy with that.

-Perfect, great.

-OK.

-Thank you very much.

-See you soon.

-Yeah, goodbye.

While I whisk Tania away to look for inspiration,

Danny has only one day to turn this tumbledown garden

back into a happy haven.

Now, the first thing we really want to do with this garden

is sort out that horrible decking here.

It's a complete deathtrap.

And then reshape the lawn.

It's not very interesting,

so we're going to try and rejuvenate it.

This tree needs a bit of work doing to it.

So, we're going to prune it. We're going to give it some shape.

This seating has seen better days.

So, what we going to do, we're going to put a lovely arbour here.

And this is going to be a great way for Tania to relax

and enjoy her garden. We're going to sort out this hedge.

Tidy it up, and put some interesting plants in here.

And give the whole space some cohesion.

Now, I know that this rose is very dear to Tania's heart.

It's in memory of her daughter she lost.

It's not very happy here. So, we're going to move this,

and move it into a place where it can flourish.

What we've got here is a pretty rough piece of wall.

So, we're hiding this by using a living wall.

Gardening doesn't have to be horizontal. It can also be vertical.

This is a really easy way to make gardening accessible for Amana.

A great way to make your garden more vibrant

is to introduce some colour into the walls.

So, we're going to paint that a lovely terracotta colour.

That will give the whole space a lift.

This was once a beautiful garden.

But all we need to do

is make it accessible for Tania and her daughter,

and make it beautiful once again.

So, Danny's plan is to renovate the rotten decking

and add a comfortable arbour for Tania.

He's going to reshape the old lawn

and create a new border full of plants.

To brighten up this faded gem,

he'll add a lick of paint and create a living wall

of edible plants for Amana.

That does sound like a lot to do in a day,

so you'd better get a wriggle on, Danny.

But help is on the way.

Handyman AJ and the team have arrived.

As have Tania's friends, Sandie and Don, eager to lend a hand.

-Hello, Sandie.

-Hi.

-Hello, Don.

-Hi.

-How are you?

So, I'm going to do some delegation here because that's my job,

-to delegate.

-Yeah.

-So, how about if you guys paint the wall?

AJ, do the decking? Here.

-You don't mind doing that, do you, AJ?

-No. Thank you for that.

Have you got a steady hand? Cutting in?

-Oh, yes.

-Let's have a look.

Shall we rethink that one, then?

Maybe you shouldn't do the wall!

I'll take care of the garden, the cutting back and everything else.

-Right, shall we get cracking?

-Let's get going.

-Brilliant.

And they're off. AJ just can't wait to rip up that dangerous decking.

It's seen better days.

And straightaway, Sandie and Don are getting stuck in

with the paintwork.

Great technique, guys.

I can see you know what you're doing.

As you can see, it's rotten to death, really, the wood.

And the biggest problem, I think, is here, as you can see,

there's just soil. Soil holds water.

The water has been sitting against this timber.

Even though it's treated, it shortens the life.

So, we're going to do something to prepare the new joist timbers

to stop that happening, fingers crossed.

Absolutely shot.

Yes, that really has had it.

Good luck, AJ. You've got your work cut out, all right.

To be honest, this looks safer as it is now.

Much safer!

Leaving Don to handle the paintwork,

Sandie is conquering the overgrown hedge.

Meanwhile, Danny's first job will be to tackle that straggly apple tree.

The plan is to reshape the tree.

Take any crossing branches out,

because we don't want crossing branches rubbing together

because if they do that,

they're going to take the bark off and allow disease in.

Also, we want to allow more light in and that will stimulate growth.

There's a dead branch here.

And you can see it's dying, or decaying,

because I think if I was to pull that, it will just snap off.

And the reason I know it's dying is because of the discolouration.

It's a different colour to the rest of the branch.

So, I'm going to cut that

just to here, to this fork here.

So, what I'm going to do is cut underneath first.

All right? So, if I cut into...

..that bit there. Keep the weight on this branch,

because I don't want it falling and tearing.

If this bark tears, there's every chance some disease

can get into it. Keep cutting...

There we are. A nice clean cut.

That's some pretty brutal-looking pruning there, Danny,

but it won't harm the tree, and it's all for the good of the garden.

Now, I'm not just letting light and air into the tree.

I'm also letting light and air into the garden.

And everything that's in the garden is going to benefit from that.

This makeover is a sizeable challenge.

But while Danny puts his grand plans into action,

I'm thinking a bit smaller, and putting Tania's nose to the test.

I know you said that Amana loves growing things.

-She does.

-So, we are en route to a garden

that I think she in particular would love.

We're going to explore an especially fragrant spot -

the extraordinary National Collection of Mint,

housed in this suburban garden.

And I'm hoping it will appeal to Amana and to Tania.

Right, Tania. Step this way.

-Uh-huh.

-And have a look at this fabulous garden.

-It's beautiful.

-It's pretty big. There's quite a lot going on.

You can see it's well-loved, it's incredibly well cared for.

-And it's just very, very restful.

-You hit the nail on the head, Tania.

This is clearly a well-loved and very well-cared-for garden.

But just cast your eyes that way.

We can see there, pots and pots of mint.

More mint than I have ever seen together, ever, I think.

Yeah, that's quite an impressive collection.

This massive mint is one of 620 different national collections

across the UK, each devoted to a particular plant,

a living archive aimed at conserving species for the future.

They don't have to be housed in grand glasshouses, either.

Many collections are curated by enthusiasts in their own back-yards.

How do you feel about growing herbs?

I love herbs. Amana really enjoys cooking.

I enjoy cooking and ...

Yeah, it's really good to be able to walk out into the garden

and pick things up and put them straight in the pot.

-Yeah, we like that a lot.

-And I imagine, for Amana,

it would be quite a sensory experience.

Smell, touch, taste, all of that.

It's great. Anything that she can eat, she is quite a fan of.

-A girl after my own heart.

-Yeah.

We can see there, quite a few types of mint.

Have you ever tried growing mint?

I've tried. Not had a huge amount of success.

I gather it is quite difficult to fail at mint, but I have!

I think that we can rectify your lack of success so far with mint.

-Good, I hope so.

-Step this way.

-Right.

-And let's have a look.

It's early days in the season.

I mean, these guys are just springing to life.

Cucumber mint.

-That smells amazing.

-Oh, it does. That's beautiful, isn't it?

-It's so fresh, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I didn't actually realise there were this many types of mint.

-There's hundreds of them.

-Spencer Town. Candy Freeze.

Eau de Cologne. Said that with the wrong accent, didn't I?

-What, Eau de Cologne?

-Eau de Cologne.

Chocolate mint!

-Yes.

-I am going to go out on a limb here.

I'm guessing Amana is a chocolate fan?

She is a chocolate fan, yep.

-Mint-choc-chip.

-Yeah, After Eights.

-You can smell the chocolate.

-After Eights, yes!

-Oh, we like that.

-Oh, yes.

Well, if that is easy to grow, would you be keen on that?

Definitely, that would be nice.

Yes, I could live with that very happily.

-That's an incredible smell, isn't it?

-It's gorgeous.

That's really transported me...

to a happy, happy place.

Back at Tania's garden, happiness is also blooming.

It's out with the old and in with the new,

as rotten decking is chucked

and the first section of wall painting is complete.

But AJ's joy is short lived.

He's hit a stumbling block he just can't shift.

Looking at the expression on your face,

-you've just found an issue here, haven't you?

-Yeah.

-What's the issue?

A whole lump of concrete.

Are you blind?

-True, yeah.

-Priceless.

Hang on, let me take my glasses off.

This is a beast of a jackhammer, and it's struggling to get through.

This is one of the reasons why the joists are so rotten, as well.

-Water does not seep through concrete.

-OK.

So, you got this big slab of concrete here

and the only way this area of water's going to drain away

-is through the joists.

-Yeah, and that's why they're rotten.

This was just an accident waiting to happen.

Sure. So, how are we going to remedy this?

I'm going to have to keep going at it with this jackhammer

-to get this concrete out.

-OK.

Can you mop my brow?

Thanks.

While AJ's still demolishing the old deck,

Don and Sandie can't paint the next section of wall.

So, it's on to the next job.

Revamping the tired old lawn.

Now, what can make a big difference to a garden

-is just reshaping the lawn.

-OK.

-OK?

So, I thought a nice, gentle curve

-would really do the trick in this garden.

-Right.

-And it would also give it a bit of a contemporary feel, as well.

-Yeah.

It's a good idea to mark out a lawn before shaping it.

So, I think it needs to come further back...

If you haven't got a handy spray paint,

a length of garden hose will do.

-..to there. Does that make sense?

-Yeah, that does now. Yeah.

-Good.

-What do you think?

-Yeah, good.

-Brilliant.

So, now what we need to do is get our half-moon edger.

With the task in hand,

Danny's finding out a bit more about Tania through her friends.

How do you know Tania?

We know Tania through the Helen and Douglas House Hospice,

which we are volunteers for.

It's a hospice for life-limited children, and she's a service-user.

So, her children go to the hospice.

Part of the work of the hospice is to go out into the homes,

as well as just looking after the children,

to look after families, as well.

Part of our work is to go to families

-and help with things like gardening.

-She's a pretty amazing person,

-isn't she?

-She's amazing.

Just think of the work involved in looking after

life-limited children,

and then the disadvantage, as well, of looking out on the garden

and it's overgrown and you can't get out there to do anything.

-Yeah.

-So every little helps.

For her and the children to be able to look out on a garden

that's sort of tidy, when we were doing it,

and wonderful after you've done it.

It's great. Tania will love a quiet corner where she can have a respite

and just sit and enjoy the weather and the birds.

-Just see her face when she gets back, it'll be great.

-I can't wait.

While her friends are hard at work in the garden,

Tania and I are experiencing a sensory overload

at the National Collection of Mint,

housed in a lovely but a relatively normal suburban back garden

by the collection's owner, Jeffrey Moore.

Jeffrey, sorry to interrupt.

-Hello.

-Hello.

We cannot get over how much mint is in this garden.

-It's incredible.

-It's amazing.

-How many types of mints are there?

-Well, I've got about 200.

But, obviously, there is a lot more

which are being discovered all the while.

Because it's a national collection,

the idea is, you have to have one as a main pot,

and two as a backup.

So, if any of them die,

you can then replace them with what you've got.

This takes a lot of love, a lot of dedication.

What do you love about mint?

The smell. And there's so much variation in the leaves,

the colouring of them and the texture of them,

it's all fascinating.

How easy is it to grow?

It's very easy to grow.

You can take it from root cuttings,

pull it out from the bottom.

You can either put it into water or put it into compost.

-And that'll grow.

-Just like that,

you can put it straight into the compost?

-Yeah.

-Do you need to keep them in a pot?

Well, the idea, you can see what the root system is like that there.

If you get a big pot, it's the same.

So, if you put it into your garden, they become very invasive.

So, they'll be everywhere.

I am flabbergasted at the range of mints.

This one here, this garden mint, I instantly recognise.

A lot of people will know what that is.

Yes, put it in drinks, lamb mint, and also with your potatoes.

Is there much variety in all... I mean, I can see

there's an obvious variety in the Corsican Mint

-to this one, the different leaves.

-Yeah.

But, beyond that, do they give a different taste, a different flower?

Oh, yes. The flowers are wonderful.

The best flowering one we have is grapefruit, which grows quite big.

Some people have it for flower-arranging.

I naively thought mint was mint until I came here.

-Of course, yes.

-How wrong a girl can be?

-Yes.

Growing your own herbs for cooking is much cheaper and tastier

than buying them from the supermarket,

but put them on the kitchen windowsill

or close to your back door.

That way, you'll have the freshest herbs nearby, whatever the weather.

Because mint can run riot and take over your garden,

grow it in large pots.

You can even plant the pots into the soil to contain those rampant roots.

When picking leaves, take them from the top, not the bottom.

You'll get the freshest, most flavoursome herbs

and stop the plant from growing tall and leggy.

Back in Abingdon, the only things in mint condition so far

are the tree and the lawn-shaping.

AJ still hasn't finished repairing the decking,

and there's no sign yet of the new arbour

or the wall-mounted vertical garden.

But Danny IS ready to move that ailing rose,

using a recycled pot from the garden.

Tania's rose isn't ideally positioned here.

There is water steadily dripping on it.

Not a good idea for any plant, let alone a rose.

So, just to prove how soggy this is,

I'm not even going to bother digging this out.

I'm confident.

Look. I can pull it out,

and I've got the whole root system there.

We've got a bit of dieback here, where the frost has got into it.

Where it's been cut, there's a wound and the cold's got into it.

And that's why you've got that discolouration.

So, what I'm going to do is tidy it up a bit.

Now, it's quite important to do it at an angle.

The reason I'm doing it at an angle is,

if any raindrops fall, they slide off.

The reason we don't want water lying on there

is because we don't want it to rot.

Right, so, what I'm going to do now is fill...

..the pot with compost.

Any multipurpose compost is fine for the rose.

This pot's nice and large.

It's big enough for the root to find its own way.

But, like anything in pots,

it's always important to change the compost every so often.

Don't just plant your pot up

and expect your plant to flourish for years and years.

It still needs TLC.

The reason being is that this is food.

Backfill with the compost...

Firm it in gently.

And I know this rose is very dear to Tania,

so I'm being very careful with it

because I really would like this to flourish and survive.

There we are, one beautifully replanted rose.

Do you know what? I think it's going to be really happy in this pot.

The rose might be happy,

but what never fails to put a smile on Danny's face

is a bit of good, old-fashioned demolition.

-Sandie? Don?

-Yep?

-I'm condemning this planter.

Because nothing, really, is going to grow in there.

It goes down two or three inches and there's solid concrete.

And the rose wasn't happy in there.

Aesthetically, it doesn't look very good.

-So, I think it should come out. What do you reckon?

-Good idea.

-Shall we get rid of it?

-Good idea.

-To be honest with you, look...

-It's falling apart anyway.

Good shout, Danny.

It'll also mean one less ground-level obstruction for Amana.

But Amana's greatest need is to access all parts of the garden,

such as her raised bed.

Over to AJ, who's already made a sturdy sub-frame

for the decking renovation. Now he needs to make it waterproof.

I've got a bit of plastic sheeting here,

which I'm just going to staple to the side of this decking frame,

so it then keeps the sodden soil away from the wood.

I can't go all the way round the wood

because that would make it sweat

and we'd have the same problem then

with it getting damp and getting rotten.

Finally, Sandie and Don can carry on painting.

A cheap and easy way of making an instant change in any garden.

Now AJ's ready to give his frame some legs.

I'm just putting in the post now

to raise up the framework so it doesn't sit on any soil

or puddles of water once the rain comes in.

Very simple. Dig a hole, get the post in, screw it to the joist.

The more, the merrier.

And speaking of rain coming in,

it's not just the decking that needs protecting from the elements.

The heavens have opened,

and power tools, paint and downpours don't mix.

Good job Danny brought his trusty tent.

While the garden's a hive of activity,

Tania and I are taking a rest from the world of mint.

So, Tania, you have been fostering for a lot of years now.

-Yep.

-What made you want to do that?

-I always knew I was going to foster.

I always thought I'd marry, have children of my own

and then maybe we'd do a bit of fostering afterwards.

But that wasn't the plan, so I had to settle for just the children.

And you've mainly looked after

children with physical and mental disabilities?

Yes, they've all been physically disabled

or had learning disabilities, or a combination of both.

And most of them have had complex medical needs, as well.

Imogen came to live with you when she was just a few months old.

Yes, five month old.

So, in terms of her disabilities, she had cerebral palsy.

She did. She was always very physically disabled.

And we had about ten years of really happy times.

Then when she was 11, she got sicker

and she died just before Christmas.

-A difficult time for any family...

-Yeah.

..but you're also looking after your other daughter, Amana.

Yes, she has spina bifida.

She came to live with me

when she was nearly two.

It's tiring and exhausting,

but it is also the easiest thing

I've ever done, because it's loving my children.

Obviously, you have your hands full looking after Amana.

The garden's kind of being left.

Every time I went out to sit in the garden,

Imogen's oxygen monitor would bleep to say her sats were low,

or she'd be shouting to say she needed suction.

So, we couldn't get out into the garden at all, really.

What would you like from a garden?

How could it help you?

I'd very much hope that I can foster other children in the future and,

again, I think every child needs a garden.

You need to be able to get outside.

The last few months have obviously been unimaginably difficult for you.

Going forward, you want to celebrate Imogen in that garden, don't you?

Yes, we do.

There are things in the garden that Imogen, when she was better,

really, really loved.

We want to hang onto those.

But, yeah, to be able to keep things, for Amana and I

to have a new start, as well, I think would be great.

I am genuinely confident that we can create a garden that gives you

the practical space, with a place to celebrate Imogen.

I would like that very much.

Right, let's go and get some bits and bobs for it.

As we head off to do some shopping,

Danny's task is still far from complete

with less than three hours to go.

Come on, AJ. Time to get that decking finished.

The best bit of this, putting the decking boards down.

Cut them to size, all the same length, so it looks pretty.

As I start screwing them down,

I'm leaving sort of a 5mm gap.

One, for the expansion or the contraction of the wood

when it's hot, or cold and wet,

and also, when the rain does go on here,

even though it has got the runs in it for rain to go off,

you want the rain to drip down the sides and dissipate underneath.

If they're really close together,

water's got nowhere to go and once again,

we'd have the same problem of water sitting on it,

it soaks it up and eventually rots a lot quicker.

The rain's still chucking down, but a bit of damp won't stop our team,

especially when it comes to those all-important plants.

As a garden designer,

it's very important you plant the right plants

in the right conditions.

I know the soil in this garden is ericaceous,

which means it's acidic soil, and the way I know that

is that there's a skimmia over there that's very healthy.

It's a plan that likes acidic soil, an acid-loving plant,

so I know that any plants that we introduce into this garden

have to like acidic conditions, otherwise they won't thrive.

Danny's chosen an array of acid-loving shrubs and flowers

to suit the garden's conditions.

I always think the best idea is to put the larger plants

in the ground first - the camellia and the ribes -

and we'll position those and then

we can plant the others kind of around it,

the lower ones around it for now.

Now this camellia, I mean, absolutely gorgeous when it flowers.

You can see there's a flower there.

-Look how beautiful that is.

-It is, yeah.

If you want this to flower in the spring,

it's very important that it doesn't dry out,

so make sure it's nice and wet in September, nice and moist,

and you'll be sure of it flowering.

I think, really, it's time to sort of place them out.

-Place them where you want them?

-Place them where we want them.

We'll have a look back, a step back, and then see if we are happy,

-and then we'll just put them in the ground.

-Right.

That's Danny's golden rule - placing first and planting after.

It saves potentially expensive mistakes.

Right, we've got this convolvulus here,

but they're not going to choke out the other plants, OK?

-So you can plant these with confidence.

-Good, OK.

And they do look nice,

especially in the evening sun, with their shimmering leaves.

They look absolutely gorgeous.

INDISTINCT

You see already how it's taking shape.

I mean, look at that over there.

-Does that look good, or does that look good?

-Yeah, it does.

The planting's pretty perfect, but the paint is not.

The wet weather has put a dampener on its drying time.

Do you know, I'm really worried about this.

This paint has not dried

and I'm really worried we're not getting this garden done on time.

AJ, how are we doing, mate?

-Not bad.

-Are you nearly finished?

I've got one more piece to put in on the decking here.

Still got to replace those, still got to build the arbour.

-OK.

-So, you know, 20 minutes and...

You're quite confident you'll get this done in 20 minutes?

-I'm never confident.

-You're never confident?

-No.

The clock is ticking, and there are only two hours left till sundown.

Danny's got a plan for a living wall of edibles

to go on the still-wet wall.

But that's just going to be a wall

if I don't get the other vital ingredients soon.

Hopefully, this wholesale herb garden will hit the spot.

Right, Tania, Danny's list is pretty straightforward.

Different types of mint and strawberries.

-Yep.

-So, here we are at a wholesale herb garden.

Excellent. Good place to start.

I think we might find what we're looking for.

-If you have a look in there, I'll have a look over there.

-OK.

-All right.

-Happy hunting.

-See you in a minute.

Herbs are available in nearly every garden centre and nursery

and even some supermarkets,

but there are also specialist places like this dotted around the country.

Tania, what have you found?

I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

I've found strawberry mint, which smells really lovely.

It does.

Well, I couldn't find any mint at all, so I got rosemary.

-Lovely.

-It smells good, looks good.

-Yeah.

-I feel like there is a lot we should be getting from this place,

yet Danny's not going to be impressed if we go back with just

-these.

-No.

-Shall I give him a ring?

Not going to fill a garden. Would you like me to hold those for you?

Do you mind? Thank you.

That smells...great.

PHONE RINGS

-Hello, Helen.

-Hello, Danny.

-How are you?

-I'm good, thank you.

A bit wet, drowning.

I've grown fins.

Oh, good! They'll be useful.

We are currently trying to find mint,

but we thought we'd better ring you for some advice

because I'd hate to bring back the wrong thing.

You know what we need in this garden?

We need something to put in the vertical garden,

so we want some thrillers, some spillers and some fillers.

So it's thrillers - I want something that stands out, OK?

And we want a spiller - so something that sort of goes over the front,

you know? Something that spills down.

-And we want a filler...

-Something that spreads out?

Lots of fillers. Lots of filler-in-ers.

A thriller, a spiller and a filler?

-That's it.

-All right, have a fun afternoon.

-Bye.

OK, well, I feel like we've got more shopping to do

-and I feel like we've got free rein.

-Awesome.

Let's hope that Danny's finished design

will be more thriller than filler.

He's only got an hour left and while the team are going great guns,

the devil's in the detail, and that means show-stopping plants.

This skimmia, it smells absolutely divine.

The great thing about this plant is that it's drought resistant

and it doesn't need pruning,

which is a great thing for a busy mum like Tania,

and it works well in semi-shade, so this is an ideal spot for it.

What I'm doing here is digging a nice hole for it,

bigger than the size of the root ball.

Just place the pot inside there,

just to make sure that I've dug it deep enough,

and that I'm happy with its position.

I'm happy with that now.

And what's great about this plant also, it's evergreen,

so it's going to look great all year round.

Look at those lovely, glossy, shiny leaves.

Absolutely beautiful.

You know, when I see a plant like this, I get really excited.

With the minutes ticking away,

that garden is slowly starting to look good,

but we need to get a move on with our shopping list.

Happily, since it's started to rain,

we can retreat to a cosy poly-tunnel,

where some much-needed advice is on hand from nursery owner Jane.

Jane, Tania and I are in search of plans that thrill, spill and fill.

-What would you recommend?

-First of all, thinking about filling,

mints are great because they spread out.

These aren't huge, but sometimes mint can get very, very large.

A pretty one, which smells as its name, is Eau de Cologne.

And it's got lovely, dark foliage, which would look great

against the brighter greens.

-Oh, yeah, the stalks on that are great, aren't they?

-Beautiful.

And quite a perfumed smell.

Yes, it's nice.

I believe people put it in the bath, put bunches under the tap.

So, the mints we've found will cover the fillers,

but what about the thrillers?

Thrilling's really about colour and texture and everything else.

This is just amazing at the moment. This is a rosemary.

This one is a beautiful one called Blue Lagoon.

-Gorgeous.

-That is really dramatic at this time of year.

-Yeah.

Smells good, looks good.

-Thrilling?

-Yeah.

-Looks bright.

As a real contrast, this is cotton lavender,

which isn't a culinary herb.

This is a bright-yellow version,

which someone has bred, called Lemon Fizz.

Oh, wow. Yeah, that'll really stand out.

And something else, as a contrast again,

is a curry plant.

It has lovely little yellow button flowers on it in the summer.

I can smell that from here, it's beautiful.

All three together make a really bright statement, I think.

What can you recommend in terms of herbs that spill out?

The classic herbs that spill and creep

are things like thymes and chamomile.

Here's the chamomile, which I'm sure you're all familiar with.

It just grows flat and, as it grows, it roots itself along,

and it will be absolutely fine.

That's Silver Posie,

-which actually you can use just like ordinary common thyme.

-OK.

It's got the smell and taste of common thyme,

but you've got that lovely foliage.

-Oh, yeah.

-That's lovely.

So, these really are dual purpose, aren't they?

They are. I mean, that one is orange, orange-scented,

-and that will flower soon.

-Wow. Perfect.

So, we've got thrillers, spillers and fillers.

Plenty of colour, plenty of smell.

-Sounds good.

-And plenty for you to take into the kitchen.

All we need to do now is take them to Danny

-so he can put them in the garden.

-That's great.

-Thank you, Jane.

While we've been having a thriller, filler, spiller plant love-in,

the team's finally started to get Tania and Amana's garden together.

At last, the rain has stopped,

but I suspect Danny is still going to need an extra pair of hands

if we want to get it finished on time.

Oh, they're good.

Hello?

Oh, that looks good.

Oh, he's had you working hard.

Herbs.

Thank you, Helen.

-These are the spillers.

-They're the spillers?

-So, they're going to trail down the...

-Invisible wall garden!

Exactly. We haven't got around to it and you know why?

That paint on that wall hasn't dried yet and I don't know how we're going

to get it done, unless we all collectively breathe on it.

To be honest, Tania's going to be here very soon.

Why don't we just plant the vertical wall garden horizontally

and hang it at the last minute?

-Good idea.

-Just get AJ to stand with it.

Yeah. We can do that and he could do the arbour.

-How's that?

-OK. I'll go get the rest of the herbs.

-OK, brilliant.

While AJ puts together this flat-pack wooden arbour

for Tania's seating area,

we're making sure she has something worth looking at

when she's sat in it.

Danny's low-cost living-wall planter

is a vertical strip of felt pockets,

each pocket's designed to support a single plant.

It's a kind of wall-mounted planter.

If you haven't got much space in your garden,

these are brilliant for your walls.

Also, I think these are a good idea for Amana.

She can get up close and personal

with these without having to get down to the ground.

And that's why we're putting it over there.

Some of the more expensive ones come with expensive irrigation systems,

but this one's not going to break the bank because it's made from felt

and all the water will just filter through.

-It's brilliant, isn't it?

-But it's cheap, so it'll leak.

-It's cheap, so it leaks.

-But in a good way, in a good way!

-That's what you want, right?

-That's what we want.

Absolutely, that's what we want.

We better get these in quickly.

Running out of time.

We're getting there, and AJ's flat-pack is flat no more.

These are amazing.

-Have you built that today, AJ?

-Yeah, it's taken me for ever.

Every bit of wood I've cut individually.

With the decking, as well.

-That's incredible.

-This is where Tania's going to relax,

and what a great view, down on to the garden.

It's ideal, isn't it?

So what are these plants, then?

They're called Trachelospermum jasminoides,

or, to you and I, Star Jasmine,

and they're going to romp away and cover the seating area.

They'll look absolutely lovely. You know what's great about those?

They've got a lovely scent, so they're ideal for this position.

One last thing to do -

I need to drill some holes for your vertical wall thing.

-Vertical garden.

-Vertical garden.

-For the vertical garden,

cos there's a garden climbing up the wall over there.

-OK.

-So shall we go and have a look at that? All right, then.

With only five minutes to go before Tania gets back,

we need to get that living wall actually...onto the wall.

We're going to have to take a chance here

and we're going to drill holes in this wall.

We shouldn't really be doing it,

but we're going to hang it as carefully as we can

and we going to be careful not to get paint on the fabric.

That's the only choice we've got here,

cos this garden needs to be finished.

I think...that looks amazing.

Cool. I think I could screw this one a little bit more.

I think that looks brilliant.

Great height, loads of mint, loads of smells...

-It's a sensory overload.

-Beautiful.

At last, the garden is ready and our two diligent helpers deserve

-a huge thank you.

-Sandie, Don, thanks for your help today.

-We couldn't have done it without you.

-A great pleasure.

It's been great having you around.

Thank you very much. We would not have got it done without you guys.

-That's all right. We've enjoyed it.

-Glad to help.

-OK.

Tania's garden had become neglected during the difficult times

when all her focus was rightly on her family.

With a rotten decking, a tired old lawn,

broken seating and plants left to fend for themselves,

this once-loved space had become shabby and inaccessible.

But in just one day, and with a small budget,

Danny has transformed it

into a bright and beautiful haven of peace and productivity,

repairing the rickety decking with brand-new boards has made

the garden accessible to Amana once again,

and he's installed a low-cost living wall of edible plants

at a height Amana can reach.

Reshaping the lawn cost nothing,

but has given it new definition

and a new backdrop of glorious colour on the wall

has made the whole garden sing.

By sprucing up the old tree and rose

and introducing new planting in the beds,

Danny has revitalised the garden's greenery.

And a floral arbour provides the perfect retreat

for a busy mother in need of some downtime.

Now Tania and her daughter can finally

enjoy their garden together again.

But what will THEY think?

Ladies...

-This...

-Oh, my!

..is your new garden.

-What do you think?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-If you look at the back there, we've got you a new seat.

-Oh, gosh, yes!

I hadn't even seen that.

That's beautiful.

With some lovely plants that are going to grow over it.

-Repaired and restored the decking.

-Yeah.

-It's fantastic.

-Over here on the right...

-Oh! Oh, good grief!

-Oh! Oh! Oh!

I hadn't even seen that!

Look at that, Amana. Can you reach those?

So you've taken that whole bed? You've...

Good grief. Yeah.

How have you done that in a day? That is incredible.

Look, Amana.

What about marks out of ten?

-100.

-100?!

-Yeah.

-Your best score yet.

-Oh, well...

Why don't you, Amana, have a little explore and test out the new ramps?

Yeah.

-Is that working?

-Mm-hm.

-What's here?

-Flowers.

Flowers. That the rose bush?

That's the rose, so it's got pride of place just there for you.

-Lovely, perfect.

-We've re-homed it and it should thrive there.

-Beautiful.

-So, Amana, you've had a couple of minutes

to explore the garden. Has he done a good job?

-Yes.

-This morning, you couldn't use this ramp because it was broken.

Now you can get around and explore.

Does this mean you'll have your friends over?

-Yep. A lot.

-What do you think then, Tania?

Is this a space that you will enjoy for yourself, as well?

-Definitely.

-She'll like over there.

-I love that seat, yes.

The seat is just beautiful.

-Is that your space, then?

-That'll be my space, yep, yep.

It's got to be my space. There's steps, not ramps, so...

-It's perfect.

-And this is your space.

-This is your space.

-Yeah.

-You've got the rest of the garden.

-Yeah!

-Yes? It's just lovely.

-Thank you.

-Well, ladies, enjoy your garden.

-We will.

-Danny, good job.

I think you've earned yourself a well-earned break.

Thank you.

It was neglected, now it's loved,

and I have no doubt that Tania and Amana are going to create

lots more treasured family memories

right here in this instant garden.