Episode 2 Greatest Gardens

Behind Northern Ireland's streets and fences

lie some amazing hidden gardens.

Private spaces with passionate owners, open just a few days a year.

Now two top gardening experts,

Diarmuid Gavin and Helen Dillon,

are going to be searching for the best.

They'll be looking for great design...

Look at that!

It's an instant paradise.

..beautiful planting...

You've no right to call it a weed, but this is my favourite weed.

..and great gardening practice...

Do you know what I think the answer is?

-A hacksaw.

-Yeah.

..as the nervous owners wait inside for the verdict.

I look forward to hearing what they say about it.

Wouldn't it be lovely to know what someone like Diarmuid Gavin

would do with this place?

This time, three gardens from Counties Antrim and Londonderry.

Which one will be best?

The first garden is in the suburbs of Derry,

set in the grounds of a magnificent Georgian villa.

Over the best part of half a century, restaurant owner Liam Green

has created a multi-layered wonderland.

When we bought the property in 1979, there was no garden.

I knew it was going to take a long time but I was young

and full of energy.

There are three distinct areas,

starting with a front garden that's straight out of Pride And Prejudice.

Then there's the formal Italian garden,

though he's been having difficulty keeping his four

Italian cypress trees on the straight and narrow.

Being Northern Ireland and the North West,

we get more wind than they get in Italy.

And as they got taller, some of them took a lean.

So I'm trying to correct that with steel cabling. I hope it works.

He has however worked wonders with two more common

Castlewellan Gold Leylandii.

They've worked well.

And over the years, I've continued to clip them

and they are quite impressive now.

And there's also a Japanese garden

based around a bonsai-like laburnum tree.

It's not a true Japanese garden but it's Japanese inspired.

So is Liam looking forward to a visit from our experts?

-We are in for a treat.

-I think we are.

Diarmuid Gavin is one of the UK and Ireland's top garden designers

and has won gold at Chelsea.

Top gardening author Helen Dillon

owns Ireland's most famous private garden.

Together they will argue over the garden as Liam waits inside.

I'm prepared to listen very intently to what they might suggest to me.

And if they are very happy with it...

..I'd be even more delighted.

I love the balance of the whole thing, the house and the yews

and the path, it's all wonderfully Georgian.

Absolutely, it's straight out of a Jane Austen novel.

There is something relaxed, formal, simple,

and a little extra space to breathe.

The front pathway is lined with fine examples of Irish yew.

It's a plant we are very proud of in this country, aren't we?

We are because it's the true Irish yew, which is very sticky-uppy.

But the only problem with them is that they are inclined to get fat.

As we all do as we get older. They go fatter and fatter and fatter.

The instinct of the gardener is immediately to take off the outside.

You don't do that.

What you do is, you leave the middle whatever you do.

Because you want something to tie the outside to.

And then you take off every second outside branch.

So you'd take that one off and then leave the next one.

And then you take that one off. And you would leave the next one.

And then you take that one off. Then you've left the middle

and you can tie the remains to the middle

to keep your lovely conical effect and not too fat.

I do love it.

Liam's Japanese garden is an enchanting sanctuary of

exotic-looking plants,

dominated by a mature laburnum on a most unusual carpet.

I've never seen a plant that so many people detest used so brilliantly.

It looks absolutely dreamy. A beautiful green carpet.

How could you argue with that? I call it helxine,

what do you call it?

-Mind-your-own-business.

-You are absolutely right.

That's the proper English name for it.

You just wanted an excuse to say, "Mind your own business."

-Mind-your-own-business.

-Mind your own business to you.

You know what it reminds me of here?

The froth on top of a pint of porter.

-You know the way it begins to pour down the edge of the glass.

-Yes.

-It just spills over.

-Spills over. And here, it's spilling over.

And melting those stones in.

They look as if they are aged and have been here forever.

Often, it will grow where lawns won't grow or don't want to be.

But if you just want something that is lush and green...

Lush and green and behaves itself. And you never need to mow.

Brilliant.

Around the other side of the house is Liam's formal Italian garden

but it's easy to spot the leaning cypress.

-What a shame.

-What a shame.

They are Italian cypress trees that just do not like the damp.

There is not enough drainage here.

They want to be in a hot hillside garden.

They will never be happy in this country.

Occasionally in places they'll grow OK but they are freaks rather than...

They're very good when they're young because they look adorable.

-They look just what you want.

-And they are so cheap.

This is what they do when they get old

and I'm afraid it has to be bye-bye.

Some of the conifers are great. The box is fantastic.

And then you have this ugly thing. And so much paving.

-Do you know what I think the answer is?

-What?

-A hacksaw.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, yes.

-And just saw it off.

-For this and for that.

-Yep.

-Yeah.

-You might actually fall down there and break your neck,

but at least you've fallen down in a beautiful place.

And looking down into the sunken garden, things are looking up.

Down here is pure delight.

You have two of those Castlewellan Gold pretending to

-be Italian.

-And doing it perfectly! Getting it right.

And the ironic thing is, I actually hate that plant.

It's usually too yellow and too brash.

But it looks absolutely stunning there. It's beautifully pruned.

It's perfect there.

It's terrific compared with those miseries up there.

They need to be whipped out.

So, Diarmuid, who do we think lives here? What sort of person?

It's Jane Austen and Darcy. Don't you think?

I thought it was Lady Chatterley actually.

Well, no, because I think whoever lives here also gardens here.

I'm not sure. I think this is a personal passion.

It may be quite nice and posh, it has a house I'd love to live in, but

whoever lives here understands every square inch and has built this...

And has put every thought you could possibly put into it.

Has thought about all the colours,

thought about where everything is, and got it 99% perfect.

Time, at last, to meet the proud owner.

Welcome to Derry.

It's lovely to be here and lovely to meet you.

From the moment we went through that gate

at the bottom of the garden, we walked up the path of the Irish yews

on either side, it was just perfect.

We walked back into the 19th century.

We'd straightaway gone back 100 or 200 years.

-There is a few things that slightly jarred in there.

-OK, tell me.

First of all, those Italian cypress trees. You've battled with them.

You wanted them to do, you wanted them to be straight, erect,

pointing towards heaven.

-Yeah.

-And it's just, they don't like it here, do they?

-They don't.

-Helen has a suggestion.

-I'm listening.

I'm afraid it's very simple. It's off with his head!

-Yeah, OK.

-And the quicker, the better.

Look, I accept...I accept everything.

And there was one other tiny suggestion.

When you are using the angle grinder to cut off the cypress trees,

take the railings out too.

-Would paint help?

-No.

It would help. That's... It would help.

Matte black might help.

The railings are a copy of the railing in the house.

There had to be a reason.

-So you didn't just do any old railing?

-No.

I think it's maybe the material that is slightly offensive. It's cold.

They were put in ten years ago.

-Yeah.

-Galvanised steel was in.

-Yes.

-Everywhere. Maybe you used it.

-He's blaming me.

-Yes.

And you're quite right.

Everywhere we look, you have picked beautiful stuff.

You've made wonderful choices in terms of planting.

We love what you've done with the Castlewellan Golds.

That was a real... That was just an experiment.

That is a horticultural triumph, that. That's a triumph.

The only thing, for me, wrong with them is they are too close together.

-No, they're not.

-No?

-No.

-OK!

No. I think you are right. They are fun. They are fun.

They are not pretentious, they are fun. Liam, it's been a pure delight.

You have created something here that's very, very special.

-Well done and thank you.

-Thank you very, very much.

Not far from Ballymena in County Antrim

is a large five-acre garden that has been developed from farmland

over 23 years by Hilary and Jim Rafferty.

We work together as a team and it works very successfully.

-Two head gardeners.

-Two head gardeners.

The couple used an old mill race to make two huge ponds

as centrepieces for the garden,

with seating areas where they can enjoy the fruits of their labour.

It's very nice to sit there with a cup of tea. Or a glass of wine.

Over the years, they've thrown everything at the garden

to see what sticks.

"We've got a plant. Where will it go?"

So far, I think it's working. If it doesn't work, we move it.

It's as simple as that.

Both Hilary and Jim are very excited about the imminent visit.

-Absolutely fantastic.

-Thrilled skinny.

We used to say, "Wouldn't it be lovely to know what

"somebody like Diarmuid Gavin would do with this place?"

-So we maybe will here.

-Yeah.

Look at that!

Oh, what fun!

Lording it over the lake is a comical wooden throne.

Do I make a good queen?

You make a perfect queen.

I like this. This is very playful.

It makes you smile. And it makes you want to explore.

The feeling here is just one of happiness.

The lake is surrounded by raised walkways

bordered by a chaotic mix of flowers.

It's a riot of colour.

I like everything I'm seeing here.

It's just, you know, a rockery circa 1965.

But if you're going to do a rockery, go for it.

And they've certainly gone for it.

Look through this gap here.

You can see this meandering pathway that's lifted up

and offers towards you a great vista.

Of the lovely candelabra primulas.

The pond is home to many water lilies that have been

carefully kept in check.

Beautifully planted ponds. Ponds are complicated for people.

If you have a water feature and you want to grow marginal or

aquatic plants, you have to get the balance right.

But the balance is just right today.

From a human point of view, you've got a beautiful sheet of water

and the water lilies.

But if you look the other way for a moment,

you end up with all water lilies or all water.

Not, sort of, balance.

To see a different aspect of the garden, Diarmuid has a plan.

Have you seen Titanic?

Do you trust me?

HE CHUCKLES

-It's the inky black.

-Isn't it?

-And we can't see the bottom.

-That's it.

-We'll just try the bottom.

Hang on a second.

Ooh. Ah, Diarmuid. Eeek!

THEY LAUGH

-Now you don't feel safe.

-I think it's a 20-footer!

It's so rare to come to a water garden that has lilies in flower.

And then to ride over them.

THEY LAUGH

One side of the lake is dominated by a huge Leyland cypress hedge.

I just feel that hedge is so out of place.

-It may be keeping the wind off.

-Off what?

-But it's so alien.

It's so alien to the beech trees, to the birch trees,

to this beautiful planting here.

It's all so charming and so adorable.

And then we have this alien thug sitting here.

Beyond the top lake is a smaller lower lake

surrounded by young birch trees.

It's less developed here

with a few quirky artefacts to capture your attention.

Look at this guy here. Green Man.

Look at this, "The Green Man or Jack O'Green, is one of the oldest

"and most pagan symbols to be found in Christian churches.

"The Celts worshipped the head, believing it contained a human soul.

"And frequently depicted it surrounded by foliage."

-This is their little altar, I suppose. It's very sweet.

-Isn't it?

It's a good place.

A river walkway runs down from the mill

with even more colourful plants.

What I love about this pink geranium, Diarmuid -

I know you're not quite so keen on this pink geranium -

if you have any problem in the garden,

just plant Geranium endressii.

This is Geranium endressii. You could stick this under a tree,

you could stick this under a bush, you could stick it anywhere.

And instead of having nettles, like you've got over there,

this side you could have lovely pink Geranium endressii.

I'm sorry, my customer's just walked off. He wouldn't listen.

Helen, how do you sum up a garden like this in a couple of words?

-Sublime.

-That's one word.

That's one word.

But what I especially love is it's not a bit showy-offy.

People have planted lovely plants in huge variety, in a charming,

meandering, triple-level path that goes right round this water.

And it's an absolute delight.

We can argue individually about one plant or another plant but this

is just what someone absolutely adores and they've done it.

Who do we think...what do you think about who lives here?

I'm really looking forward to meeting them

because it's a place full of joy, happiness, of creativity,

they've gone for it, they are adventurous.

I think we will like them.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hello.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Delighted to meet you two.

-The pleasure is mine. It really is.

We are very happy here.

There is lots of plants.

There is rockeries mixed in with rows, there's all sorts of jarring,

clashing colours. It doesn't seem to matter here.

You don't go with any style, you make your own style.

-You do what you want and what feels right.

-Yes.

-My wife calls it a Jackson Pollock.

-It is a Jackson Pollock.

-I really like Jackson Pollock.

-Does the pond take a lot of maintenance?

Water lilies and pond weed can be a...

Marginal planting can be very vigorous.

They can be. But then, the pond's so deep they only go so far.

-So it's not just so bad.

-That's so interesting.

-You've got that lovely expanse of plain water.

-Yes.

I wonder how you managed to control it. Thought it was so clever.

-The depth, yes.

-Did you know before you did it because...?

Yes, that it was the depth that would control...

-That they'd have to behave themselves?

-Yes.

15ft deep at its deepest.

We did put the oar down but it never got to the bottom.

THEY LAUGH

Were the both of you in the boat then?

-Yeah.

-Oh, dear.

Meandering through the garden, we came across the guard of the garden.

-The Green Man.

-The Green Man.

-Tell me about him.

We've had the Green Man 30 years, at least.

We bought it in England. I came across that lump of granite.

I had the large stone planted there.

And I put the granite in front of it.

Then I decided to build a fernery, because of what it is.

Explain the spirit of the garden. What does that mean to you?

Peaceful, tranquil. Um, beautiful.

-Druid-like.

-Druid-like, yes.

I have been known to drift around in a kaftan but...

THEY LAUGH

There's only one element of the garden that jarred with us.

Just one thing.

-The hedge.

-Ah, yes.

-Well, we couldn't be without it.

Without that, we couldn't have a garden.

I thought the winds were so bad until the trees grew up,

we might lose those rhododendrons.

I have to say, we have just revelled in our chance...

From you, that is great.

You've created a very special, very happy place.

And one that we are so glad that you shared with us.

-Thank you again.

-I'm glad.

-Thank you very much.

-Now, can I ask one thing of you before you go?

-Yes.

I have two of your books and one of yours. Could you sign them?

THEY LAUGH

I'm glad the balance is right.

-THEY LAUGH

-Oh, you cheeky fella!

THEY LAUGH

Of course.

Portstewart, on the windswept north coast of Antrim,

is a tricky place to build a great garden.

But it hasn't stopped retired engineer James Logan.

His amazing Islamic-style garden was inspired after visiting

the Alhambra in Spain.

I had one of these sort of eureka moments.

I thought, "God, this garden, the shape of it, the orientation of it,

"I could maybe do something like the garden in the Alhambra

"that I really love so much."

The garden is dominated by dense rose beds.

If you go into the history of the Islamic gardens, roses were

the key plant that was actually growing in gardens like this.

Basically, all I have to do with it

is prune the roses in the wintertime.

These sort of roses, which are shrub roses,

don't require precise pruning.

You can literally almost go through them with hedge clippers.

So it doesn't require much maintenance.

The central flowing rill of water is very important to James.

The water in this garden, it's gentle. It's quiet.

It's not like some of these water features you sometimes see

in garden shows which sound like a cow having a pee.

It's quite a meditative sort of environment.

Though meditation is not a concept his grandchildren find easy.

I've had children paddling in the rill, floating boats up

and down, and trying to get me to buy goldfish. You know. So...

No way.

So is James looking forward to the visit?

Having Diarmuid and Helen here, absolutely, it's a great privilege.

I look forward to meeting them.

I'm a great fan of Helen

and her forthright manner in gardening matters.

And I look forward to hearing what they say about it.

Before they even get to James' garden,

Diarmuid and Helen have to pass by rose bushes in the back public lane.

These rugosa roses are fantastically good.

I don't find this white one so good, cos when it gets too wet,

it turns into a big sog.

Whereas this pink one here will take dogs' abuse.

It's a fantastic plant

because it comes from the seaside in Japan,

where it's covered in salt spray, covered in awful wind.

And look what it does. It's fantastic.

And even in the seaside in Ulster, this is a fantastic place.

-It's an absolutely fool-proof rose.

-It's quite peony-like, isn't it?

And almost peony scented. This is so underused, this wonderful plant.

-Some weeding needs doing.

-This is my favourite weed.

And you've no right to call it a weed.

The seeds of this teasel are the most attractive things

if you want to get goldfinches into your garden.

This is the first thing they land on when it's got seed.

The second interesting thing about it is, this is

the plant that the man who invented Velcro got the idea from.

Because it's got these extraordinary backward prickles all over it.

And by getting one bit and noticing it's always clinging to the

other bit, he thought of Velcro and became a mega-millionaire.

So that's an interesting thing about this plant.

My husband hates it and I particularly like it.

So we have the teasel row every year in which he says,

"Take them out," and I say, "Leave them in."

-Is he a bit of a TEASE-el?

-He is.

But also, he doesn't realise what a wonderful statuesque

seed head it is in winter.

When you've got a whole group of them.

Quite a long wall.

The lane finally leads to the main event.

Christmas!

-Look at this!

-Oh, look at this!

-Gosh!

-It's a garden of earthly delights. That's what they call it.

It's an instant paradise.

It's a Moroccan fantasy based on the Alhambra.

Filled with sweet-smelling roses.

It's an Islamic-style garden.

And you are creating a garden that would represent the afterlife.

So if you'd lived a good life,

you ended up in a place like this after you passed away.

And not only would you end up in a place like this,

you've got about 500 virgins thrown in.

I believe. No, seriously. I'm serious.

The rill stretches some 20 metres from the pavilion

to a more functional area for sitting and entertaining.

When you step outside of the house,

all of a sudden you're on this big, wide, practical terrace or patio.

It's not cluttered. It has pots and containers.

It has the barbecue. A place to sit. And these two gigantic urns,

which are planted with petunias and nicely edged.

I presume they've given it a good old slap with the yoghurt.

And if that didn't work, give it another go.

What happens there? You smear yoghurt over terracotta or concrete.

And that will bring algae

-and lichens and moss.

-Nice things that want to live there.

And nice things that want to live there.

And make the place feel lived in. Create an aged aura, I suppose.

Do you know what I also like?

From here on in, there's nothing practical about this garden.

It is style over form and function. And so it should be.

That isn't a wide path.

You have to be very delicate and careful as you wander your way round.

-You have to be careful not to fall in, absolutely.

-You do.

What I like about it is it completely works.

It's a brilliant example of what you could do with a very small

garden to make a magnificent and magic effect.

In effect, you've got an oasis from the outside world.

I think we're to assume that this garden is inspired

directly by the Alhambra.

And in that garden, whoever created those palaces,

water would have been central.

They would have needed water for the palace, for the aristocrats.

They would have needed water for the garden, for food, for agriculture.

But they also used water in most magical way.

And they showed their prowess at engineering by having all

these fountains, all these pipes. But it was an extraordinary...

You're talking 600-700 years ago.

An extraordinary feat of engineering to get those fountains

bubbling away, all the lines with water coming out there.

But even these days,

I still can't decide which way this water's actually flowing.

I mean, it's lovely and fresh everywhere.

But which way is it actually flowing?

You see, the gardener here has been very...

He's thought about it for a long time.

What do you think of the background colour that's been used?

I don't mind it.

It's sort of terracotta and it's sort of Mediterranean.

But it's quite soft. It's not arguing with Northern Ireland.

If we'd had the amazing sunshine that we've been lucky enough to get

part of this summer, this garden would dance.

In the dullish light, not so successful.

But what other colour would you use?

What sort of person do you think created this garden?

I don't think this is a person who dithered around and tried

a bit of this, a bit of that, and a bit of the other.

I think they probably saw the whole picture together.

And I think they got it right.

And I think, considering it's a very small space and we're

in Northern Ireland rather than sunny Spain, I think it's terrific.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hello, Diarmuid. Hello, Helen.

-Very pleased to meet you.

-Very pleased to meet you too.

Very pleased to meet you. Welcome to Portstewart.

It's just a delight to be sitting in your garden.

-It really is.

-Well, that's what it was really designed for.

It was designed to be sat in.

-Good.

-Certainly, I think when I put this garden together...

I didn't want to be sitting down and thinking,

"There's some grass to edge or some weeds to pull up."

It was a place to be in harmony with the whole unity of the garden.

Were there difficult decisions or did you decide, right,

I'm going to make a garden that pays homage to the Alhambra,

but I'm going to do it with Northern Irish sensibility?

That's absolutely right.

I mean, you can look at some of the brickwork in the wall here.

This sort of comes from, you know, a concrete fabrication company.

Absolutely. But it works. It's absolutely perfect.

And the colour you've got it is perfect. It works. It's brilliant.

Again, the same thing with all the tiling in the garden.

How about the planting when it comes?

Because you're demonstrating a knowledge of...a good planting

knowledge, a good aspect knowledge, as well as the overall design.

You look around the immediate landscape here. There's no trees.

As I said, the North Atlantic is over that wall.

So it's not easy gardening. It's not leafy suburbs. This is tricky.

Helen was reminding me that one of the essences of the Islamic

-garden is you're representing the afterlife in a way.

-Mm-hmm.

And she thought about 500 virgins that you got for good behaviour...

HE LAUGHS

I'm actually showing this is a piece of heaven here on earth.

And I can assure you,

there's never been 500 virgins in this garden, you know.

HE LAUGHS

So three fantastic gardens that anyone would be proud of -

but which one will Diarmuid and Helen decide is the best?

Using classic judging criteria of design,

planting and good gardening practice,

they will try to come up with a winner.

First, they consider Liam Green's Jane Austen garden

with dashes of Italy and Japan.

I thought it was perfect.

Except for those very annoying conifers which didn't behave

and went wobbly at the top.

I couldn't fault it. I thought it was really, really good.

I just loved the fact that every decision was a considered one.

I especially adored the green carpet of the very bad weed,

the helxine, used underneath the laburnum in the Japanese garden.

I thought it was brilliance itself.

I knew this was the work of one person. One hand. One mind.

He knew everything.

Next, Hilary and Jim's waterways with splashes of Jackson Pollock.

I thought the lake was so strong and so successful,

it didn't awfully matter what the rest of it was.

It kind of worked.

I was utterly charmed by this garden.

It made me smile from the moment I discovered a throne on the lake.

The hedge was problematic. But then, I think the wind was problematic.

And what about James Logan's recreation of the Alhambra

in weather-beaten Portstewart?

I absolutely loved the surprise of going in

through that side entrance and seeing these billowing roses.

I must say, I thought it worked really well.

I mean, we were standing looking at it for, what, two hours?

And there wasn't a bad moment in it.

I mean, I don't think it was incredibly technical gardening.

That garden was more about decorating with plants.

But I don't think he put a foot wrong in the design of it.

And he put fairly easy plants, which he was looking after well.

And it worked.

So which one did they like best?

A very difficult decision but we have a result.

-Liam.

-Liam it is.

Delighted to hear it. Although I loved all the others.

So congratulations then to Liam Green,

edging it against some very high-quality competition.

A worthy winner. Well, we've enjoyed our garden visiting.

See you next time.

-Bye.

-Goodbye.