0:00:04 > 0:00:08I've always believed that if you're looking for ideas and inspiration for your own garden
0:00:08 > 0:00:16then the best place to start is by visiting someone else's, especially those of our great country houses.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20I've chosen four that, to me, are particularly outstanding.
0:00:22 > 0:00:28These are the gardens that have inspired me, and which affect the way I garden at home.
0:00:28 > 0:00:35They're a perfect example of the evolution of garden design, but in many ways, every bit as
0:00:35 > 0:00:39relevant today as they were in the centuries when they were first made.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Whether it's the formal elegance of the 17th century,
0:00:45 > 0:00:51the eccentric designs of the Victorians, the sweeping naturalism of the 18th century
0:00:51 > 0:00:56or the intimate styles of the 20th century, I'm going to reveal these
0:00:56 > 0:01:01gardens' innermost secrets and how they have inspired gardeners across the country.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08Every morning I step into this garden and I feel like I've gone on holiday.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11And I'll be getting my own hands dirty, showing you
0:01:11 > 0:01:14simple ways to benefit from the lessons of the masters.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20Whether it's a borrowed view from the 18th century or a 20th century colour scheme.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26Look at all those colours which combine to make it wonderfully three-dimensional.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31You can create a little piece of history in your own backyard.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41My journey begins in a 400 year old garden described by Samuel Pepys
0:01:41 > 0:01:45as one of the most beautiful spots in the world.
0:01:45 > 0:01:53So join me on a voyage of discovery as I reveal my favourite 17th century garden.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29In 1625, Francis Bacon wrote, "God Almighty first planted
0:02:29 > 0:02:34"a garden, and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures."
0:02:34 > 0:02:37The century was one of massive change.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Six monarchs, a civil war, the Puritans and the Plague.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Garden design reacted to these social changes in a dramatic way.
0:02:45 > 0:02:52The garden became a refuge of order and calm, an opportunity to control nature, in a chaotic world.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58It was a time when Britain began to garden for pride, not just for purpose.
0:02:58 > 0:03:06Hatfield House in Hertfordshire is, for me, a fine example of this new passion for the aesthetic.
0:03:17 > 0:03:23From 1497 until the early 1600s, Hatfield had been a royal garden.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26The old palace still remains in the grounds.
0:03:30 > 0:03:36Elizabeth I grew up here and first learned that she was to be queen under Hatfield's old oaks.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Her successor, King James I,
0:03:41 > 0:03:46planted these mulberry trees to help kick-start the silk trade.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53But it was Sir Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, who, in 1608, took over
0:03:53 > 0:03:58the estate and built the large Jacobean house around which the famous gardens are designed.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Unlike many of the estates from this period, Hatfield is unique
0:04:04 > 0:04:10because here, you find an entire century's worth of ideas in one place.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Whether it's the innovative use of the hedge,
0:04:14 > 0:04:19an obsession with sculpted topiary, fruit trees that are both ornamental
0:04:19 > 0:04:24and functional, or the clever use of perspective. These are some of
0:04:24 > 0:04:31the classic ideas of the time, but, cleverly adapted they can suit any contemporary garden.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Now, there's one thing you can't escape at Hatfield.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Something that goes on and on for 26 miles.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Much underrated today, it was a revolutionary design feature then.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50The hedge.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03What I particularly like about Hatfield
0:05:03 > 0:05:06is that it has four gardens set around the house
0:05:06 > 0:05:08and, by looking at each one, we can actually see
0:05:08 > 0:05:11how the role of the hedge evolved across the century.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14No other garden I know can show this.
0:05:14 > 0:05:21Hatfield's private archive offers the key to how it all began.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25This is one of the very earliest gardening manuals,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28one of the first to be published in 1594.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33By Thomas Hill. It's called the Gardener's Labyrinth.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37And it's dedicated to Lord Sir William Cecil, the father
0:05:37 > 0:05:40of Robert Cecil who made this garden,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42so you can tell how old it is.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46In it, wonderful, wonderful pages
0:05:46 > 0:05:52of patterns for you to copy, or, of knots.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56If you have a formal part in your garden and you want
0:05:56 > 0:06:01to know how how it came about, then the answer is that it probably had its ancestors in Tudor times.
0:06:01 > 0:06:07Almost 500 years ago in a knot garden like this one at Hatfield.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09No flowers in this part.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14Clipped box or santolina, cotton lavender, was the height of fashion.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18Woven into these intricate shapes or knots.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23Up to this point, hedges were grown high to protect man from danger.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28Now they were clipped low, and designed to complement the architecture of the house.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33But the English knot was to go out of fashion during the 17th century.
0:06:33 > 0:06:40The French thought they could do better, so they created a larger, grander version - the parterre.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43It became a gardening must-have,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47and at Hatfield, it appeared on the south side of the garden.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52Like the knot, the parterre is a symmetrical, formal garden
0:06:52 > 0:06:55with a box hedge border and a pattern within.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58But it's more expensive than the knot, and the hedge is shaped
0:06:58 > 0:07:02into elaborate curves and curlicues.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06But this was just the start. By now, Britain's landed gentry
0:07:06 > 0:07:10were travelling abroad and being exposed to new plants and ideas.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13The designers at Hatfield saw how these could work
0:07:13 > 0:07:17with the hedge and created a new formal garden in the East Parterre.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26David Beaumont has been head gardener at Hatfield for 31 years.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29He knows the history and structure of the garden intimately.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32And suddenly things are beginning to change.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Flowers are appearing.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Yeah, hedges are now coming out, flowers are becoming more important.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Plant material was coming into the country left, right and centre.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Box hedging was old-fashioned. So it's beginning to be taken out.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48So just the structure of the bed being held together by the box.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50So, anybody can have box, of course.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52You've been doing it for years now, but I bet you haven't got
0:07:52 > 0:07:54this flower. It's all about that, isn't it?
0:07:54 > 0:07:56That's what it's all about. Impression.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Wanting to have something that nobody else has got.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02And now it starts to get a whole heap more colourful.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05But as the century progressed,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07the role of the hedge changed even further.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11You can see how in Hatfield's west parterre.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19So, this, then, is the final development of the parterre.
0:08:19 > 0:08:25Yes, I mean the garden still had the formality, sharp lines, crispness,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28but inside the bed was quite chaotic in some ways.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32So all that remained really of that parterre is the shape of the bed and
0:08:32 > 0:08:36one or two lumps of box and new topiary.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39But, inside the bed, this fusion, this ebullient,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42this complete, organised chaos, if you like.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- Why did this happen?- Plants were a lot more important in them days.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48We now have plants introduced almost weekly.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51But of course, in them days, they weren't.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53They were actually being brought from all over the world.
0:08:53 > 0:08:59And it was, the more important plants you had, the more important your garden was.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02So this was the ultimate in showing off?
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Exactly. And that's what these gardens were for.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10Here we can see how the role of the hedge has evolved into what it is today.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14What began as a focus, gradually retreated to become a boundary,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16a framework for our gardens.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19We owe its evolution to the 17th century.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26Today, modern garden designers are still influenced
0:09:26 > 0:09:28by 17th century formal design.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31But they use it in a more contemporary way.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35In his own garden in Hertfordshire, designer Tom Stuart-Smith
0:09:35 > 0:09:39is quite literally thinking out of the symmetrical box.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44The 17th century structural elements he uses work with nature,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46rather than trying to control it.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49I'm always quite wary of overdoing the formality of the garden
0:09:49 > 0:09:51and in my own garden, I've got these
0:09:51 > 0:09:53little beds here that are about as formal as I get.
0:09:53 > 0:09:54There's a box hedge around them
0:09:54 > 0:09:57on three sides, but the planting is allowed to tumble over.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01And then, on the side which you see most, it's left open, so there's
0:10:01 > 0:10:04a kind of asymmetric muddle to it which I think quite appeals to me.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08He's employed this philosophy on a broader canvas
0:10:08 > 0:10:10at Broughton Grange in Oxfordshire.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14At first sight a classically formal parterre,
0:10:14 > 0:10:18mimics the architecture of this beautiful 17th century house.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20But in the walled garden,
0:10:20 > 0:10:25a traditional parterre takes on a strikingly different form.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34I was interested in the idea of superimposing something
0:10:34 > 0:10:41very, very free and organic over this rigidly classical pattern.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44I had this idea of looking at the three principle species of tree
0:10:44 > 0:10:47that were growing in the surrounding landscape,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49which are beech, ash and oak.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52I took the leaves and put them under a scanner
0:10:52 > 0:10:57and then blew that image up, so that you could see the nation pattern
0:10:57 > 0:11:00of the cells in a microscopic way.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03And then that pattern is translated
0:11:03 > 0:11:08directly onto the ground as the pattern of box hedging.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11If you didn't know what they were, they just appear as some
0:11:11 > 0:11:14kind of floaty naturalistic pattern. That doesn't really matter to me.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18I mean, if somebody thinks it's like a bunch of furry caterpillars,
0:11:18 > 0:11:19that's absolutely fine.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24But actually they're representative of something you can't see in the view.
0:11:24 > 0:11:32Tom shows that you can take a 17th century idea and interpret it in a uniquely personal way.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40So how do we go about introducing these ideas into our own gardens?
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Well, I have a simple idea that anyone can try at home.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Time to get my hands dirty and show you what I mean.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57I've cut out a rectangle here in the middle of this lawn
0:11:57 > 0:12:00and lined the inside with weed-proof membrane.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05And what I'm going to do is make a shape that I can plant up
0:12:05 > 0:12:08with thymes for a 21st century parterre.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13If you want to jazz up a plain path, a driveway or
0:12:13 > 0:12:17just want an alternative flower bed, then this is a neat way to do it.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Instead of a traditional box hedge border, I'm using three types of
0:12:21 > 0:12:26thyme - a creamy, variegated Silver King for my edging.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30A yellow variegated variety Doone Valley for my pattern
0:12:30 > 0:12:33and to bring in colour, a purple flowered variety
0:12:33 > 0:12:34called Wine and Roses.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41A leaf. Or the ace of spades.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Just using my knife to cut out this middle,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53because all this membrane is for
0:12:53 > 0:12:57is to keep down the weeds an the bit that isn't planted.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00It's really quite easy to do this.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04It's always the blank canvas that's intimidating, isn't it?
0:13:04 > 0:13:09Once you've started your confidence begins to grow.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11What I will do
0:13:11 > 0:13:15is just peg down - you can see it's flapping - that shape,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17with some little wire pins.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19To stop it going anywhere.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26So that's my shape mapped out.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31And now I've got all these different coloured thymes
0:13:31 > 0:13:33to use in different places.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36The exciting bit.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39The parterre can be any size.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42But make sure it's in proportion with your garden.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46The central vein on a leaf isn't always straight,
0:13:46 > 0:13:51so I'm just going to give it a sinuous curve.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55The beauty of thyme is that it's tough and drought tolerant,
0:13:55 > 0:13:56so quite low maintenance.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00And it doesn't take as long to grow as dwarf box.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06That's the easy bit done.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Just have to plant them now.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11I may be gone some time.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19Once they're all planted, the final job is the dressing of gravel.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Now, the weed-proof membrane stays down.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25It helps keep moisture in around the outside and weeds down.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28But you don't want to see it, so on goes the gravel.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34I'm using a relatively fine, light coloured gravel to give a crisp
0:14:34 > 0:14:37outline to the pattern, and contrasting with the plants,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39it helps to highlight design.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44But you could use crushed slate or even brightly coloured recycled glass.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Each to his own.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Another 17th century trick is to locate the design
0:14:50 > 0:14:53in a part of the garden where it can be admired from above.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59The important thing now is to water it, so this really settles in,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02to make sure that it doesn't go short of water
0:15:02 > 0:15:04over the next few weeks.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06The thyme around the outside,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10the Silver King, you can clip that back by about half,
0:15:10 > 0:15:17to form a low curve, and then it will thicken up and it almost will be like a dwarf box parterre hedge.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21And the great thing about thyme, of course, when it's established,
0:15:21 > 0:15:28is that you can walk all over it and it releases the wonderful aroma on a summer's day.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36What I really love about the 17th century parterre is that it
0:15:36 > 0:15:42can turn any boring scrap of land into an elegant, formal feature.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48The parterre was one way of extending the architecture
0:15:48 > 0:15:49of the house into the garden.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53But at Hatfield, we see another equally elaborate way
0:15:53 > 0:15:54in which this was done.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13In the 17th century, topiary was the height of fashion.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17English noblemen were captivated by the examples they found
0:16:17 > 0:16:21in the gardens of Renaissance Italy and the Palace of Versailles.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27It was no surprise to find it springing up in grand gardens across Britain.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31As cutting tools improved, designs became more ambitious
0:16:31 > 0:16:33and imaginative.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42At Hatfield today, they have a mix of original features like the
0:16:42 > 0:16:46doughnut, or conventional shapes like the spiral or the cylinder.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53They either give structure to the garden or work as stand-alone features.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02It's a clever way of getting year-round shape and structure into your garden.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07And it doesn't have to be on a grand and lavish scale. I totted up.
0:17:07 > 0:17:14In my small garden I got 72 different clipped yew and box bushes, many of them in pots.
0:17:14 > 0:17:21Topiary was originally a replacement for masonry, and it really is living architecture.
0:17:21 > 0:17:28The east parterre is planted with 16 large, square, box-edged beds,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31each with a central topiary feature unique to Hatfield.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35David Beaumont, head gardener, explains.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Now, what's the story behind these box hedges?
0:17:38 > 0:17:39Slightly different in this garden.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42In as much as we have these central finials and they represent
0:17:42 > 0:17:46some central finials that are on the ceilings in the house.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Obviously, up the other way.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50So we've got quite a large topiary in the centre.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53When do you start clipping your box?
0:17:53 > 0:17:56- We normally start on Derby day. - The old tradition.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01- The old tradition. - Come back from the races and start. Why did they come down on that day?
0:18:01 > 0:18:06I think the green has gone off of the box, it's lost that lovely, lush green colour.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11- It's a bit tougher.- It's a bit tougher, it's a little bit easier to cut and also, if you cut it
0:18:11 > 0:18:15at that time of year, it will hold its shape, most of the summer.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18We used to have this feeling that if you cut in wet weather,
0:18:18 > 0:18:19it's better, you get a crisp edge,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22you don't get the burning quite so much, but then they said, well,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25if you cut in wet weather, there's more chance of box blight
0:18:25 > 0:18:28spreading, so you're not averse to cutting in bright sunshine?
0:18:28 > 0:18:30We'll cut in quite bright sunshine.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33You do get a little bit of burning in about a week, 10 days' time,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35but it soon drops off and disappears.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37We'd rather have that than the box blight.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40So, all you need is a good pair of trimmers and a good eye.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42Yes, you do need a good eye.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44- I'll let you get on.- Thank you.
0:18:46 > 0:18:52There's something about these quirky shapes that suits the British taste for eccentricity.
0:18:54 > 0:19:01So it's hardly surprising that the 17th century topiary revolution is still with us.
0:19:05 > 0:19:11Thurnham Court in Gloucestershire is a Jacobean house with an unusual array of topiary.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16The owner, Christine Facer has created a modern topiary garden
0:19:16 > 0:19:20inspired by the clipped birds she found here.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24They've morphed into different shapes and sizes now.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27One can't really work out what birds they are.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Some are peacocks, some look like sparrows.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33But interesting shapes nevertheless.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38What I tried to do to bring this garden up to a contemporary setting,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41is to involve different sorts of topiary.
0:19:41 > 0:19:47And one of my first attempts was to topiarise these wonderful
0:19:47 > 0:19:52Italian cypresses which, as you come up to them, you want to stroke them.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54They're such a beautiful shape.
0:19:54 > 0:20:01And what my gardener does is to wire these up with ordinary, plastic coated wire
0:20:01 > 0:20:09at around two inch intervals, and you get these beautiful, sculptural Italian cypresses.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14She uses topiary as a landscaping feature to divide her garden into
0:20:14 > 0:20:19a series of rooms and to make what gardeners like to call "statements".
0:20:26 > 0:20:32The way the hedge here takes its inspiration from the countryside behind me,
0:20:32 > 0:20:40you see these wonderful, rolling Cotswold Hills, so what we have here is a rolling Cotswold hill hedge,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43with its ups and downs, peaks and little, gentle valleys.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Her background as a scientist is evident in the geometric shapes she creates.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59I'm sitting in the garden of cosmic evolution.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04And the garden is all about aspects of the cosmos.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09The sun gets its energy from the conversion of hydrogen nuclei.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13And as a result of that conversion, you get zigzag
0:21:13 > 0:21:20radiation coming out from the sun and so, I designed a zigzag hedge,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23to try to explain that idea.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28One of Christine's favourite pieces is her cloud pruned ligustrum,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30an evergreen privet.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Now, cloud pruning is a very ancient Japanese way of topiarising.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Goes back several centuries.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39And what they did is to take off the side shoots,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43from the main stem, leaving perhaps one here.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47And then developing that, so that it grows up into this little cloud
0:21:47 > 0:21:49of round, balled form.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53And it's called cloud pruning because, in Japan when it snows
0:21:53 > 0:21:59and the snow settles on here, they look like little clouds.
0:21:59 > 0:22:05It's a design she wanted to develop further, so she called on topiary designer James Crebbin-Bailey,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08to construct an entire cloud pruned border.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11This is no ordinary hedge.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16It's made up of individual topiary trees planted together to make a homogenous whole.
0:22:16 > 0:22:23This is Buxus sempervirens and this is what most topiary is made out of.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25It's reasonably fast growing.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29You still only need to cut it once a year when it's fully formed.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32It's the best box for forming topiary shapes.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Every garden should have a little bit of fun with their topiary.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40It's just something a bit quirky.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47What James has created here is these wonderful, sensual
0:22:47 > 0:22:52organic shapes and I think this snaking, curving hedge,
0:22:52 > 0:22:56when it's completed, will be just perfect.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04It's easy to forget that topiary began as simply
0:23:04 > 0:23:08using a clipped evergreen to make a simple, architectural statement.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12But there's an unconventional way to achieve the same effect.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20If you love the idea and the formal shapes of green,
0:23:20 > 0:23:22but don't want all that labour
0:23:22 > 0:23:25of clipping, there's a rather neat way of getting around it.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29You can get this wire reinforcement, it's really quite sturdy,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31from a builder's merchant.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Cut it here into squares.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Put it on the ground, where you want to make what you want to make,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40because this gets quite heavy.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45You need that size. Six pieces.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49These now just create a cube.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54I'm going to hold it together with these plastic cable ties.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Do about three along each side, otherwise it may bow in the middle.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06You're wondering what on earth I'm making, aren't you?
0:24:06 > 0:24:11It will become clear very shortly.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16I've now got a cube without a top on,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20and then in the bottom this is marine ply,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23plywood that is more weather resistant than normal plywood.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Drilled with drainage holes and then coated with timber preservative
0:24:26 > 0:24:28to give it an even longer life.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Measure that before you cut it up,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33because it needs to sit in the bottom
0:24:33 > 0:24:35of your cube like that.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Because it stops compost falling out the bottom.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43And what stops compost falling out the sides is this -
0:24:43 > 0:24:48the turf wants to be on the inside.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54Make it a bit longer so you can just bend the top over and that will just help support it in position.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56And then
0:24:56 > 0:25:02you can fill this with either topsoil or old potting compost.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Then you can just turn in what's left of the flaps.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21There's no need to cut them off. And then
0:25:21 > 0:25:24you can put your lid on.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31Now then for the covering you've been patient long enough. Time you saw what it's going to turn into.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Sally, can you just give me a lift with this?
0:25:33 > 0:25:35On to the
0:25:35 > 0:25:37top there.
0:25:37 > 0:25:43Lovely. Thank you very much. This has been cut into a cross shape.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47This is matting on to which has been grown sedum,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51that green roofing thing that you can get.
0:25:51 > 0:25:57Just needs its bottom trimming off and tidying up and pinning in.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59All you need are these,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04just lumps of wire turned basically into hair grips.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06The top will stay in place thanks to gravity,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10but down the sides here where it can fall away and where the
0:26:10 > 0:26:12two sides may split open,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16use them like hair grips, just bending it around
0:26:16 > 0:26:18and pushing it through.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22You can go all the way over it doing that, so it's really secure.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26Then lightly clip over it with a pair of shears
0:26:26 > 0:26:30to remove dead seed heads and smarten it up.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33The great thing about sedum like this
0:26:33 > 0:26:37is it is pretty drought-resistant because it's a succulent.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42So if you forget to water for one day, it isn't going to die, but try to keep it as moist as you can.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47There are alternatives to sedum, Sempervivums, houseleeks,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51you can propagate them, but it will take quite a lot to cover this.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54It's very wildlife friendly.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Lots of insects can live in and around this.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01You are left with a neat and tidy way to encourage wildlife and a
0:27:01 > 0:27:06low-maintenance living sculpture perfect as a patio feature.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Course, you could say to yourself on the whole,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18I'd rather plant and clip a topiary specimen.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Well, the choice is yours, but I rather enjoyed doing that.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Hatfield has a special place in gardening history.
0:27:31 > 0:27:37It was the first garden to feature a wealth of new and exciting plants from around the world.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46Jennifer Potter is an historian who can explain just how Hatfield
0:27:46 > 0:27:50established itself as one of the horticultural wonders of the age.
0:27:50 > 0:27:56Jennifer, Hatfield is a garden saturated in history almost like no other.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00In recent times, Lord Salisbury, when Prime Minister, would cycle
0:28:00 > 0:28:03up and down this lime walk to get his exercise.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06The place goes back much further than that.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11The place really came into its own under James I
0:28:11 > 0:28:15with Robert Cecil who created this wonderful house and garden.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20One of the main reasons the garden is so special,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24is he hired as his main gardener, John Tradescant,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26the first celebrity gardener.
0:28:26 > 0:28:31John Tradescant began work at Hatfield in 1611.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Thanks to his employer, Robert Cecil,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36he was able to create an unrivalled network of contacts
0:28:36 > 0:28:39with royal houses and gardens across Europe.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43He's been immortalised on a newel post inside the house.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50What plants did Tradescant introduce to this country that had not been seen before?
0:28:50 > 0:28:56When he started working for Cecil, within a year he was sent
0:28:56 > 0:29:01to the Low Countries on a wonderful plant buying spree.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06Tradescant knew all the best places to get rare and exotic plants.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11He went to Leiden, Amsterdam, he was travelling around buying strange
0:29:11 > 0:29:17lilies, lots of tulips, lots of fruit trees, rare fruit trees.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19This must have blown Cecil away
0:29:19 > 0:29:22when he came home with these things, real exotics.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Real wonderful plants.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27That is why Cecil wanted him.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31He wanted his garden to be the best and then to be the best,
0:29:31 > 0:29:35you had to have things that were rare and strange.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40Many of the borders were planted with pinks,
0:29:40 > 0:29:42Cecil's favourite flower.
0:29:42 > 0:29:48Tradescant's finds from around the world are still flourishing in the gardens.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54Plants such as Asphodeline lutea from Europe.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59Eremurus robustus, commonly known as the foxtail lily.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02from the Pamir Mountains of Central Asia.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07And Dracunculus vulgaris, the Dragon Arum from Greece.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10Let's take the example of roses.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12When he was in Harlem,
0:30:12 > 0:30:19he bought 16 Provence Roses. Those are actually Centifolia Roses,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23which the Dutch had just begun to develop in the late 1580s.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25They are often called cabbage roses.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29So the roses he brought over
0:30:29 > 0:30:33where those amazing ones you see in the Dutch paintings.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Centifolia Roses. Rather like, this is a moth rose...
0:30:37 > 0:30:42- With all the moss on the bud, yeah. - ..which is a sort of Centifolia.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44- What does it smell like?- Wonderful.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47Cheap talcum powder, but delicious.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51But poor John Tradescant would not have been able to smell it,
0:30:51 > 0:30:52- he had no sense of smell.- No!
0:30:52 > 0:31:00We know that, because when he went to Russia he talks of being in the port of
0:31:00 > 0:31:05Archangel and saying that there is a terrible stench of fish oil
0:31:05 > 0:31:11- "But having no sense of smell it offendeth me not".- The poor man.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14- The poor man.- All those plants and he couldn't smell one of them.
0:31:14 > 0:31:20As well as exotic flowers, another legacy is the fruit trees
0:31:20 > 0:31:27he brought to Hatfield including 20,000 vines, peaches, nectarines and apricot trees.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Fruits we take for granted today were a sophisticated novelty then.
0:31:31 > 0:31:37If you were fashion and status-conscious what you really needed was one of these.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41Available nowadays in every garden centre,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45but then, potted citrus was a prize to treasure.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50But this golden period of discovery was to be short lived.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54In the 1640s, harmony in Britain was shattered
0:31:54 > 0:31:57with the onset of civil war.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00The victorious puritans viewed lavish gardens
0:32:00 > 0:32:02as a symbol of frivolous indulgence.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07Many of the greatest were entirely destroyed.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Estates like Hatfield were encouraged to cultivate
0:32:11 > 0:32:14practical kitchen gardens and be proud of them.
0:32:14 > 0:32:22Here, the kitchen garden isn't tucked away, it sits side by side with the elaborate parterres.
0:32:22 > 0:32:27With exotic fruit trees being frowned upon, difficult to obtain
0:32:27 > 0:32:34and difficult to grow, it made sense to look closer to home for our fruited pleasures.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39The age was dawning of the apple and pear.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47The puritans believed that all wasteland should be planted with
0:32:47 > 0:32:52fruit trees for the relief of the poor, the benefit of the rich
0:32:52 > 0:32:53and the delight of all.
0:32:59 > 0:33:05They increased the size of orchards and analysed how fruit trees actually grew,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08discovering the phenomenon known today as the June drop.
0:33:09 > 0:33:14David, they were hugely keen on fruit trees in the 17th century.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17It seemed almost a reflection of their own virility.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19Fecundity everywhere.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21Crops, crops, crops.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24They really were passionate about growing fruit.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26They were accustomed to things you've got here.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31The classic June drop. The fruit's been fertilised, some of it started
0:33:31 > 0:33:36- to grow but in June there's a moment where nature does its own thinning. - The fruit either
0:33:36 > 0:33:40wasn't fertilised properly and it fell off or there just was too many
0:33:40 > 0:33:43on the trees so the trees shed some.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48Most apple trees drop up to half their fruits quite naturally
0:33:48 > 0:33:51in June and July, but it was the 17th century gardeners
0:33:51 > 0:33:55who came up with the technique to help the trees out.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59Bunches of apples where there maybe three or four,
0:33:59 > 0:34:03they won't produce a good sized apple so you just go around
0:34:03 > 0:34:07and thin the odd one out to give it a better chance, really.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13It's worth removing all the fruit on a young
0:34:13 > 0:34:18fruit tree in its first year, heartbreaking though that might be.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21It helps to concentrate its energies on its root and branch growth.
0:34:23 > 0:34:30The Puritans weren't concerned with how their apple and pear trees looked, but the restoration
0:34:30 > 0:34:33of King Charles II saw a return to aesthetics
0:34:33 > 0:34:38in the garden and the humble fruit tree would benefit most of all.
0:34:45 > 0:34:51Up to this point we trained our fruit trees in tight mop-headed shapes
0:34:51 > 0:34:53but over the Channel in France
0:34:53 > 0:34:57they were doing something much more elaborate and sophisticated.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01It wasn't long before jealousy meant that we did it over here.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04This was it. The espalier.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06The trained fruit tree.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11One central trunk and then branches taken out sideways in tiers.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15Ornamental, yes, but also practical.
0:35:15 > 0:35:22These branches, their blossom and their fruits are held against a warm south-facing wall.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24That means they are protected from frost.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27It also means that the fruit ripens faster.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30You could pick a tastier crop earlier in the year.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35It wins over the bush hands down.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39At Hatfield, we see how training fruit trees in the espalier fashion
0:35:39 > 0:35:42can be both decorative and productive.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49But not all of us have a large south-facing wall.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Well, don't despair, I've got a neat alternative.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03There is a way of fitting of fruit trees into the smallest garden.
0:36:03 > 0:36:09That involves using what are known as single tier espaliers or
0:36:09 > 0:36:12commonly known as stepover trees.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15You need an apple tree like this on a dwarfing rootstock.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19That means it's never going to be one that you can sit under in your
0:36:19 > 0:36:23deckchair, but it will keep it small and in proportion to your garden.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25It's these sideways spreading arms,
0:36:25 > 0:36:29the first tier of the espalier that you aim to keep.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34Anything that's coming up here needs to be snipped off sideways.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36Lateral growths that you're encouraging here,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39not growth that's going to come upwards.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42Like all trees, even a small one like this
0:36:42 > 0:36:45needs to be planted to last.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49Spend as much on the hole as you do on the tree.
0:36:49 > 0:36:54That means working into the bottom lots of well-rotted manure.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58Some in the bottom of the hole and some in the soil around so that
0:36:58 > 0:37:03when you put the plant in you can return it and mix it with that.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06Now planting depth is quite important.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15These roots here, if they're really tightly bound into that root ball
0:37:15 > 0:37:17just tease them out a bit.
0:37:17 > 0:37:23And then you can fill back with more manure and more soil.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27Just firming it in with your fist or your welly as you go.
0:37:30 > 0:37:35Now, it's had canes to support it in the nursery while it's been trained
0:37:35 > 0:37:39but I've put in a post and wire framework which you can tighten
0:37:39 > 0:37:41to give you a nice taut support.
0:37:41 > 0:37:48The thing to do now is to take off these canes and gradually
0:37:48 > 0:37:53tie these horizontal stems back into that new wire.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58Once those little tiny plastic ties have come off and this cane
0:37:58 > 0:38:04has come out, you will see that it's quite capable, really,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06of supporting itself.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08But not for long.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13These now need to be tied in to make sure that they
0:38:13 > 0:38:16take to this framework rather than the previous one.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19I'm using plastic-coated wire here,
0:38:19 > 0:38:24which is fine for winding around that and then the stem.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26You do this, right the way along the stem.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35It's a lovely satisfying job this.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40There we are. We've got the makings of our stepover tree.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45The one thing that people worry about with fruit trees of course though is pruning.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49The things with these is, it couldn't be simpler.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Most of your pruning takes place in summer,
0:38:52 > 0:38:54that's why it's called summer pruning.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Summer pruning tends to restrict growth
0:38:56 > 0:39:02whereas pruning things hard back in winter encourages vast spring growth.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07By pruning in summer and simply shortening these side shoots or laterals
0:39:07 > 0:39:09back to about finger length,
0:39:09 > 0:39:11you will build up the fruiting spurs,
0:39:11 > 0:39:16these short, stocky shoots that carry blossom and then apples.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19It looks incredibly simple,
0:39:19 > 0:39:21that's because it is.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24You will find in the middle, often enough
0:39:24 > 0:39:26a chute which is deciding, no, I'm sorry,
0:39:26 > 0:39:29I want to be a proper apple tree, I want to grow very, very tall.
0:39:29 > 0:39:30Don't leave it on.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Cut it back to finger length.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Now, one year on you've got five fruits on this,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49but each tree can easily have a dozen of them.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Feed them well every year. Make sure they don't go short of water
0:39:52 > 0:39:54and keep up this summer pruning.
0:39:54 > 0:40:00The great thing then though is providing you've got an inside leg measurement of more than 24 inches,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03you'll see exactly why they're called stepover apple trees.
0:40:06 > 0:40:12Contorting trees is a tradition that's been used through the centuries.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14It doesn't have to be purely functional.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18At Butterfly World in St Albans,
0:40:18 > 0:40:23designer Ivan Hicks has taken tree contortion to a new level.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28He's creating extraordinary living rooms for the wildlife
0:40:28 > 0:40:32where the trees and plants have become part of the furniture.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35Well in the 17th century they were manipulating trees,
0:40:35 > 0:40:39largely for fruit production in a limited space.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42In my gardens I like to use plants for their own sake.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Nature is very forgiving. Trees are so plastic,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48so malleable, it's just like PlayDoh.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51It will allow you to do things, to bend things and if it doesn't like it
0:40:51 > 0:40:56it will just shoot off in the other way quite often.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01Ivan believes there's more value to be had out of the tree in the garden than we realise.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05The most interesting tree in the garden generally is a tree that has fallen over and grown
0:41:05 > 0:41:11at an angle or grown with another one so you literally can plant two trees of quite different characters in the
0:41:11 > 0:41:17same hole and just watch them do it, or plant them at an angle or bend them over to make an arch.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22Nature will find its own way, you're just doing a little bit of direction and placing.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26Here, he's trained an oak through a book shelf.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29And around a chair.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34What I'm going to do here, I'm going to make these two little crabs
0:41:34 > 0:41:36mirror the gothic arch on the bed.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39I'm going to do that just by
0:41:39 > 0:41:44cutting out the tops of these and the side branches all
0:41:44 > 0:41:50of which will make sure the sap goes to the top rather than to the side.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55Also in doing so, by spur pruning, I shall encourage fruits
0:41:55 > 0:41:58all the way around which will really highlight it in the autumn.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02For the final check to literally point them in the right direction,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05there's the gothic arch shaping up.
0:42:09 > 0:42:14Here, I'm training this little crab apple around a mirror.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16I've cut off the leading head
0:42:16 > 0:42:19and I shall cut off these lower branches here.
0:42:19 > 0:42:26And I'm wrapping these two around the shape of the mirror.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29What you mustn't do is strangle the tree.
0:42:29 > 0:42:34It's essential to tie the stems in gently so the sap can flow freely.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36There.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41Next year when they've grown on a little bit,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44I'll tie them in there and prune the ends off.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46I could let a shoot go on up.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50I could let shoots come to the side here as a sun ray pattern.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54Just like an espalier apple really.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56One of the simplest,
0:42:56 > 0:43:01yet most effective contortions is the corkscrew.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03It's quite easy to grow a corkscrew tree.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05All you need is a very pliable stem.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07I'm using willow as an example.
0:43:07 > 0:43:08If this was a young bay tree,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11you'd train at around something cylindrical,
0:43:11 > 0:43:15a piece of plastic drainpipe for instance and as it grows you tie it.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17It's something very pliable,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21like a willow, you could do that in one season and then all you have
0:43:21 > 0:43:24to do is to take the shoots off the side as they grow,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27to make sure the sap is continually flowing upwards.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29Easy peasey.
0:43:40 > 0:43:45Hatfield is an important monument to 17th century garden design,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48but we're fortunate it exists at all.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50After Robert Cecil's death in 1612,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54his son, William, continued to maintain the gardens.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57But the next five Earls showed no interest
0:43:57 > 0:44:01in the garden at all and it fell into disrepair.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04One family member wrote, "the general mediocrity of
0:44:04 > 0:44:11"intelligence the family displayed was only varied by instances of quite exceptional stupidity".
0:44:11 > 0:44:17By the time the seventh Earl held sway in 1789, what was left
0:44:17 > 0:44:21of the formal garden fell victim to the landscape movement.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23They ripped out the formal gardens
0:44:23 > 0:44:27to make way for a more naturalistic design.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29Fortunately, in the last 50 years,
0:44:29 > 0:44:33Hatfield has been restored to its former glory.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37The formal garden has returned, and Cecil and Tradescant's passion
0:44:37 > 0:44:45for new and exciting plants has also been revived by two successive Lady Salisburys.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48Lady Salisbury, this garden has always changed, from the times of
0:44:48 > 0:44:53the first Lord Salisbury and Tradescant right the way through subsequent generations.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56What are you doing? What's your stamp?
0:44:56 > 0:44:59There's no problem with putting one's stamp here,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01because gardens are very generous.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03We try to stay within
0:45:03 > 0:45:07the context of an old garden, but we use shrubs and roses that
0:45:07 > 0:45:11are modern sometimes because a lot of them are less prone to mildew.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15It seems to me it is also important to keep a garden rejuvenated and
0:45:15 > 0:45:20- filled with youth the whole time in terms of the age of the plants. - Yes, I couldn't agree more.
0:45:20 > 0:45:27In the sundial garden, Lady Salisbury's introduced a blue and silver border on one side.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32She's also planted 400 modern shrub roses.
0:45:32 > 0:45:37These are similar to the oldest shrub roses in the garden, the Centifolia types
0:45:37 > 0:45:44that John Tradescant brought back, all of them hardy and a good number disease resistant.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47But the Charles de Mills I'm very thrilled with.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49What do you like of the roses you see here?
0:45:49 > 0:45:55You have just mentioned my favourites. Charles de Mills I think is one of the best old roses.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58The problem with a lot of these old ones is they have this one,
0:45:58 > 0:46:01glorious but brief season of flowering and then they're done.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04So if I had to choose an old rose which continued flowering, so it's
0:46:04 > 0:46:08got the double whammy of that, it'd be the Jacques Cartier,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11- that wonderful soft pink. - We have a Jacques Cartier.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16So this is Jacques Cartier, which has all the merits of an old rose,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20a wonderful scent, beautiful flower formation, and it flowers on and off
0:46:20 > 0:46:22right the way through the summer.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29Madame Hardy, raised in 1832, may not be as old as Tradescant's roses,
0:46:29 > 0:46:32but has every bit as much character.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Of the white shrubs, I do think Madame Hardy's wonderful.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37There's a great purity in that flower.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39This is the perfect moment to see it.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42The first flowers open, and then all those buds around them
0:46:42 > 0:46:46that you know will come, after a tiny bit of dead-heading taking the old ones off...
0:46:46 > 0:46:49- A lot of dead-heading I think on these roses. - But worth it to get that.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53But I hope in a few years' time these will all catch up and we'll have just
0:46:53 > 0:46:58a solid mass of roses, with pinks underplanted, but early days still.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00Good to see a garden in its youth.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08At first glance, the gardens at Hatfield seen huge and imposing,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11but the truth is they look bigger than they actually are.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16It's evidence that the designers here were masters of illusion.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28However grand your house and garden, there were ways of
0:47:28 > 0:47:34cheating with perspective to make it appear even grander still.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36The entrance to Hatfield, that drive,
0:47:36 > 0:47:40starts through a narrow alley way of lime trees, and then as you
0:47:40 > 0:47:48can see it expands hugely sideways to make the house and grounds even more important.
0:47:48 > 0:47:53Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57We've been doing it in gardening for years.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01But the use of perspective wasn't just about emphasising
0:48:01 > 0:48:03the size of your plot and the scale of your house.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08Designers loved to make the same idea work in different parts of the garden.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11We see this in the Holly Walk.
0:48:11 > 0:48:16There's a neat trick which demonstrates how perspective can still be used even on a small scale,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19smaller than this at home, but this is the Holly Walk.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Grass path, statue at the end, which seems
0:48:23 > 0:48:31a long way away, but that statue is exactly the same distance from me as is that bench there. The secret?
0:48:31 > 0:48:38The bench is large, the statute is smaller, the path narrows towards
0:48:38 > 0:48:44the end, and those buttresses of holly are more frequent.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46Neat, eh?
0:48:46 > 0:48:50But the use of perspective didn't originate in England.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54Yes, you guessed, like the parterre and the espalier, it was first used
0:48:54 > 0:48:57on the other side of the Channel.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00The French were the true masters of perspective, and here
0:49:00 > 0:49:05at the gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte, you can see it at its most dramatic.
0:49:05 > 0:49:11In 1665, the designer Andre Le Notre created these gardens outside Paris
0:49:11 > 0:49:14and showed this new trick in a ground-breaking way.
0:49:14 > 0:49:20The gardens at first glance appear to be perfectly formal and symmetrical.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22They're designed to be viewed from above
0:49:22 > 0:49:27and have all the trademark alleys, statues, parterres and pools.
0:49:27 > 0:49:33But, as the head gardener explains, there's more to this design than meets the eye.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39TRANSLATION: People actually think that French gardens are boring.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44They say they all look the same, when in fact it's exactly the opposite.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48The more you walk down the garden the more you discover.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53Le Notre was a master illusionist, and it's not until you start walking
0:49:53 > 0:49:56down the garden, that his tricks are revealed.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58For example, all the statues in the garden
0:49:58 > 0:50:02viewed from the house appear to be the same size.
0:50:02 > 0:50:08Which means that those nearer the house are half the size of those further down the garden,
0:50:08 > 0:50:12something that would never cross your mind when you first see the garden from the house.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22TRANSLATION: Le Notre liked to play with perspective,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26exaggerating the elements in the garden, the further away they were.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32The same applies to the pools - from the house they all appear
0:50:32 > 0:50:37to be the same size, but as you walk towards them you realise the pool in
0:50:37 > 0:50:40the foreground is actually eight times smaller
0:50:40 > 0:50:43than the square pool at the end of the garden.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48As you go further away from the house you'll
0:50:48 > 0:50:55suddenly discover a grand canal that was invisible before, all achieved by creating a dip in the landscape.
0:51:02 > 0:51:07From the house the garden looks flat, but in fact it's sculpted on different levels.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11At the end of the garden, you'll see a sloping green lawn
0:51:11 > 0:51:13leading to a statue of Hercules,
0:51:13 > 0:51:17but as you approach the statue, yet another pool is revealed.
0:51:20 > 0:51:26TRANSLATION: What Le Notre has proved, is that formal gardens don't have to be two dimensional.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29They can be a surprising voyage of discovery.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40The tricks of using perspective can apply to any size of garden,
0:51:40 > 0:51:44particularly if you want to make a small garden seem suddenly bigger.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52I have a solution.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01Ah, suddenly the perspective changes.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05This is made out of iron by a local blacksmith.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08It will cost you £200 or £300, you could just as easily make it out of
0:52:08 > 0:52:15wooden trellis yourself, but this will last for an awful long time, so I thought it was worth it.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19The trellis uses lines of perspective to suggest
0:52:19 > 0:52:21a three-dimensional archway,
0:52:21 > 0:52:25and the eye is drawn to the central focal point.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29The effect is enhanced by an acrylic mirror, and hey presto, the eye sees
0:52:29 > 0:52:34light behind and is fooled into thinking that the garden continues.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36Can you see what it is yet?
0:52:36 > 0:52:40The only thing is there's a hole underneath.
0:52:40 > 0:52:45I'll need to make it look as though the path continues right up to this mirror.
0:52:48 > 0:52:55A piece of plywood, onto which I've glued with PVA, fine gravel.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03A little bit of masking of the white rim at the bottom.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07But we do have this problem now
0:53:07 > 0:53:09of birds flying into that,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12so I need to make some adjustments.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20But placing objects in the foreground,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23you can create a scene for the eye to rest on.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25What do you think of it so far?
0:53:25 > 0:53:26All right then.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37And that is all there is to it.
0:53:37 > 0:53:42Where there was once a flat, boring hedge, we now have
0:53:42 > 0:53:44a room with a view.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52This is a simple way of turning a flat, boundary hedge or fence
0:53:52 > 0:53:56into an entrance to another space, albeit in the imagination.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05At Hatfield, the size of the gardens
0:54:05 > 0:54:09works perfectly in proportion with the house.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12But what happens when you want a formal garden,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15but your estate is a little more modest?
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Holly Grove is a small country house
0:54:20 > 0:54:23that sits at the foot of the Shropshire hills.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26Peter and Angela Unsworth moved here 20 years ago.
0:54:26 > 0:54:32Their design for the garden was inspired by visits to formal stately homes.
0:54:32 > 0:54:38I visit gardens and think, "Maybe I could take that back and use it in some way in my garden".
0:54:38 > 0:54:42I love the 17th century garden particularly,
0:54:42 > 0:54:45because I love the symmetry
0:54:45 > 0:54:51and the sharpness of the elements of the yews in the box and the limes.
0:54:53 > 0:54:59They only use 17th century elements that work with the needs of the garden.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04The traditional, dark yew hedge is used practically as a windbreak
0:55:04 > 0:55:08and as a backdrop to plants, but is also topiarised into a structure
0:55:08 > 0:55:10that complements the house.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14We'd already put the wall in, so I thought it would be quite nice
0:55:14 > 0:55:18to echo the shape of the wall in the yew hedges.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20So that's what we did.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24Another element of formal symmetry is the pleached lime walk.
0:55:24 > 0:55:29These alleys work particularly well if they draw the eye to a focal point.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33By horizontally binding the branches, they fuse together
0:55:33 > 0:55:38due to a natural phenomenon called inosculation.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41In order to do that you've got to set up a framework of some kind.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44We actually purchased 10-foot pieces of steel section.
0:55:44 > 0:55:48The trees were planted against this, fairly hefty wire was stretched
0:55:48 > 0:55:53along the whole length, and each branch was clipped to it.
0:56:06 > 0:56:12But Angela's biggest passion is the parterre she created at the front of the house.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15My bedroom window overlooks the parterre,
0:56:15 > 0:56:20and so when I get up in the morning I can look through my window
0:56:20 > 0:56:23and say, "You're looking pretty today".
0:56:23 > 0:56:27I used two types of box.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31I weaved the golden box through the green standard box
0:56:31 > 0:56:35and it's just showed up the pattern much better.
0:56:35 > 0:56:43Originally I put gravel between the box, but I found the weeds were still coming through on that, so I had the
0:56:43 > 0:56:48idea to put the slate chippings and put them in about that thick,
0:56:48 > 0:56:52you see, and that really suppresses the weeds,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55so no maintenance with weeding, which is a joy.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59I particularly love the parterre in winter,
0:56:59 > 0:57:01because when everything else is dying back,
0:57:01 > 0:57:04it always looks pretty, and particularly
0:57:04 > 0:57:09when there's, say, a hoar frost or a bit of snow, it's really magical.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12Peter and Angela's design shows us
0:57:12 > 0:57:17how ideas from the 17th century transcend the ages.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Like its grander counterpart, Hatfield,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23it's designed to work in harmony with the house.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29The trick of learning from this elegant old garden,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32is to pick and choose what works for you.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36What I've tried to show is that, with a little inspiration,
0:57:36 > 0:57:38a 400 year-old design can be easily
0:57:38 > 0:57:43and effectively translated to suit today's smaller patches.
0:57:43 > 0:57:48Hatfield reflects the sheer joy of gardening that would
0:57:48 > 0:57:52turn the grandest of noblemen into a green-fingered obsessive.
0:57:52 > 0:57:59For the first time here, the garden was used as something to show off the design of the home.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02It's a state of affairs that's been with us ever since.
0:58:14 > 0:58:19Next time, the formal gardens of the 17th century are swept away
0:58:19 > 0:58:22to make way for the dreamy naturalism
0:58:22 > 0:58:23of the landscape movement.
0:58:23 > 0:58:25I reveal the secrets
0:58:25 > 0:58:29behind one of the most spectacular gardens in the country.
0:58:37 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:42 > 0:58:46Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk