0:00:18 > 0:00:21The lost gardens of Heligan,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24nearly 200 acres of Cornwall,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27famed for their beauty and intriguing story.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35A story that thousands of visitors every year fall in love with.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42But there's a side of Heligan that those visitors don't always see.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56The gardeners here look to those that have gone before them,
0:00:56 > 0:01:01using the philosophies and secrets of a fallen generation,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04adopting techniques that are hundreds of years old.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08And, because they do,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12Heligan has other secrets to reveal.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31The Lost Gardens of Heligan
0:01:31 > 0:01:35are the lovingly restored remains of a Georgian estate
0:01:35 > 0:01:39that was, in its heyday, the perfect example of self-sufficient living.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47In the days before food imports and supermarkets,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51these huge productive gardens supplied everything,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55both to the family at the manor house and all the estate workers.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07The productive gardens are the hub of a wider estate,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09which includes farmland
0:02:09 > 0:02:12and woodland.
0:02:12 > 0:02:18Today the whole estate is managed as it was in its Georgian prime,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21using the same combination of practicality
0:02:21 > 0:02:24and, "waste not want not" philosophies.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27The staff follow the same seasonal rota,
0:02:27 > 0:02:32doing everything by hand, knowing that the spring will come.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37From season to season,
0:02:37 > 0:02:39from year to year,
0:02:39 > 0:02:41even century to century,
0:02:41 > 0:02:45the gardeners have tended this place through a constant cycle
0:02:45 > 0:02:47of life and death,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50growth and rebirth.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54And the consequences of all this simple care?
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Even in modern times
0:02:56 > 0:03:00there's still a home here for our most cherished animals.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09From the barn owl who hunts the field margins of the farmland,
0:03:12 > 0:03:16to the family of foxes who play on the lawns of the pleasure gardens.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25And the badgers and woodpeckers, who carve out a home in the woodland.
0:03:32 > 0:03:33I think, obviously,
0:03:33 > 0:03:38when a place has been left undisturbed as long as Heligan was
0:03:38 > 0:03:43it builds a whole body of wildlife that has made it its home.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Since arriving here we've found that,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52because we've left chunks alone and opened up other bits,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56that we've just added to the ecological niches
0:03:56 > 0:03:57that creatures can live in.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12It's winter,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16and the gardens seem lifeless,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22but if you who know where to look,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26wild creatures are everywhere.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29The blackbirds are already busy.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33In gardens they nest two weeks earlier than in the wild.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Combine that with Cornwall's milder climate
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and this pair are already gathering nesting material,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41even in mid-February.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47And if you look carefully around Valentine's Day,
0:04:47 > 0:04:51the Italian garden is the stage for an amphibious tale
0:04:51 > 0:04:54of often unrequited love.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02These common toads are spawning.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Actually, a highly competitive affair.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27In the embrace of, often, many suitors,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30it's the female in the centre of the group,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33each of the males trying to get prime position
0:05:33 > 0:05:34to fertilise her eggs.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Toads do migrate to the same breeding pond every year.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Considering they may live to 50,
0:05:43 > 0:05:48for those who are unsuccessful this time, there's always hope.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12As breeding ponds disappear through our countryside,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16this Italian garden is now, as it was a century ago,
0:06:17 > 0:06:23a sanctuary for amphibians and humans alike,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26but it wasn't always this way.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32In its prime, the estate was privately managed
0:06:32 > 0:06:36for the benefit of just one family.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40But today it's maintained for everyone to enjoy.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45In between, the gardens had been forgotten, lost,
0:06:45 > 0:06:50until 21 years ago, Tim Smit and his friends stumbled upon them
0:06:50 > 0:06:54in a discovery that would change the gardens' history.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00It was a fantastic day, cutting through this bramble.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07I found this large vinery, which was completely rotted out,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10and the glass was hanging in the bramble and the ivy...
0:07:11 > 0:07:15..and the sun came out and, there under this green veil,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17I saw on the wall...
0:07:17 > 0:07:20a pair of vine scissors still hanging on the original nail.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28And it's really funny when your eyes adjust to seeing something like those scissors,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30how, suddenly, you saw all over the place tools,
0:07:30 > 0:07:32all sorts of implements,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35just lying there as if someone had many years ago said, "Teatime,"
0:07:35 > 0:07:40and they'd gone away fully expecting to return within the hour.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48We know now that, in 1915 and 1916,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52most of the gardeners enlisted and went off to war
0:07:52 > 0:07:54and we know that two thirds of them were to die.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15They may be gone, but are not forgotten.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17The gardens are restored now
0:08:17 > 0:08:21and a new generation of gardeners are reviving their old ways.
0:08:24 > 0:08:31Because it's these traditional techniques, often hundreds of years old, that make Heligan special
0:08:31 > 0:08:36and that seem to balance and satisfy the needs of all the living creatures here,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39from plants to humans.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Gardeners at Heligan perform a timeless set of rituals,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55jobs dictated by the seasons and by nature.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Nicola is responsible for the productive gardens.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04At this time of year, early spring,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07peach blossoms are obviously much earlier than all the other fruits
0:09:07 > 0:09:09that are outdoors
0:09:09 > 0:09:12and there's very few insects around.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15There's the odd bee buzzing around you can hear,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18but we can't rely on them to pollinate them,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21so we give them a helping hand, basically,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23to make sure that they're pollinated.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29I use my little rabbit's tail, which is great.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31It's just like using a very soft, delicate brush -
0:09:31 > 0:09:33you don't damage the flowers.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36You just gently, sort of, brush it from one flower to another
0:09:36 > 0:09:40and that's moving the pollen.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43It's a bit like doing your own watercolour, really.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46It is very much a marking of the season.
0:09:46 > 0:09:53I think we, kind of, all wait for the peach blossom to come out.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57It very much heralds the start of the year for us.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Outside the peach house,
0:10:05 > 0:10:10the hard frosts of early spring linger in the flower garden,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15and anemones provide the only bright colour
0:10:15 > 0:10:17on otherwise bare earth.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Well, that's not strictly true.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Throughout the gardens, year round,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29there are constant flashes of red from the gardeners' friend.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37The robin is a real feature in the garden.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Everybody, in all the different areas of the garden,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44feels they've got their own personal little robin, really,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48because they do constantly follow you around.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51It's quite lovely. You know, they're there beside you,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54sort of, flitting in and out and they're really quite tame.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59It's kind of a balance because we need the worms for the soil
0:10:59 > 0:11:03and the robins are pinching the worms.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05But other pests and insects,
0:11:05 > 0:11:10you know, the aphids and the smaller sort of insects that we don't want on the plants,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12they do help us around the garden with.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15They're just a lovely part of being outdoors
0:11:15 > 0:11:18and you don't want to fight against nature -
0:11:18 > 0:11:23you want to work with it as much as you can and appreciate it.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28March.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37As spring bursts forth, the pied wagtails have begun to nest.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45They may think they've chosen a secret place,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48but it's right in the centre of the melon yard.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57And, in the farmland,
0:11:57 > 0:12:02the first of Heligan's lambs soak up the spring sunshine.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07Part of the magic here is that spring comes earlier in Cornwall.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39The jackdaw is reputed to be clever,
0:12:40 > 0:12:46but this one probably needs to rethink a more...fitting nest site?
0:13:19 > 0:13:21From the giant Magnolia campellii
0:13:21 > 0:13:23to the smaller bulbs,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28spring flowers adorn both the pleasure and formal gardens,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31but the woodland also puts on a show.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34Violets, primroses and bluebells.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42But they're only here because of a return to traditional forestry.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Coppicing leaves clearings,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50which allow sunlight to bathe the forest floor
0:13:50 > 0:13:52and allows these flowers to grow.
0:13:56 > 0:13:57CHAINSAW STARTS UP
0:14:00 > 0:14:05When a tree IS harvested, the policy is to use it all.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Smaller branches are used in the garden, or as mulch,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and some wood left to rot down - valuable habitat for insects.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17CHAINSAW ROARS
0:14:19 > 0:14:23TREE CREAKS
0:14:25 > 0:14:27BIRD CHIRRUPS
0:14:27 > 0:14:30One of the really pleasing aspects of the restoration,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33when we had, by and large, finished the main gardens
0:14:33 > 0:14:36and moved down into the lost valley,
0:14:36 > 0:14:42was uncovering the bones, if you like, of the working outside estate.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59We often talk about sustainability
0:14:59 > 0:15:01and here was the evidence all around you
0:15:01 > 0:15:04of what had been deemed to be sustainable operations.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09We had several acres of hazel for the pea sticks, and so on,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11and the fence making.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Everything was grown on site.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23Some trees, although dead,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25are left standing.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27For very good reason.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35A pair of great spotted woodpeckers live here.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Having carved their nest in this dead tree,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41they're already feeding chicks.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53But one of Heligan's most charming woodland creatures
0:15:53 > 0:15:55is almost never seen by the visitors
0:15:55 > 0:15:58because it's mainly nocturnal.
0:16:03 > 0:16:09Before dusk, this community begins its nightly foray for food.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15As night falls,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19their explorations take them all the way into the pleasure gardens.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27The tearooms at Heligan actually play host to all sorts of visitors,
0:16:27 > 0:16:2924/7.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38It's here that many of our permanent residents meet up.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08By day the tearooms are also bustling with visitors,
0:17:14 > 0:17:18made welcome in particular by the rooks and jackdaws.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33Gregarious birds are known to flock together during a season of plenty.
0:17:41 > 0:17:47All over the gardens are signs that life is moving at a faster pace.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Well, for Cornwall, that is.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58They say a suicide is very rare in gardeners.
0:17:58 > 0:17:59Most gardeners I meet,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02they have a calm and a pace about them,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05which is different to any other profession I know.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09It would drive me mad.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28When we start sowing a row it's 100ft long
0:18:28 > 0:18:30and you can be there for some time,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34but there's something about the state of mind when you're doing those things
0:18:34 > 0:18:37and sometimes people look at you and they go,
0:18:37 > 0:18:38"Oh, that would drive me mad,"
0:18:38 > 0:18:42because you're pricking out hundreds of plants and it's just that monotonous thing,
0:18:42 > 0:18:47but it's quite calming, and being outdoors all year round...
0:18:47 > 0:18:51I just think internally, you know, that's very good for you.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16In the Sundial Garden,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19the blackbirds have the first of this year's babies.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35We do have a lot of birds in the peach house with us,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38particularly in the summer when it's very dry in there
0:19:38 > 0:19:41and the birds are having little dust baths.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44So, there's always some fluttering around in the soil
0:19:44 > 0:19:46because it's very dry.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50We have a lot of flies, sort of, later in the season.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53We put biological controls in the glasshouse to keep pests down,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56but you often see them pecking along the base of the walls
0:19:56 > 0:19:58and you get little mosses growing
0:19:58 > 0:20:02and the birds, sort of, peck through and find the little insects,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05so it's great because for us they're clearing out our pests
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and for them, they just get a feast, as well.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14The walls of the productive gardens were used for growing fruit.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17When the gardens were first built brick was expensive,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20so they were mainly built of stone.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24However, in the sun brick warms up much more than stone,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28so, ever practical, the gardeners only used brick in those positions
0:20:28 > 0:20:33where the extra warmth would assist the ripening fruit.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36What would they think of the state of this precious wall now?
0:20:38 > 0:20:42Sparrows peck at the old mortar for the grit it contains.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46It helps them grind their food inside their stomachs,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50and the traditional limestone also helps make strong eggs -
0:20:50 > 0:20:52vital at this time of year.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Although they were once abundant,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06the sparrow is now listed as a threatened species.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Here, they're still thriving.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26June, and a new season begins.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28The holiday season.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30In the pleasure gardens,
0:21:30 > 0:21:35the giant Cornish red rhododendron trees are now at their peak.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44But the captivated visitors are just day-trippers.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Each evening they pack up and leave.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54And when the visitors are gone...
0:21:56 > 0:22:00..permanent residents reclaim the lawns once again.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07A family who call this home.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25This year's cub is still just a baby, with a lot to learn.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28The older cub is, perhaps, a yearling
0:22:28 > 0:22:32and seems reluctant, yet, to claim his independence.
0:22:32 > 0:22:33So, for the time being,
0:22:33 > 0:22:38Mum, with her one scarred eye, will hunt for all of them.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52The little ones have much more important business to attend to.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Here every creature has a place, not just to live,
0:24:30 > 0:24:31but to hunt.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Out in the farmland, a rare sight these days -
0:24:42 > 0:24:45the ultimate symbol that here they're getting it right.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55The sensitive management of the fields, the hedgerows
0:24:55 > 0:24:59and the wide margins provide habitat for plenty of small mammals
0:24:59 > 0:25:01like field voles
0:25:01 > 0:25:06and, without them, this barn owl simply can't survive.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50To have created a place where a lot of living things can't thrive
0:25:50 > 0:25:53is almost an affront to your approach to husbandry,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57or living, if you like, with the grain of nature.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02I think, also, it's important for people to think about the hedgerows
0:26:02 > 0:26:05and the wild areas, and the creatures that live in it
0:26:05 > 0:26:08as having a sense of rights to it,
0:26:09 > 0:26:14because we're so used to looking at humankind as having "dominion,"
0:26:14 > 0:26:18as it says in the Book of Genesis, "over all living things."
0:26:18 > 0:26:21I think it often blinds us to the fact that
0:26:21 > 0:26:25wild things are part of us.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34July.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39To grow your own pineapples was, in the great Georgian era,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42the ultimate accomplishment from the gardens
0:26:42 > 0:26:44and then, as now, required
0:26:44 > 0:26:47extraordinary effort and know how.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Pineapples need heat to grow
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and the pineapple pit relies on a precise balance of straw
0:26:57 > 0:27:00and rotting horse manure to provide it.
0:27:05 > 0:27:11Like pineapples, pied wagtails are known for their love of warm places.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14They often gather together to roost in sewage works,
0:27:14 > 0:27:19so is it that which has inspired the wagtails to nest here
0:27:19 > 0:27:22in the gap warmed by the pineapple pits,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26even though it's one of the busiest places in the whole garden?
0:27:31 > 0:27:34YOUNG BIRDS CHIRRUP LOUDLY
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Visitors are just part of the scenery
0:27:48 > 0:27:52and it's all systems go finding insects for five chicks.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Usually, a pair of woodpeckers
0:28:05 > 0:28:07produce between four and seven eggs,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14but this year there seem to be only two chicks.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20It may well be that our great spotted woodpecker,
0:28:20 > 0:28:25himself a predator of nests, has had his own nest raided.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36All of those dead logs provide plenty of good Cornish grub.
0:28:52 > 0:28:53The grey squirrel,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57commonly blamed for the decline of our woodland birds
0:28:57 > 0:28:59for their egg-stealing habits.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Is that fair?
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Birds lay so many eggs -
0:29:25 > 0:29:28perhaps they are expecting to lose a few?
0:29:36 > 0:29:39Our squirrel may well have visited the nest before
0:29:39 > 0:29:42and taken some of the eggs,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46but today he's more interested in the tree as a grooming spot.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26When darkness falls, Heligan's woods get really busy.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30And this year there have been lots of babies.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56But it's not just the badgers out in the woods tonight.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29The barn owls have chicks.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31They're just a few weeks old
0:31:31 > 0:31:37but already eating their own bodyweight in mice and voles.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51The night shift at Heligan is full on.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16But dawn reveals tragedy for one family.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42No-one knows what has killed the youngest cub.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Another territorial fox,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48a badger,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50a dog?
0:32:50 > 0:32:51We can only guess.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Most of Heligan's babies are flourishing
0:33:25 > 0:33:28and some are ready to take their first leap into adulthood.
0:33:32 > 0:33:38For others, though, it does require a leap of faith before they've tested out their wings.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50Mum tries to encourage him out with a tasty caterpillar.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Every second he's on the ground is dangerous.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08Before he can fly, he's completely vulnerable to predators,
0:34:08 > 0:34:13but his instincts seem to tell him to head for the trees.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19Like many mothers, this one has a strong urge to feed her young,
0:34:19 > 0:34:23which doesn't go just because he's fledged the nest.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34So, instead of flying lesson one for our woodpecker chick,
0:34:34 > 0:34:36today turns out to be tree climbing.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49Our pied wagtail chicks are out of the pineapple pit and, here in the melon yard,
0:34:49 > 0:34:54for the next few weeks, they will also get basic training in flying...
0:34:57 > 0:35:01..and will finally find out what that tail can really do
0:35:01 > 0:35:05when they move on to acrobatics and fly catching.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18The height of summer.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25The peach house in the summer is the most beautiful part of the garden.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29It's really beautiful and the peaches themselves are lovely.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33You get these big, fat, ripe peaches.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37It's a constant job in the summertime to keep an eye on them
0:35:37 > 0:35:40because, obviously, they're so delicate and soft
0:35:40 > 0:35:43that if they fall they bruise very easily.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45But you get to a point
0:35:45 > 0:35:48where they're literally ripening by the hour.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55There is no access, for obvious reasons, to the peach house in the summer for visitors,
0:35:55 > 0:35:57but they are so beautiful and so tempting,
0:35:57 > 0:36:02you quite often see these little bruised finger marks on the peaches
0:36:02 > 0:36:05where people have tried to grab them and pull them down.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08So, even though they are not supposed to be in there,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11I think we do get a few illegal trespassers.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Flowers were the peak of horticultural achievement
0:36:28 > 0:36:34in the Georgian era and now the flower garden is at its best.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Bustling, not only with people, it's a nectar rich heaven
0:36:38 > 0:36:44for all sorts of insects, including the declining bumblebee.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47But there are other pollinators, too,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50not all welcome.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56Enemy of the gardener, as a caterpillar,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59the large white butterfly was munching on the cabbages here.
0:37:02 > 0:37:08Some of these tiny creatures are touching down here for the first time after crossing the Channel.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12A Red Admiral feeds on the echinacea flowers.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21And a hummingbird hawk moth from as far away as Africa.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27These insects in the flower garden are vital,
0:37:27 > 0:37:29not only pollinating the plants,
0:37:29 > 0:37:33making sure they'll set seed for next year,
0:37:33 > 0:37:37but also providing food for insect-eating birds.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45Next to the flower garden,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49inside an old boiler house, a new family of swallows.
0:37:49 > 0:37:56These harbingers of high summer are hungry and demand a feed almost every two minutes.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05The acrobatic parents catch insects on the wing and are ceaseless
0:38:05 > 0:38:10in their energy, but, luckily, don't have too far to go to hunt.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15CHICKS CHIRP
0:38:15 > 0:38:19It might help if the chicks were a bit less fussy.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39It had long been rumoured that half of Mevagissey was conceived in the jungle
0:38:39 > 0:38:43because, after it got overgrown, it was a very romantic trysting spot,
0:38:43 > 0:38:48which, I believe, is the old-fashioned word for it.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53It is hard today to convey to anybody that the word "jungle"
0:38:53 > 0:38:57had become literal, but in the sense of British by the time we got there,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00and I don't think I'm exaggerating.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03There were 2,000 sycamore and ash trees through the middle of it.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08It was a monumental effort of work.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12It was a huge job. I feel tired just talking about it.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Yet underneath, remarkably, all of the ferns had survived.
0:39:16 > 0:39:21There was the most monster collection of really big tree ferns, which are beautiful.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31Heligan's jungle has a unique microclimate
0:39:31 > 0:39:37five degrees warmer than other areas and so these exotic plants thrive,
0:39:37 > 0:39:40as do more familiar species.
0:39:40 > 0:39:41The grass snake...
0:39:44 > 0:39:47..our only egg-laying snake,
0:39:47 > 0:39:52needs the damp and extra heat of the jungle to hatch its eggs.
0:40:04 > 0:40:10The jungle is designed around a man-made string of ponds and streams
0:40:10 > 0:40:12which all flow into each other.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14Great wildlife habitat.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23Just like any garden pond,
0:40:23 > 0:40:27keeping this lot clear of weed is relentless!
0:40:33 > 0:40:37In fact, it's this network of pools throughout the gardens
0:40:37 > 0:40:40that are vital for the success of the wildlife,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43from the jungle
0:40:43 > 0:40:45to the Italian Garden.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55Even down to the most delicate of creatures.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Here, where the toads spawned, dragonflies and demoiselles
0:41:08 > 0:41:12as beautiful as any of the flowers
0:41:12 > 0:41:16now gather to dip delicately in the water,
0:41:16 > 0:41:18laying their eggs.
0:41:48 > 0:41:53Common blue damselflies entice each other with courtship dances.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55A fragile existence.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Here in the pond their eggs will be safe.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46In the barn, the mother barn owl is doing her best
0:42:46 > 0:42:50to encourage her chicks out of the safety of their nest.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33They're not so sure.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36Tomorrow night, perhaps.
0:43:46 > 0:43:52In these hot August days, when they might be forgiven for finally getting the deckchairs out,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55the gardeners are planning for the following year.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58The way we're starting to look at the world now,
0:43:58 > 0:44:02we come up with posh phrases like, "living with the grain of nature", don't we?
0:44:02 > 0:44:04You know, "treading lightly on the Earth".
0:44:04 > 0:44:08But, I think, it actually comes back to some old values
0:44:08 > 0:44:12that we know from our granny's knee of "waste not want not"
0:44:12 > 0:44:18and about nurturing, stewardship, mentoring, all of those things which are about husbanding resources
0:44:18 > 0:44:24in a way that means there's more to go round and that you, actually, do today with tomorrow in mind.
0:44:29 > 0:44:34We've been so based on living for today that the tomorrow was never something in mind
0:44:34 > 0:44:39because this concept called growth meant that tomorrow would look after itself.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41These estates are a fantastic metaphor
0:44:41 > 0:44:46for what is good about husbandry and nurturing and working with the grain of nature.
0:45:21 > 0:45:26Although autumn comes later in Cornwall, it does happen.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30The growing season eventually comes to an end and so begins
0:45:30 > 0:45:35a new season of gathering for birds, animals and humans alike.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46When I lived in a city, winter, I could see, had no purpose whatsoever
0:45:46 > 0:45:50and autumn was just a depressing prelude to being even more depressed in the winter.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53And summer was great at the start but towards the end,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56you were depressed at the thought of autumn,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59which was a prelude to winter,
0:45:59 > 0:46:00and spring was fine and hopeful.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10Once you start to work with the seasons and you work in a living
0:46:10 > 0:46:13where what the weather is like actually matters,
0:46:13 > 0:46:17as opposed to it being just something at the end of the news,
0:46:17 > 0:46:22it roots you in a way that I'm not sure any other profession or type of profession does.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52The idea is to have this almost seamless annual cycle.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56There's a time for everything.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06I think, in some ways, it's comforting that we're carrying on with the way that the garden is done
0:47:06 > 0:47:09and just people's passion to make it work.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17And it's that way the gardeners work which means that, as they prepare
0:47:17 > 0:47:23for the winter's lean months, the garden remains home to such a variety of birds.
0:47:26 > 0:47:32A female blackcap, usually migratory, but she'll stay here through the winter.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44The song thrush, on the decline throughout the UK
0:47:44 > 0:47:50because of lack of nesting sites and lack of food, but here they find both.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59All over the estate,
0:47:59 > 0:48:03birds are making full use of the food left for them,
0:48:03 > 0:48:04stocking up for winter.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13From the start of spring to now,
0:48:13 > 0:48:18harvest festival is the culmination of a season's work for the whole team -
0:48:18 > 0:48:25a moment to take stock and even show off what nature can deliver.
0:48:36 > 0:48:43One wildlife secret here in the jungle doesn't remain so for very long.
0:48:43 > 0:48:48Although he's making the best of it, just like the exotic plants,
0:48:48 > 0:48:52this green heron doesn't belong here.
0:48:53 > 0:48:59He should really be hunting the waterways of North or Central America,
0:48:59 > 0:49:04but has been blown hundreds of miles off course to this Cornish peninsula.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08And, as were the unfamiliar plants in days of old,
0:49:08 > 0:49:11he has become a curiosity in these parts.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19Unperturbed by all the attention, he's decided to stay.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28A decision not so welcome for the local frogs.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39The frog's response to being caught is to puff up,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42hoping to become impossible to swallow.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09Late autumn.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13The gardeners are preparing to make something
0:50:13 > 0:50:16that humans have been making here since medieval times.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40We fell in love with the idea of going back to charcoal-making.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43There's something fantastically satisfying
0:50:43 > 0:50:46about watching the timber that's been harvested from the woodlands
0:50:46 > 0:50:50being packed so neatly into those big tanks
0:50:50 > 0:50:53and then have a hole down the middle where you put the fire.
0:51:00 > 0:51:06It's a really amazing sense of doing stuff which ends up in a product of something else that's useful.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14A satisfying clunk as the whole thing goes on top
0:51:14 > 0:51:18and then you wait for the papal vote of smoke to come out.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43The charcoal will burn for three nights and days.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58To the old estate, charcoal was vital.
0:51:58 > 0:52:05A fuel to keep fires really hot, perfect for blacksmiths with horseshoes to make.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12To the woodland wildlife, its production is what helps to shape their home.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21There's no time for sunbathing in this season of gathering.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25Our woodpecker chick has grown
0:52:25 > 0:52:29and now looks a bit more at home on the tree.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49Out on the farmland, the sunflowers have long finished flowering
0:52:49 > 0:52:53but the huge seed heads are left as food for the birds.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01Now their breeding season is over, finches roam in flocks,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04teasing out the last of the seeds.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38And over in the barn, an eerie silence.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42The nest box is finally empty.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53The traditional cycle of work and growth never really has an end.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57Already the gardeners are preparing for next year's crops.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04It marks the time of year because everybody's kind of like, "Huh! It's time for a seaweed run".
0:54:04 > 0:54:09So we'd watch the tide times coming up so that we can be down there
0:54:09 > 0:54:12as long as possible while the tide's out
0:54:12 > 0:54:14to gather as much seaweed as we can.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22We need to get it out onto the beds, really, as quickly as possible because we learnt
0:54:22 > 0:54:27from past experience that if you leave it for a week before you start putting it out on the beds
0:54:27 > 0:54:30it can be quite a smelly job!
0:54:37 > 0:54:41It's very good for the soil structure because as it rots down
0:54:41 > 0:54:44it binds the soil and creates a lovely crumb structure.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Each bed is 4,500 square feet of bed
0:54:52 > 0:54:56that you've got to put the seaweed on,
0:54:56 > 0:54:58so it's quite an epic job!
0:55:01 > 0:55:05To both the visitors and the people that work here,
0:55:05 > 0:55:08Heligan is much more than just a garden.
0:55:10 > 0:55:16Perhaps that's because we yearn for a past where we were producers, not just consumers,
0:55:16 > 0:55:20where we took today's pineapple
0:55:20 > 0:55:22and turned it into tomorrow's.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Going into the potting shed,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30the smell of loam and creosote and terracotta and sisal
0:55:30 > 0:55:34and seeing the wonderful tools that we've got...
0:55:36 > 0:55:41..every person I've ever escorted in there has believed it was the potting shed their granddad had,
0:55:41 > 0:55:45even if they couldn't remember their granddad or knew that he didn't have a potting shed.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47It's wonderful.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00Does this place feel magical
0:56:00 > 0:56:04because it satisfies our hunger for a home in the natural world?
0:56:07 > 0:56:13We worry about losing our wildlife and our productive heritage,
0:56:13 > 0:56:16but what this place has rediscovered
0:56:16 > 0:56:19is that there is something we can do about that
0:56:19 > 0:56:23and that makes us feel good.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31The early estates, the Georgian model of the great aristocratic estate,
0:56:31 > 0:56:36was almost totally self-sufficient except for the luxuries that it brought in.
0:56:38 > 0:56:43I like the idea that in the modern day we could be almost self-sufficient again here,
0:56:43 > 0:56:47in such a way that you can actually run our countryside
0:56:47 > 0:56:50for the benefit of every living thing.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00It's no wonder that wildlife thrives here.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03It's no wonder to me because actually people thrive here.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13What I've learnt at Heligan, more than anything,
0:57:13 > 0:57:18is the sense of those cogs of time going round,
0:57:18 > 0:57:21where every particular part of the year has a purpose.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28If you were to ask me what is my favourite time,
0:57:28 > 0:57:32it would have been spring or summer or maybe even early autumn.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38But now, it's the end of January,
0:57:38 > 0:57:42beginning of February time, when everybody else is depressed, when I feel as if I'm let in
0:57:42 > 0:57:49on a magnificent secret as I see the bulbs burst through the ground and it just feels fantastically hopeful.
0:57:53 > 0:57:59I wish...I wish I could translate my deep pleasure in knowing that to everybody.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
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