Episode 3 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.

That sort of garden doesn't fit in with that.

..beautiful planting...

Alpine heaven, clematis heaven.

Guaranteed to make gardeners go weak at the knees.

..and great gardening practice...

It's like putting lipstick on a gorilla. It's still a gorilla.

-Do you know what I want to do here?

-What? Lie down on the grass!

..all while the nervous owners wait inside for the verdict.

I can't believe that they're here.

It's like somebody coming in to criticise your children.

This week, three gardens from County Down,

but what will Diarmuid and Helen make of them?

The first garden sits on its own peninsula on Strangford Lough

in County Down.

Tracy Hamilton inherited the Georgian estate from

her grandparents, Jack and Kay Mackay, almost 30 years ago

and is aware of the great responsibility that comes with it.

It's a big property, a lot of management, but we respect it

and I just think we are very privileged to have it and,

you know, we put our all and our energy into it

and the more you put into something, the more you get out.

It's an astonishingly-demanding collection,

centred on a walled garden and surrounded by an arboretum

that contains some of the most impressive trees in Ireland.

It's a huge challenge for a busy business executive like Tracy.

There are days I think, "Oh, my goodness,

"does anyone realise what this place is involving?"

Tracy's solution is to keep meticulous notes

of what plant is where.

We are fortunate in that my grandparents kept all their

archives, we've got all the receipts and invoices of purchases.

We have documentation.

My grandmother was a great one for writing everything in little books.

And where she's planted things, what have died, the reasons...

So I think... just sheer recording and labelling.

So, how does Tracy feel about Diarmuid and Helen's visit?

When I heard that Diarmuid and Helen were coming, I thought,

"Oh, my goodness. The gurus of the Irish gardening world!"

But I appreciate what they'll say,

because it will be interesting to see.

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

best-known private garden.

Together, they will argue over the garden, while Tracy waits inside.

Oh, well, this is a bit different. Gorgeous.

Georgian house peeping up over the lawn in the distance.

Right, you go that way. You'll be invited up for tea.

I'm the gardener. I'll go through the back door.

I have to go with my friend.

ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS

The centrepiece of the property is a group of giant yews

that overlook a walled garden.

To me, this is a cathedral.

It's absolutely wonderful.

I have to say, the sunlight does it a huge amount of favours.

The sunlight puts in the magic and it's coming through

stained-glass windows and it's absolutely beautiful.

-Do you remember that, the wedding of William and Kate...?

-Yeah.

..in Westminster Abbey and the trees? That's what...

And they soared up like that, look, these are soaring like some great...

-Only one thing missing.

-A Princess.

No, Pippa Middleton's bum.

I knew you were going to start that. I knew you would get it in somehow.

The walled garden protects the plants from the winds

blowing in from the lough and keeps intruders out.

-Well, most of them.

-Do you know what I want to do here?

-What?

Lie down on the grass and roll in the daisies.

I mean, it's a lawn built for that in this sun.

Around every corner is a new delight.

I absolutely adore that plant

when it's looking as good as that against the blue sky.

Crinodendron, the lantern tree.

I mean, you see it... It does so well in Northern Ireland

and I think it's the fact that it's a bit warmer than Scotland

and it's acid soil and this is near the sea

and you've got that, sort of, microclimate of being near the sea

and it's a blissfully-happy plant. It's dead easy.

And the way it drapes, it links into this rose.

I think this is moyesii,

but I wouldn't put my head in a block over it.

I think you're right. And the way that that's

been allowed to arch down so low.

And that's been... To climb up into the Crinodendron, it's just heaven.

And that's what I think a relaxed Irish garden is all about.

Look at this and alcove carved from inside a yew and a lover's bench.

Absolutely. First catch your lover.

I must show people this. You hardly ever see this as good as this.

This is the Scottish flame flower, but it actually comes from Chile

and the reason it was called the Scottish flame flower is

that it did so well in Scotland. It goes completely rampant

and looks absolutely gorgeous, like it does now, or it won't grow at all.

-You've got two choices.

-What would be your top tip,

cos people find it hard to establish?

It wants its roots in the shade, like this,

and its head in the sun, like that. So this is the perfect place.

It says, "Thank you very much. I'm very happy here."

Clouds of geranium, which is most useful plant in a garden

-because it'll establish in a dry...

-Sun or shade.

..dappled, shady place. Here, it looks gorgeous.

Don't need to stake it. There's a lovely blue one.

-That is beautiful. Melianthus!

-My favourite plant.

-Is it?

-My favourite plant.

-Why?

-It's just the most heavenly shape.

A kind of serrated, jagged edge. And the yew.

Now, this should happen a lot more.

And we wonder what's inside that yew. Looks like it's got a hole in it.

Wow! A doorway!

This.. This is magical.

HE GASPS

Look at this!

Wow, look at that sea.

And a beautiful, cool sea breeze.

Just the most magical garden to be drawn into explore.

Love it, love it.

You know, it takes a lot of confidence to create

or to look after a garden this way.

And not to say, "There's all those new plants and I've got to have them

"and I'll take out the old."

Let's just live with these lovely things we have.

So, this isn't a collectors garden?

No, this is NOT the collectors garden.

This is the contented garden. It's the happy garden.

Nothing has been shifted out to make way for the new.

And it was a collector's garden in Victorian times.

That was what people did. They did collecting.

But it's been allowed to relax.

There's a certain mellowness to it which is absolutely most endearing.

So, of course, the big question now is, who lives in a house

and with a garden like this? I have some ideas on that.

I think it might be a, kind of, minor member of European royalty,

say a Swedish princess, who wanted to get away from her place

and be in the land of green.

It could be, I think, it actually is, Elton and David.

They've grown up. They've had kids,

they've given up the bling and they want elegance.

It's not big enough for the whole caboodle. It's not big enough.

Time at last to meet Tracey, the proud owner.

-Welcome to Ringdufferin.

-Lovely to see you.

Hi, Helen, welcome to Ringdufferin.

-It's a great treat.

-It really is, isn't it?

Very few people would approach the idea of a house or garden

with that notion of taking it on. What does that mean to you?

A lot of energy. A lot of work. It is a serious commitment.

And when you say taking it on, what are you taking it one for?

I think because of my own passion.

I adore Strangford Lough, I adore the location.

We are very fortunate to be living here.

Are you looking after the house and the garden for future generations?

Yes, for everybody, cos the nice thing about Ringdufferin

is we have so many specialist groups that come here

and to see people's reaction, seeing a property like this,

in family ownership, it just brings out the magic.

We are very fortunate in Ireland

to have wonderful, wonderful properties, but not all

are lived in by the family.

And I think that that's what people really, really enjoy when they come.

For me, the treat of the week or the treat of the whole series

-has to be the yews in the middle of the walled garden.

-I know.

It was just absolutely magical. What year was that lot put in?

We reckon 1820, because the Florencecourt yew

was discovered in 1780

and they weren't commercially available, as far as I'm aware,

until 1820 and they have to be one of the first ones planted.

You think you should be doing something else?

Do you think you should be as adventurous

as whoever created this garden was?

Do you think you should make not a place of rest, but a statement?

Um, I hear what you're saying, I know I should be. It's just,

we don't... Yes, it's a very big garden, but something would have

to come out to make a statement, I think, which would be a tricky one.

You don't have the confidence in your own ability, do you?

It's not really confidence.

I don't want to take away something that works.

It all works. But this garden has always been added to and I'm not

talking about added to gently. There's a statement to be made here.

There's a statement to be made about you and YOUR family living here.

Do you think I should have a water feature

-of the walled garden?

-She says that witheringly!

-She did rather. She did rather.

-I'd love a little garden room,

which would be my garden office, with all my planting records

and all my books, and I'd be right in the midst of the garden.

-With a vista?

-Yes.

I think this is a most charming garden,

but I do think it needs the imprint of its curator

and I would like to see something that reflects your personality.

Not something gentle. Something that makes a...statement.

-Shh!

-Does that mean that we have the pleasure

of you coming back to see what I've done?

-THEY LAUGH

-I'd be delighted to.

The next garden is in Bessbrook, just outside Newry, in County Down

and it's the proud achievement of William and Hillary McKelvie.

In a limited space, they've created a garden

which is small, but perfectly formed.

We decided if it was divided up a bit,

you could fool yourself into thinking

you had more done than you had.

So, you had the top bit done and, then, you had the middle bit done

and then the bottom bit done.

Avid plant collectors Bill and Hillary

have an impressive range of plants,

but one type stands out.

Yes, we love our alpines.

-Slightly(!)

-THEY LAUGH

Yes!

Yes, their garden is packed with small alpine rock plants

with many showcased in a crevice garden,

inspired by a trip to the Czech Republic.

They do their rock gardens completely different to us.

So, we came back and we did a small trial one to see how it would go

and three years ago, we decided to do the big rock bed.

So, how do William and Hillary feel about Helen and Diarmuid's visit?

It's like somebody coming in to criticise your children!

Because the garden really can get an obsession with you.

So, the fact that somebody might criticise it is terrible.

Well, it's not Downton Abbey.

No, but it could have some Downton Abbey plants in it.

My goodness.

Hanging baskets and troughs greet you

at the entrance to the first of William and Hillary's garden areas.

Lovely sunny place.

-Look at this lot here.

-Ah, a bit of colour, by the house.

I mean, Diarmuid, look at this adorable little hanging bell.

-It is very sweet.

-It's a sweetie pie.

And really nice sweet peas growing up around it.

I know, and delicate sweet hearts that you don't see anywhere else.

And people don't grow enough clematis in pots.

Exactly. Then you can really look after it, you can really feed it

and stop it drying out, which immediately gives it wilt.

It's not long before Diarmuid and Helen spot their first alpine plant.

-It's alpine heaven.

-I think it's got a bit of height.

A lot of alpine gardens are very flat.

-I think it's excitingly done, that.

-Yeah.

Clematis everywhere.

Alpine heaven, clematis heaven.

-Beautiful planted troughs.

-Nice pots.

An archway of roses leads to another garden room.

Oh, it's a garden of compartments.

It's quite dated. It centres around plants.

Whatever makes the plants happy is...

-Is primary, exactly.

-..is primary.

And then, yes, you have this glorious archway,

so you're seduced into a completely different type.

When I look up there, I see a cottage garden, I suppose.

Well, it's opening out to more alpines!

HE CHUCKLES

Thou shalt not scoff at alpines!

I have to say, for me, it's just too much.

I understand, from the gardener's point of view,

this is what they collect, this is what they absolutely love,

but the way it's set out is very 1960s, 1970s.

You see what I think, that's the scale.

That whole thing is the scale of a lovely cottage garden.

Romantic and fally-abouty and centred and flowery and lovely

and then, we get here and it all gets dwarfy

and I think this is fine if you want to grow specialised plants

and they're brilliantly grown and they're very, very happy plants.

If this could be on its own somewhere else,

-rather that on top of that romantic jumble...

-I think you're right.

You're right, but that's from a design point of view.

They just love alpines. What can they do?

Nobody is to be contemptuous about alpines round here!

Among the impressive array of plants on show,

one has caught Helen's attention.

Are you not enchanted by that colour?

-What a colour!

-That is absolutely gorgeous.

-I mean, these corydalis -

I think they call it "cor-id-alis" instead of "cory-dalis" -

they particularly love Northern Ireland.

I think it's the moisture and the cool.

It's that exquisite blue,

which is guaranteed to make gardeners go weak at the knees.

The end of the garden has a lawn and a seating area

and not an alpine in sight.

And finally, pure serenity.

Seats one, two, three, four, five, six.

Not much room, really.

People are being squeezed out of this garden.

-It's not a garden, I think.

-Well, actually, sorry to be so negative,

but a classic mistake people make

is they don't make the seating area big enough.

Because they say, "That'll be just fine for two people",

but when they've got six friends, it doesn't work.

It's not... It's a garden for working in.

It's not for sitting in, because they want every inch of space,

as I do, to plant a plant, rather than plant a chair.

But, overall, a beautiful space.

Overall, a lovely, plain space

and a place to wriggle one's toes in the dew in the morning,

which is what one needs.

So, who lives in a garden like this?

Somebody who absolutely adores plants and has adored them

for a very long time and, um, I have it a bit myself,

it's a kind of alcoholism, but it's over plants.

You see one and you have to have it.

But I don't think that's really fair,

because these are very, very knowledgeable people.

They are really knowledgeable, they really love their plants

and they've done a wonderful job. Except, my only criticism -

to me, it feels a little bit squashed.

Time to meet the nervous owners.

Sorry to be treading on your territory.

-Not at all, you're more than welcome.

-It's a dreamy garden.

How do you feel it works, from a design point of view?

Usually, whenever people come, they'll come round,

which is the back of our house and they take a look at it,

and they say, "Well, it's not going to take long to visit here."

And then they'll come round and you usually get an "Oh",

whenever you come through the side and they see the whole patio area

and then you'll get, "Oh, my goodness, there's more."

-But your passion is obviously alpines.

-Yes.

-Where does that come from?

-They're so beautiful.

The very first alpine show that we went to, in Greenmount, Glasnevin,

had a trough planted up.

And I just looked at it and I said to him,

"I really, really want to do that." Oh, it's just fabulous.

Would you say, in a way,

that your great love of alpines has sort of taken over here?

Can I burst in here? Do you know what she called you earlier on?

-What?

-Alcoholics.

THEY LAUGH

Well, we consider ourselves plantaholics, more than alcoholics.

Exactly.

There is another story here, too.

When I examined this garden and I meet you.

-It's about a partnership, isn't it?

-Oh, yes.

-It is.

You know, and that love

and passion for the garden, also, is about you two.

It'd be very hard to do it just all on your own.

You need... you definitely need back-up.

And is that the perfect partnership there?

-Oh, I think so.

-I think so.

I agree. THEY LAUGH

Well, of course, we think, as everybody would think,

your garden is absolutely charming.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Our final garden is in the shadow of the Mourne mountains

in Castlewellan.

Sam Harrison bought this two-acre site in the '70s

and set about creating a meandering parkland, full of surprises.

It has been like a good book.

There's always a beginning, a middle and an end.

I haven't got to the end yet.

As a forester in nearby Castlewellan Forest Park,

Sam knew how to make his vision a reality.

I had the skills to grow my own seeds,

so it was such a joy to do from a blank canvas.

Humour is an important element in Sam's garden.

If I hadn't have been a forester, I wanted to be a cartoonist and

I would like to think that parts of that are on show around the garden.

So, how does Sam feel about a visit from Diarmuid and Helen?

If the truth be told, I can't believe that they're here,

because, to me, my garden's only a wee, small garden

and for people like that come into my garden to say nice things,

or bad things, I don't care... I'll defend my garden,

but at the same time, it's just unusual.

What do you think of this, Diarmuid?

Well, it's a Paris, isn't it? It's a pear, a domed pear.

What do I think that? Not a lot.

It's quite pretty today, but if you let it go, it just goes everywhere.

It has got no manners.

The problem with it, it's a beautiful leaf,

but it won't grow into a perfect dome.

It wants to grow every which way.

So I decided I was going to have to spend the rest of my life

being married to it, to cut it back into shape.

It's a lovely leaf, but it doesn't know... It's got no manners on it.

-Look at it.

-Have you cut your husband into shape?

-I haven't finished yet.

What I like there, Diarmuid, is that long bed full of different ferns.

A kind of Victorian fernery.

Bringing the house in, settling it into...

It makes that house sit down so beautifully on its sort of green.

Yes, kind of. But...there's a problem there.

-Big problem. Big problem.

-Big problem.

It's the small island in the lawn that offends Diarmuid.

But it doesn't take long before they start to see the bigger picture.

-Look at that.

-There is your vista.

-Things are looking up.

-Yeah, look, pathway there.

-I want to go round there.

-We're drawn.

Now, that, I find quite inviting.

Charming. Absolutely charming.

Away from the front lawn, a discreet path leads to a woodland area

with lots of surprises.

-Look at this.

-Hen's teeth!

Did many foxes die for that, or what?

-I think it's how many Basil Brushes?

-How many Basil Brushes, yes!

-And look at this heavenly abutilon.

-Oh, look at that!

-I'm a sucker for pale mauve.

-That colour against the sky!

-Isn't that just gorgeous?

-Do you know,

we've come into an absolutely delightful woodland glade...

-An absolute delight.

-..With an amazing collection of plants.

There's some humour with the planting that's been introduced.

I would not have expected a solanum there.

I wouldn't have expected the abutilon. Anyway, this is charming.

-Charming.

-Charming and easily copyable.

It changes completely. Lots of trees. The spire is great.

Gorgeous view. Heavenly view.

The view is just beautiful, with the mountains behind it.

-Really gorgeous.

-Things are looking up.

But on the way back out to the lawn, there's another '70s hangover

that is bound to catch their eye.

To me, the whole of the back of that is dead.

And it's not going to recover. That sort of tree doesn't recover,

-which looks god-awful, quite frankly.

-It's desperate.

Would you grow something up it?

No, I think it would be horrible and it wouldn't work.

It would look like somebody... It's like putting lipstick on a gorilla.

It's still a gorilla. That is a gorilla and gorillas must go.

Every second garden in the country has this issue.

And they don't do anything about it. They leave it there.

-They leave it. Onwards!

-Goodbye, fair tree. It's gone.

-Well, this is lovely.

-And shadow is so important.

-This is beautiful.

-See these globes?

-Yes.

-Do you know where that came from?

-No.

Do you remember a lollipop garden I did at the Chelsea Flower Show?

Gosh, doesn't it spread?

-Is that funny?

-It's that same bright blue.

-And that's where it came from.

Everyone's still using it and they're using it with an Easter Island head.

Sam's garden lets you wander into leafy cul-de-sacs

peppered with his trademark humour.

What on earth is that?!

HE CHUCKLES

Well, I think it denotes a certain...sense of humour.

-Have you ever seen one of these before?

-No.

But, in amongst the humorous touches,

there are some seriously-impressive plants.

Now, here's your favourite plant.

-See?

-HE LAUGHS

He's trying to catch me, you see.

He's trying to catch me, because this here is the gunnera.

A magnificent giant, very, very prickly whatsit there.

And this looks just like it, but it's the rhubarb family. This is a rheum.

This is related to rhubarb. Edible rhubarb.

And I reckon whoever owns this garden has a sense of humour.

He's had a joke. He said,

"I'll just put them there and sort them all out."

So, Helen, paint me a picture of the person who created this garden.

Well, this is somebody who absolutely adores and loves

and understands wooded plants, for a start.

And adores The Grateful Dead,

dipping foodstuff into melted cheese,

probably Status Quo, also, and is stuck in the 1970s,

but, with a sense of humour and, I think,

for some very obvious reasons, it's a man.

Uh, possibly.

Possibly. Now you mention it, definitely.

Time to meet Sam, the proud owner.

Well, Sam, this garden, for us, has been an extraordinary surprise.

Because, to be honest, when we got here,

we weren't absolutely bananas about the new bit of planting in the front.

-And then we walk into this paradise round the back here.

-Right.

I'm a collector, by trade. I just collect things.

And trees are no different and shrubs are no different

and they seem to have worked out. Now, life can change you a wee bit.

The man above will thin out this and something thins out that,

but what is left now has given me a lovely tapestry of being able

to sit there and say, "Yes, this is mine."

So your style of gardening revolves around curved shaped beds

leading, opening up vistas, leading you to certain places,

and appreciating what will grow in the Northern Irish climate.

My garden started off like a jigsaw puzzle,

but I added, this term, peninsulas.

So all of a sudden, instead of plants 20 plants,

I can plant 40 plants in the same area,

but with having no straight lines, I can...

A straight line would say to Helen, "I'm not walking 50 yards,

"I can see it all in one go."

Whereas, if I zig-zag round my garden,

I can get Helen to do 200 yards

and your mind tells you you haven't seen it all yet.

-And also you can disappear.

-Yes.

-You can go on a journey.

-Yes.

-So, that's what the garden means to you - creation and relaxation.

-Yes.

There are some things I haven't seen in any book.

A few odd bits of sculpture.

Yes, well, you've got to be humorous in your garden.

You've got to make people smile and comment.

You're smiling now, so you obviously enjoyed it.

-It certainly had that effect.

-Good.

But I've never seen one wear a tie before.

Well, I have a group coming tomorrow from the south of England

and the organisers said we will have ladies in our company

that might find that offensive.

So he hasn't seen it with a tie on!

We have thoroughly enjoyed that humour.

We've thoroughly enjoyed your understanding

of what could grow here

and the private Eden that you've carved out here.

How beautifully it's put together. It's put together exquisitely.

So, three very different gardens.

But which one did Diarmuid and Helen like best?

Can they possibly pick a favourite?

First, they considered Sam's Castlewellan woodland,

created over 40 years.

I did get a bit of a shock to begin with.

But, it was, and Sam himself was, heaven itself.

It just oozes out of him.

He could tell me about every plant, where he bought it,

why he placed it and what he was going to do in the future.

In the one area, he would plant them all together

and then he'd move them.

Good. Good.

What about William and Hillary's alpine extravaganza in Bessbrook?

From a design point of view, it's hard to make a good design

if you're raving mad collector, but things were beautiful planted.

Their passion for collecting plants was absolutely wonderful.

And understanding what those plants needed, the requirements.

And she had her alpines and he had his clematis.

There was a jolly mix, but too much of a squeezed mix in places.

And, finally, Tracy's astonishing heritage heaven.

I LOVE this garden.

If I could live in any of the gardens that we saw,

it would be this one.

But from a design point of view,

it's not going anywhere else.

I think great thought has gone into which plants to leave

and which plants to take out and, um, it's...

There's a lovely balance of what was there

and the new plants very slowly, gently coming in.

It's not all happening, bang,

with a sort of, "Bring in that lot and bring in the gang."

Three unique gardens, but it's time to pick a favourite.

-Sam.

-Fantastic.

It's hard because they're such different gardens,

-but you can't be unhappy for Sam.

-I'm delighted for Sam.

So, well done to Sam, whose 40 years of hard work

has edged it against some very impressive competition.

So, what do you think, Diarmuid?

Three amazing gardens and we could barely decide between them.

I think it was all an absolute delight

and thank you for joining us on our wonderful romp

through some lovely gardens.

-Goodbye!

-Bye!