Episode 3 Big Dreams Small Spaces

Do you dream of having your own special outdoor space,

a small garden that you can admire, enjoy and call your own?

And then you stop and think, "I have no idea how to make it."

Well, you're not alone.

Monty Don has travelled up and down the country,

visiting amateur gardeners with bold ambitions.

He's scrutinised their plans

and pushed them out of their comfort zones.

Going out into deeper, darkest unknown territory, isn't it?

It's not been easy... THUNDER

-I hate it.

-HE SCREAMS

..but everyone's worked incredibly hard...

Both of us want to sleep for a week, pretty much.

You've had your tea break, come on.

..and the transformations have been extraordinary.

It's just incredible. It really is.

I declare this garden open!

CHEERING

I do believe that everybody, however small their garden,

can cultivate a big dream.

This time, Monty meets two sets of gardeners

who have unimaginable dreams for their outdoor spaces.

The strength of this garden will be because it's so bonkers.

We've gone from mad to possible.

Yeah.

From an unloved back garden...

If it was down to me, there'd be a gardener coming in once

-or twice a month.

-You'd rather do the ironing, wouldn't you?

..to a wooded wasteland.

Call us idiots, but this is one of the most difficult sites

you could come across.

At least you'll make everybody laugh.

Will they succeed in turning their dreams into reality?

This is like my tribute to my childhood.

If I get it right, that's what it will be.

We're not very clever when it comes to plants.

-We need help.

-We need help.

Our first garden is in Essex.

Civil servant Dave and primary school vice-principal Denise

moved in 13 years ago, but have so far failed to make much of an impact

on their outdoor space.

Our garden at the moment is very functional.

Dave only visits the shed when he's hanging out the washing,

so we've not really used it to its full potential.

But they've decided that now is the time to take the garden in hand.

Next year is a huge year for us.

We've been married 25 years, we can celebrate that next year.

And... We can celebrate that next year!

Next year I'm 50. So that's a bit of a milestone.

Our son is 21,

so having a garden for socialising is important.

And Denise is keen to recreate a garden

that played an important role in her childhood.

But reluctant gardener Dave isn't quite as enthusiastic.

I have a good work ethic and Dave tries to avoid a work ethic.

Denise is the one who's got the passion and the drive

to get it done.

I'm a reluctant passenger, shall we say, but I'm still on the bus.

I'll manage Dave through the whole lot,

and he'll be grateful that I did that.

Our second gardeners are in Ipswich.

Ten years ago, Rob's wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The former inventor then decided to set up a charity with the help

of his daughter Jo.

Going through five months of living with an advanced form of lung cancer

wasn't easy but it wasn't as difficult as some people have it

and there and then I thought, "When I get through this,

"I'd like to really do something for the cancer community."

Rob purchased a derelict wood in Sudbury

and over several years transformed it into a peaceful and usable space.

Our main aim was to convert a very poor woodland or land that had been

unused into cancer retreats,

so anybody going through a tough time of living with cancer,

we wanted to build something that was absolutely

-beautiful to visit.

-Also, people with profound learning difficulties,

mainly children, come and help us to maintain the site and adults

with mental health challenges come and also help us.

With the success of the first site,

Rob decided to renovate another woodland here in Ipswich,

and his daughter Jo, who had helped before on a volunteer basis,

decided to take it on full-time.

This is Jo's woodland.

You are the manager of this.

I will bite my tongue on certain areas.

There may be a new chief dishing out the orders,

but Rob and Jo agree on one thing -

why make life easy?

Call us idiots, but this is one of the most difficult sites you could

-come across.

-It's a particularly poor area of the woodland.

The site is completely covered in ivy,

on a massively steep slope, which makes it even more challenging.

The entire woodland covers three acres, which will need a lot of time

and generous donations to restore.

For now, a 24 by 12-metre area has been earmarked

for a very specific purpose.

We like a challenge and we want to convert one of these slopes into

-an allotment.

-Whilst me and Jo know quite a bit about trees,

we're not very clever when it comes to plants, so...

-We're OK.

-We need help.

-We need help.

It's May in Essex and Monty is on

his way to meet Dave and an excitable Denise.

Having Monty on board is really important to me because we are

amateur gardeners through and through,

and Dave is not even a wannabe gardener, really.

I respect his knowledge, I respect his skills

and just the common sense that he will bring to my ideas.

I think I've got completely different expectations to Denise

in that I'm looking for him to rein her in.

With that challenge, Britain's favourite gardener

arrives to mediate.

-Hello, Monty.

-Hello.

-I'm Denise. Nice to meet you.

-And this is Dave.

-Hello, Dave.

-Do come in.

-So here's our garden.

-Here we are.

And you might think, "Oh, this is a lovely garden."

But, actually, for the last 13 years,

we've only used the decking space.

-Just this little bit here?

-Yes.

Apart from putting the washing on the line or getting the bikes from

the shed, we've never really ventured down there.

I'm flabbergasted. So the extent of your horticultural universe has been

-contained within the balustrade?

-Absolutely.

Do you want to transform this area and ignore that or do you want to

include the whole garden?

In my mind is to actually focus on beyond the decking.

Well, this is going out into deeper, darkest unknown territory, isn't it?

Beyond the decking. It's like a B-movie!

So have you had any plans and thoughts?

-Yes, ruins. Real ruins.

-Really?

That's interesting.

When you say ruins... what sort of ruins?

So I thought, I might want to go medieval

but the memory and image that's in my head -

it's an old brick mill that's fallen down.

And so, just to be clear about this,

you're thinking about putting an old brick mill out there

and creating a garden round it, is that right?

Yeah, that's basically it. Well done. I'm glad you see it.

I was trying to exaggerate.

-I realise I haven't told the half of it.

-No.

With such an audacious dream,

Monty needs to see the plan for himself.

I would love to see what you've put on paper.

Denise's plan is to replace the balustrade with steps and a narrow

path leading to the bottom of the garden.

The shed will be demolished to accommodate a courtyard seating area

and next to this, a six-foot tall brick folly will be erected.

A set of ruins will take centre stage and wooden sleepers will form

two planting beds filled with wild flowers.

What will Monty think of her big ideas?

There is a strong tradition,

sort of the late 18th century, early 19th century,

of doing this type of thing with follies,

with things that look as though they're leading somewhere

but in fact don't.

So this is founded in good British gardening tradition,

you know, hundreds of years old.

It works, people have done it and it's exciting.

Monty is on board with Denise's concept,

but he has some reservations.

Why do you need the sleepers?

I was just mindful of how much brick I was putting in.

As a contrasting material,

I thought the sleepers might be an idea of modernising the ruins.

I would say that you should go with the theme you've chosen

and stick with it. So don't try to soften it or diminish it or...

modernise it or in any way deviate from your chosen path.

The strength of this garden will be because it's so bonkers.

It's mad building a ruin in a back garden like that.

You know, that's lovely.

It's almost as though you're trying to sort of say,

"Well, it's not that bad. It's bonkers,

"but there is a proper garden there, too."

-We don't want a proper garden.

-No, we don't.

-We want your garden.

-Our garden.

So my instincts are, ditch the sleepers.

Personally, that's what I would do.

With the sleepers ditched,

Monty thinks there's room in the garden for a water element.

And you could have it spilling in a spout,

you could have it just overlapping

like a sort of infinity pool-type spilling.

-There are options.

-I'm interested now.

Monty's advice to Denise and Dave is to stick to their guns and embrace

their bold design by getting rid of the wooden sleepers.

He suggests they include a water feature within the ruins

and instead of wild flowers, which will only last a couple of months,

they should choose planting that will provide interest

all year round.

Monty also advises them to make the path wider and easier to navigate.

But with so much going on in the garden,

there's an important question to consider...

How much money have you got?

-Well, the man from Del Monte...

-Yeah?

-..says 8,000.

-Right.

And that's because we're mindful of the fact that we will need

a bit of help building the folly.

I think a lot people would think,

-"Crikey, £8,000, that's a lot of money."

-Bricks are not cheap.

-No.

Anything with bricks and mortar, you've got a price tag to them

and, you know, I want the wall not to become a ruin straightaway

-and if I build it...

-But you want a ruin!

Well, a wall's a wall.

So the folly has got to stand the test of time.

To help Denise and Dave see how their design could look

in their nine-by-eight-metre garden, Monty gets to work.

You're a measurer, I'm a staker.

Although Denise may be happy to invest in a builder,

if she doesn't get her measurements absolutely right,

it'll be her budget that ends up in ruins.

-This is supposed to be in line with that, is it?

-Yeah.

OK, let's work off that. In which case, this is wrong.

This is wrong? Yeah, you're right.

My bad.

Already, the cracks in the plan are beginning to show.

It's just as well they're marking out the design

with sticks and string.

But there's nothing there...

Shall we go up and look down on it?

Let's have a look.

Right, what's your immediate reaction?

Well, it's a bit more squashed than I thought.

Do you feel that marking it out like this is a good exercise?

Absolutely. It's more out than I thought it would be,

but actually I'd rather know now than later on.

Yeah. My advice would be to not hurry this process,

and if it takes an extra week, I promise you you'll save a week.

Yeah, and probably a heartache.

Yeah, this is a big thing you're doing.

This is not something you do every week.

-No.

-You know, get it right.

Get it so you're happy. For today, my work is done here.

Get some walls up, then give me a call.

Sounds like a plan.

Good. I've had fun. Thanks very much

and I'll see you in a few weeks' time.

All right. Bye-bye.

Of course, Denise's plan is completely extreme and wacky.

It's delightfully bonkers.

Monty worried me at the beginning because I felt like he was almost

giving Denise license to take her vision even further

than I had anticipated.

Although the details and marking it out are important,

and it's always good to expose the virtues and flaws of a design,

by simply laying string out where there are lines on paper,

it's the ruins and the walls that count.

So when I come back I hope they're already well underway

and we can start to finesse it with some planting.

When somebody sees your dream and gives you that encouragement

and nudges you in the right direction,

I sort of feel like we're in safe hands and that's a good place to be.

A few weeks later in Ipswich,

Rob and Jo are nervously awaiting Monty's arrival.

I'm really, really looking forward to Monty coming to see their plot.

However, I am a little frightened that he's going to have a look at it

and say, "There is nothing you can do with this."

And the duo do a bit of housework to get ready

for their important visitor.

-Hello.

-Monty!

-Hi.

-Nice to see you.

-Good to see you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Hello.

This is going to be our terraced allotment site.

-You want to have an allotment on this slope?

-Yes.

-OK.

To terrace that

is quite a big undertaking.

I mean, it's quite dramatic.

-We like big undertakings.

-OK.

Why do you want to grow vegetables?

A lot of the volunteers and a lot of the people that we support here at

the woodlands, we quite often feed them at lunchtime

and also it would be really good for them to be part of the whole process

of growing the vegetables and then using it to do cookery.

-Especially the children.

-Exactly.

-Which is more important?

Producing the food or the process and the educational?

-I would say the educational.

-Yeah, so would I.

-If it is a project, as part of a bigger picture...

-Absolutely.

..that will entertain and inform and inspire...

-That's exactly what it is.

-..then it's great.

Fine. Then I'm with that the whole way.

-BOTH:

-Good.

Though Monty approves of their plan, he is clear about the work ahead,

not least cutting back the trees to bring in the light.

I cannot stress the importance that the more you clear,

-the better chance you have.

-Yeah, yeah.

You could plant things like redcurrants

and gooseberries which don't mind shade.

White currants, you can grow those in shade.

You can grow climbers, you know, things like climbing beans.

They like warm, wet shade.

So there's our other problem - we don't have running water yet.

So we've got to do some sort of irrigation system.

-I know.

-HE SCREAMS

So you want to grow vegetables in a wood with no soil,

no sun, no water...

-But apart from that it's fine.

-Apart from that it's fine. Good.

Well, I think...

at least you'll make everybody laugh.

And the difficulties just keep mounting up.

-What's your budget?

-Maximum we would have is £1,000.

What would that be spent on?

Getting the flooring first, so it's wheelchair-friendly.

So, essentially, for your terraced allotment

-you have no money at all?

-No.

-OK.

-At the moment.

OK, OK, that...

adds to the allure of the thing.

You've got no money, you've got the worst site in the world and...

-that's good in the sense that you know where you stand.

-Yeah.

Intrigued by the huge challenge Rob and Jo have set for themselves,

Monty is keen to look at their plan.

The pair want to build a three-tiered allotment

on their woodland slope

packed with a range of fruit and vegetables.

A decked floor space will enable wheelchair users

to enjoy the lower beds,

while two paths separate the upper tiers that can be accessed by steps.

Finally, Jo plans to make her own gabions,

metal cages which will stabilise the slope.

-Have you ever made a gabion?

-No.

-Do you know someone who has?

-No.

-Right.

I suspect it may not be as easy as you think.

It might be worth doing a little bit of research on that.

-OK, yeah.

-One more obstacle to overcome, then.

The steps want to be as narrow as possible

to give yourself as much room,

and maybe railings on the first one, just so anybody can get at them.

-Yeah, good idea.

-To the first level?

-Yeah, to the first level.

Then I would suggest that your first path is wider

-than the second one.

-Yep.

-Yeah, OK.

But the second one I would make really quite narrow.

-Just wide enough for somebody to walk single file.

-Yeah.

And that will buy you more bed space.

-That's a good idea.

-Yeah.

-And that's the other point -

you realise that everything that goes up there

is going to have to go up

these steps and you're going to have to take compost and manure up there,

-and they're going to be carried up in buckets?

-Yeah.

Strong steps.

-Strong steps, non-slippery steps.

-Yeah.

That's the key thing.

Monty wants Jo and Rob to maximise their bedding space

to accommodate more planting.

He suggests they make both the steps and the upper pass narrower

and attach chicken wire to provide a nonslip surface.

Next, they should shrink the decking area

so as to make the size of their beds bigger.

And because of the heavy clay soil,

he also thinks they should include a drainage system for excess water.

Monty likes the idea of using gabions

and suggests they become dual-purpose

by filling them with herbs.

But before Jo and Rob can do anything,

they need to remove the overgrown ivy covering the ground.

Monty is happy to lend a hand and Jo has arranged for some volunteers

-to come in and help out as well...

-Hello.

..and they all get stuck in.

My own feeling is what you want is incompatible

-with trees in the middle of it.

-Yes, exactly.

What you can't move has to be cut down.

OK, I will go for it, then.

Well, that's let in loads more light already, hasn't it?

Yeah, I think you'll be OK.

-You're a bit more optimistic about it now, Monty.

-Well, I am. I am.

I just thought you were crazy.

Now I think it's going to be really difficult but possible.

-Good.

-So if you're up for really difficult...

-I'm up for it.

-Good.

Right...

-Thank you.

-I've done enough.

-Yeah, thanks, Monty.

It's been fun.

It's been good and I'm really looking forward to coming back.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

I have to be honest and admit that when Rob and Jo showed me the site

and told me what they wanted to do with it,

I just thought it was crazy,

that it was a waste of time to even begin it and I was working out ways

of letting them down gently.

But having cleared it, having seen the plans

and spent the day with them,

I believe it could happen.

I'm feeling exhausted but really excited

about the next stage of it.

Our Essex dreamer, Denise, has brought Dave

to Kearsney Abbey in Kent.

She's hoping that by showing him the ruins of the Old River paper mill,

they will come up with a final design for their ideal garden.

'This was the place where we had the special times.

'This is when we came together as a family.'

And it's those memories I sort of want to hold on to and cherish.

This is like my tribute to my childhood.

If I get it right, that's what it will be.

The spirit of that feature there,

I don't think we could have the whole lot,

it would be overwhelming in our little garden.

We'll get a picture from the front of it.

Maybe that will add some height in the brickwork.

Even reluctant Dave is entering into the spirit of it all now.

When you come here, you get the sound of the water,

and I think you lose yourself in it.

Everything that's growing in the brick there, that's beautiful.

It's the sound, isn't it? More than what you see, it's what you hear.

I think if you're going to bring elements of Kearsney Abbey

to the garden, it would be a shame if you don't actually bring

at least the sound of water.

Dave really isn't letting go of Monty's suggestion

of a water feature.

Inspired?

HE LAUGHS

It's summertime in Ipswich.

Not that you'd notice in the woodland.

Monty has told Rob and Jo they must get more light in.

So there's nothing for it but to do some serious pruning,

with the help of a local tree surgeon.

What we want to achieve today is to clear the dangerous branches

to let the sunlight in.

Some of Rob and Jo's regular volunteers who were taught forestry

and conservation skills by the charity

are also on hand to clear the fallen branches.

Jo is also having to take up another suggestion of Monty's rather more

quickly than she'd thought.

We've had so much rainfall recently, we've really seen how

if we start using watering systems up there regularly,

it's going to be a real issue.

So under Monty's brilliant advice, we're building this French drain.

-Are we saying he was right?

-I think so.

No, definitely.

With the help of a digger, they make a special drain

which acts as a soakaway system, redirecting the water.

He's going to dig a French drain here.

We'll put in a big soakaway here.

And while they have the digger,

Rob has a plan for that treacherous slope.

I think working with the plan, we can actually slightly reduce

the slope as well.

The pair seem to have completely remodelled the site,

not bad for a day's work.

Everyone's worked so hard and we've definitely exceeded

-all of our expectations.

-Yeah.

In Essex, while Denise and Dave are away at work...

That looks good.

..builder Pete is beginning to construct their dream garden.

The challenge here is to build a ruin from her childhood.

This is where she took the pictures of it,

and we're trying to construct her childhood dream.

The walls have got to look really, really old,

which is harder than making it look good.

Although the costly construction work has begun,

Denise hasn't followed Monty's advice

to get her final plan down on paper.

It's not a problem, but if we had it on paper

it would make it much easier.

Like, building a house, it's simple.

Building something in someone's head is not so simple.

In Ipswich, Rob and Jo are preparing for Monty's return.

It hasn't been long since Monty's been here

but the change is phenomenal.

We've opened up a lot more space, the gradient of the slope

is not so steep, so I'm really hoping that Monty

is going to kind of look at the site and think,

"Yeah, we can actually do it this time."

'I left last time really impressed by the energy

'that was going into this project.

'But energy alone is not going to be enough.'

To even consider making this viable as a vegetable plot,

a huge amount of preparatory work has to be done,

so I suppose really what I want to see

is just how far they've got on with that,

because they've got to be realistic.

This has got to be transformed.

Hello?

-Hello.

-Hey, Monty.

-Oh, hi.

Well, somebody's been doing some work.

-Well, it's us!

-Nice to see.

-Nice to see you, too.

-How are you?

I'm trying to remember what it was like.

What was a really forbidding slope, you know,

suddenly looks a little bit more accessible, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-If I'd come initially and seen that

and you'd said, "We'd like to grow something edible,

"preferably wonderful vegetables on there,"

I would have thought it was tricky but possible.

And I think we've gone from mad to possible.

-Yeah.

-Excellent!

Well, that's a relief.

And now it's time for Monty to roll up his sleeves

and help with the next task,

building a gabion for terracing -

something neither of them have done before.

-We're going to find out how to do it by doing it.

-Yeah!

The gabions will be instrumental in stabilising the slope

and preventing subsidence.

Jo has salvaged some old wire fencing from the woodland which,

when cut to size, will be perfect.

-One gabion.

-Done!

They attach the sides with a simple wire tie.

Right, how solid does that seem?

-Well, it's not that bad, is it, for a first effort?

-Yeah.

We can't put the top on till we've filled it up

but we can fill with anything.

Normally filled with stones, but it could be hard-core,

it could be bricks, it could be tiles.

Should we try and put it in position to see if it does fit?

OK.

-OK, we're ready for you.

-You are ready, are you?

-Right.

-So that has got to be flush with that

-and it should be the same height, should it?

-Well, yeah.

It's only just out.

-For some reason we're a bit proud.

-Yeah.

I can take that down a couple of millimetres, if you like.

No, to be honest, I think when that's loaded up with stone,

-it might even sink a bit.

-Yeah, good point.

-We're quibbling. It looks great!

-It does!

-It looks good.

-I'm happy with it. Are you happy, Jo?

-Yeah, really happy.

-Happy. Done.

To fill the gabion, Jo has decided to use house bricks

which were found in and around the site.

Let's say another like that.

I mean, it doesn't have to be perfect, does it?

It's not going to be perfect, don't worry.

-Behind this you can just chuck in any old stuff.

-Yeah.

-How about that?

-Look at that!

See, I think when that's planted it will look nice.

-That looks really nice.

-Yeah.

Once the gabion is backfilled with rubble and topped with soil,

it's time to get the herbs in.

This is the...

apple mint.

So we'll just loosen that up a bit,

-and I don't try to untangle it.

-No, OK.

-Just break it.

-And what that will do is stimulate new growth.

-Right.

Just rough it up

and then we'll put that in there like that,

and the advantage of that is it won't then spread

-and fill the whole thing.

-And take over.

-Yeah, and take over.

-Let's have some lemon verbena.

-OK.

So we'll put that in there.

-Three of these.

-What the lavender and the lemon verbena

-and Mediterranean herbs will like is the drainage.

-Oh, right, OK.

They will love that because with the rubble underneath,

-this will drain really well.

-Yeah.

So it has got some goodness but it will also drain.

It looks as though Jo's research has paid off.

I tell you what, that's not bad,

and if you have more like that I think they'll look great.

I think so, too.

Isn't that lovely?

-Happy with that in principle?

-More than principle.

-I'm really pleased.

-Thank you for your advice.

Thank YOU for your advice.

I now know how to make a gabion, which I didn't before.

So that's brilliant. All right, I'm going to go.

-Bye-bye. Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-I'll see you.

I learned so much today working with Monty

making the gabions and we both learnt together

about how to build them.

I definitely think that Monty's starting to see the vision.

I feel much more buoyed up now and if what we achieved today can be

expanded out across the whole site,

then I think the results will not only be effective,

I think it will look spectacular.

Monty has sent Dave and Denise to Capel Manor College in Middlesex,

whose students specialise in horticulture.

They're keen to make their ruins look as old as possible,

and so are taking a tour of the folly,

built here just six years ago.

-It's amazing.

-Gardener Tom explains the quickest way they can add age

to their structure is by introducing climbers.

This is actually an ornamental grapevine

and it's got these fantastic leaves on it -

really, really large leaves.

You grow this for its autumn colour, so this goes pillar box red

-in the autumn.

-Oh, lovely.

-It's really, really fantastic.

What I really like is that some of the leaves will be one colour in one

part of the year and then change later on in the year.

When the walls first went in they almost looked

a little bit too pristine and so one of the first things we did

was get the climbers up them and I think they add a lot of interest,

they age the walls and they just help it settle down

a little bit more and I'd really recommend

you include climbers in your planting.

And Thomas shows Denise and Dave that they aren't limited to vines.

Rambling roses are an excellent option for adding colour and drama

to their garden and their vigorous growth will sprawl

all over their brickwork, providing an aged appearance.

Climbing roses are another good option,

although less vigorous than the rambler.

Many varieties produce larger blooms and repeat flower throughout summer

and early autumn.

Clematis can be used in conjunction with either rose

and because it will bloom

just as the rose is finishing,

it can extend the flowering season well into September.

And Tom has another suggestion for creating an aged appearance.

What we've done is we've planted within the crevices one of my

favourite plants, a really cute little daisy.

It's a fleabane and it just flowers and flowers and flowers.

And it seeds well so all those little cracks in your patio,

if that's the look you want to go for, it will happily colonise those,

or you could get your contractors to leave you little planting pockets

in the walls and you could just pop it in there.

It gives a sort of aged aesthetic.

'It's hard to feel that this place has only been going for six years.'

It was a field.

That gives you a bit of hope that actually the desired look can come

quicker than maybe we expected.

In Ipswich, Rob and Jo have yet another group of volunteers in.

One half of the team is working with Rob to build the terraces

and raised beds...

We're going to knock it on the ground about that much.

-It's easy work.

-Ah!

..and the other half are assisting Jo in making more gabions.

It's really simple.

It seems the philosophy of many hands make light work is proving

a good one, and in just one day,

they've managed to build half the terraces needed for the allotment.

-It looks amazing.

-It's amazing.

It's real now. I think Monty will love it.

I hope he does.

It really excites me to see all the plants in place now,

and we've got the whole bottom layer done now.

So that's brilliant and it really shows what we can do

-with the upper layers.

-Yeah.

In Essex, our dreamer is still no closer to a final plan

for her garden.

Denise has a fantastic way of saying things.

She... "I have changed my mind slightly," and we giggle.

In terms of the plans, there have been a few.

I actually don't count any more...

but significantly more than ten.

Oh, dear.

-Good morning.

-Morning, dear. How are you?

All right.

Obviously, we've had a little change here. Plan number 32.

SHE LAUGHS

But Denise has an excuse for her indecision.

'To have a plan and stick to it might seem like a sensible thing to do'

but, actually, you've got to have a garden that you want to live with.

'Some things haven't changed.

'So the planters beyond the decking and the steps going down,'

that hasn't changed, the folly hasn't changed,

it's just on a different side of the garden.

-At least this.

-Minimum of that height?

Yeah, just so, because then you've got the two tiers of the feature.

-Right, OK.

-Monty really challenged us to think about that central line

and to think about that space and stay true to the ruins,

not try to modernise it or put a twist on it.

He said, "Keep it simple, keep it bold."

So the middle part of the garden he won't recognise at all.

'And I'm looking forward to see how he reacts to that.'

It's his fault that he inspired us to do this.

Really, Denise?

But the door looks fantastic, doesn't it?

The recycled door.

They were going to use it as a spot board and I went,

"No, that's the secret door!"

-It's fantastic.

-Isn't it?

And Pete has brought along Bill,

who has a novel idea for ageing the folly walls.

'Basically, what we're trying to do here is'

accelerate the growing of moss by using a natural yoghurt.

It's quite a simple process, really.

Just slap it on and just let nature take its place.

I'll show you how natural it is.

Here you are.

-Can I have a go?

-Of course.

I am really fortunate that Pete's on my wavelength because he seems

to have... Instinctively understands what I mean.

Once we get the brickworks set up to the heights you want the rack backs,

-then you get the effect of it all then.

-Brilliant.

A builder and a mind-reader. Perhaps he should charge double.

It's not your typical builder-client relationship.

I'm really worried that your mind and my mind sort of harmonise.

Yeah, we're both bonkers!

As a reward for all the hard preparatory work,

Monty has suggested Rob and Jo visit Hyde Hall in Chelmsford,

which was formerly a working farm and was donated to the

Royal Horticultural Society in 1993.

Head gardener Matt is eager to show them what might work in their newly

cleared space and its shady conditions.

So one of the first things I want to show you is the redcurrants because

I think you might be able to grow some of them in your garden.

-Brilliant.

-Partly because they will tolerate a bit of shade and partly

because of the way that we grow them.

Yeah, Monty said about white currants as well.

Yeah, so white currants, redcurrants,

pretty much the same thing.

The only difference is the colour of the fruit, effectively.

The way we grow them... You can see we grow them as one upright stem,

what we call a cordon,

then we prune all the side shoots to encourage flowering and fruiting.

-You can see with this one here that's covered in fruit.

-Yeah.

And the joy of doing it this way is that the fruit that you get

is more exposed to the sun and therefore

-it might ripen a bit quicker in shady conditions.

-Yeah.

Yeah, good idea.

So it's worth considering growing them like that.

-Rather than a bush?

-Rather than as a bush.

-Well, we can do that, can't we?

-Yeah, definitely.

Would you have one whole bed down to this type of fruit?

It depends how much you want, in terms of quantity.

I mean, because you're growing them in a trained form and keeping

the plant quite compact,

you can fit a lot more varieties in the smaller amount of space.

It doesn't have to be all red currants, does it?

No, no. You could... I mean, we grow gooseberries the same way.

Any of the cultivated blackberries,

perhaps some of the thornless varieties are quite popular.

Yeah, that would be good for the children.

Or any of the blackberry/raspberry hybrids are quite good as well.

So things like loganberries, boysenberries, tayberries,

there's loads out there.

While berries can be pruned to make the most of the sunlight,

Matt also recommends vegetables that prefer shady spots.

You can see we've got three quite young rows of summer lettuces here

and a very established row of perpetual spinach

and then we have a couple of rows of Swiss chard as well.

-All crops we can come and pick loose leaves off.

-Yeah.

For you, if you've got more shaded conditions, you might be able to get

away with growing some of the other varieties of spinach that,

in the height of summer when it's very hot,

in a more exposed situation they're just going to bulk to seed.

You might be able to grow them all year round, as it were.

-Perfect.

-So it's worth giving that a go.

Finally, Matt has a good tip for their plot,

which has less direct sunlight than this garden.

Better to go with leaves that have bright green or dark green foliage,

because they'll be more efficient at photosynthesizing,

-as opposed to purple-leaved crops.

-Yeah.

So anything red or purple-leafed won't grow as vigorously because

they haven't got as much chlorophyll in the leaf.

Go for dark greens, and not purples.

Thanks very much.

'I found today really, really useful, actually.

'Matt was a wealth of knowledge.'

He reiterated a couple of Monty's points about the currants, which was fantastic.

-I'm inspired from today.

-Yeah.

-I want to go back and get stuck in.

The building work is finally finished in Essex

and Monty is keen to see the result of Denise's ever-evolving plans.

It's quite a long time since I was last here with Denise and Dave

and I'm expecting great things.

I love the idea of this folly

built in the back garden that hasn't really been touched for years.

I'm expecting something spectacular.

I'm really excited that Monty's coming back today.

It feels like a lifetime has passed since he's been,

and it'll be interesting to see how he sees where we've got to.

-Hello.

-Good morning!

-Morning.

-You've been doing something!

-Good to see you.

-How are you?

-Nice to see you. Hi, Dave.

-Morning.

-Yes.

-Wow!

-A little different to last time you came.

It's more than a little different, it's transformed.

Because when I left you, you had to do some refinements

-because things weren't fitting, were they?

-That's right.

They weren't working out. So what happened next?

We decided to move the folly from the left-hand side

of the garden to the right-hand side of the garden,

so it was the main feature that came down from the path,

-because we wanted to keep it simple.

-Yeah.

This is the bony structure, if you like,

-but it will be fleshed out by plants...

-Yeah.

..and at certain times of the year, half hidden by plants.

We're hoping that. We want to have the plants working all year.

Yeah, I mean, that...

You don't need to hope it, you make it happen.

That's down to you.

So has all the re-planning had any knock-on effects?

In terms of budget, where are you now?

This is the money man. We're laughing!

-Genuinely?

-Yeah.

-I've no idea...

-Right.

-..because the budget, in terms of the original 8,000

that we said, we know that that's blown.

So you're over budget, but you don't know how much...

-Not yet.

-..but you seem remarkably unconcerned about that.

They've delivered exactly what we wanted.

Whatever the bill is, I feel that it is going to be a fair bill, so...

I must come and work for you.

I like your...

your employment style.

The one thing I would say in all honesty is,

-my son has been warned that his ISA might be depleted.

-OK.

With the ruins up and the bank balance in tatters,

they'd better get on with the planting.

Denise wants a bed of lavender, but worries about her soil,

and needs Monty's advice to give her plants the best start.

-Basically, we've got clay.

-If I turn that over...

-Yeah.

If I squeeze it...

it's a nice clay lump.

OK. That isn't ideal for lavender.

So what you need to do, as much as possible,

-is lighten that up.

-OK.

There are two ways of doing that.

One is to dig in organic matter, compost, manure,

bark, leaf mould, anything like that will help a lot.

The other, which is even more effective

and probably more suitable for lavender, is grit and stone.

-OK.

-Have you got any grit and stone?

-I have.

-Lavender likes poor soil...

-OK.

..if it's to thrive.

Well, I want it to thrive in the worst conditions, and...

Well, what you call the worst conditions is best for lavender.

Yeah.

Sprinkle this on like this...

..and then fork that lightly in.

-The idea is to dig it first...

-Yeah.

..then spread your gravel or grit, as much as you have got,

-then fork that in.

-Right.

Then it's ready for planting.

And already, you can see by the way the fork is going in the ground...

-So much lighter, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is.

If you can plant easily like that, it does make life a lot easier.

We don't want it too deep.

You don't want any deeper than the height of the soil.

-OK.

-And if you really hit a clay bit,

you'll do no harm by simply putting a bed of stones for it to sit on,

and that means, when the roots go down, they don't sit in water.

-OK.

-They may well grow through it but there's a kind of barrier.

If it's really heavy rain, if they sit in a puddle, they'll die.

-Rot.

-They will rot and die.

With the lavender in, Denise is keen to try Tom's suggestion

of planting into her brickwork, but there's a problem.

The walls seem very finished. There doesn't seem to be many natural

crevices and holes and nooks and crannies that we can plant into.

So if we make our own nooks and crannies?

-If you're happy.

-Yeah.

Get a hammer, get a chisel,

and we'll nook and cranny to our hearts' content.

OK, lovely. I'll do that.

Undaunted by having spent a small fortune on her folly,

Denise seems quite happy to watch Monty knock holes in it.

Immediately, it makes the wall look more interesting, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-A little bit of soil.

We can section off, push that in there like that.

I like that and I like the colours of that in with the brick.

Yeah, I agree.

She's chosen a selection of alpines and succulents,

which are really easy to plant.

All that's required is a hammer and chisel.

Over time, these plants will self-seed

and spread over the brickwork, creating the aged appearance

and coverage that Denise is after.

They're called house leaves because they grow on the roofs of houses,

and they've evolved to grow with very, very poor soil.

If we're lucky... it'll root in there.

-OK?

-Lovely.

So I think that's it for today.

When I come back, Dave will be too busy gardening to speak

having found your true love, your true calling in life.

We'll see, we'll see!

Before he leaves, Monty has a last bit of advice.

Don't make the mistake of under-planting

to allow things to grow in a year or two.

Over plant and take things out in a year or two.

-Oh, OK.

-It's a small garden.

-You can afford to do it.

-OK, I'm going.

-Thank you so much. Cheers.

'What you have there is the fascinating backbone

'of a garden but not yet a garden.'

They need to really put the same energy and attention

into the planting that they have into the structure.

Understanding what your soil is and how best to get your plants to work

for you from that, that was really the magic of Monty, for me.

When the planting is done, then there will be a garden.

That is what I'm looking forward to celebrating when I return.

It's only a few weeks until Monty returns to Ipswich,

and the construction of the three-tiered allotment

is finally nearing completion.

Rob and volunteer Jamie are stepping up their efforts to get everything

finished on time.

With their clients counting on her,

Jo is eager to get some vegetables into the ground.

And not content with only planting in the beds,

she is utilising all the space she's got.

Because of our budget, we could only really have these six beds

to grow our main crops.

All alongside this bank is going to be a whole edible bank.

I've dug up from my own front garden some chickweed

and also we have got some hedge garlic as well,

that we're going to be planting.

So hopefully it's going to take and spread all along this bank.

With the new crops in,

it's time to check on some of the more established ones.

One thing that is really done so well is all the herbs.

They've come on so nicely in every single gabion that we've planted

them in, especially this one that Monty and I planted

right at the beginning.

Jo is doing much better than I ever believed possible.

She's grabbed it by both hands.

And for what I've seen so far, I could actually step down tomorrow.

I'm not going to, but I have that much confidence in her.

High praise indeed, but it won't be long until Monty's back.

So my intention at the beginning was to be able to feed

Monty right at the end with the vegetables that we've got,

and I will be able to do that within limits.

I mean, nature's nature.

I shouted at the cabbages but it hasn't made them grow any faster.

And it's not just Monty they're eager to impress.

The faster we get it done, the more people will enjoy it.

In Essex, with the clock ticking to Monty's return,

Dave's finally getting his hands dirty.

Me and the people in the garden centre

are on first-name terms now, so....

Watering, I'm getting quite good at watering plants.

Could the reluctant gardener finally have found his calling?

If it was down to me, there'd be a gardener

coming in once or twice a month.

You'd rather do the ironing, wouldn't you?

Yeah.

Maybe not.

It's started to feel like a garden now

but there's still so many more plants to go in.

In Ipswich, Rob and Jo are putting the last touches to the allotment.

I am now going to plant the very last...

-Do you want a clap?

-..plant. No!

I'm really, really excited about showing

our new allotment off to Monty.

I think he's going to be relatively shocked

and surprised by what we've done.

'When I left Rob and Jo last time I was here,

'I was very impressed by the amount of work they had done,

'and it seemed to me that everything was possible.'

I do hope, for their sakes, that they've managed to grow something

because if they have, that will be some achievement.

And before Monty arrives,

there's just time for a final decorative flourish.

Just a few months ago,

this site was a dark, deserted wasteland

with a sharp slope riddled with ivy...

-Hi!

-Hello, hello.

Nice to see you. And good to see this.

..now it has been totally transformed

into a usable and valuable space.

Nonslip decking enables wheelchair users

access to the allotment and a sturdy set of stairs

allows the more able-bodied to reach the upper tiers.

The beds are packed with chard, brassicas and lettuce

and the gabions are heaving with herbs.

The charity's many clients will benefit from this extraordinary

project for years to come.

I'm on record as saying this is the stupidest thing

-I've ever come across in my life.

-Yeah.

You know, nobody but a madman or a fool

would want to make a vegetable garden here,

and you've proved me completely wrong

-and it's growing.

-Yeah.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember there was

a plan at some stage to have a second set of steps.

-There was.

-Right.

Hands up, governor, after completing that one, that was enough.

Blow that for a lark. Yeah.

This decking transforms it, doesn't it?

-Absolutely. Yeah.

-It really does.

So, in terms of growing, what have been the success stories?

Chard, lettuces, the herbs overall, lemon verbena in particular.

Celeriac...

-Things that haven't gone well...

-Right.

..have been beetroot - that's been completely eaten overnight.

Twice we've replanted it.

The real difference is to me this feels like a place

that you can come to.

-You know, it is not just about the beds.

-No.

-It's about the whole feeling of the place.

-Yeah.

So in terms of budget, have you gone over?

OK, yes, we've definitely gone over

but we were really lucky to get a grant to help us

with the wheelchair-friendly decking, so that was fantastic.

How much did it cost?

I'd say up to £3,000.

-What were you intending to spend?

-1,000.

1,000. OK, so 300% over budget.

But it looks great, it looks fantastic.

-Thank you, we love it.

-It's clearly working, it's growing.

The transformation is incredible.

With those words of praise, Rob and Jo are ready for Monty

to taste the fruits, or rather the vegetables, of their labour.

And as they're tucking in, friends and family arrive

to show their support.

Hello!

CHEERING

This is the last place in the world anybody would choose to set up

a vegetable garden, except...

LAUGHTER

..and they've done it.

They've done it against all advice, all odds, all good sense,

and that's how interesting things happen.

So to Jo and Rob and the future and more impossible dreams.

-Thanks, Monty.

-CHEERING

I think they've done a great job. I think it looks amazing.

They've definitely made the best of a very difficult site.

It just looks absolutely fantastic.

I think the whole community is really buzzed

about what's been achieved here in a really short period of time.

What they've managed to do on this site, it's just...

Well, it's just incredible, it really is.

-Good luck with the work.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

If this was just about making a vegetable garden,

it would've been a triumph over every kind of good sense.

-Having 50 to 60-odd people here today with Monty...

-In that space.

..in this space, enjoying the vegetable gardens

that we've produced has been absolutely astounding.

-So I'm pretty proud of us.

-Well, I'm proud of us as well.

-Yeah.

The garden is only part of the dream

and, like the plants, this big, big dream

can now grow and thrive.

In Essex, the big day has arrived and Monty is on his way to see

the garden for one last time.

Well, we had a patch of grass surrounded by shrubs,

so it is a radical transformation from that.

Last time I came they'd transformed the area

and done all the hard landscaping, but it wasn't a garden.

So what I'm hoping to see is that they've embraced it as a garden

and they can step out into it and the whole area

is something that they can enjoy and use.

It's like the final hurdle, if you like,

to get to a point where you actually think,

"Yes, it's ready to show."

Four months ago, this garden was nothing

but an unused and unloved blank lawn.

Hello. Hello. Look at that! Look at you.

-Good to see you.

-How are you?

Now it is completely unrecognisable

and looks as though it's been here for years.

Climbers are already tangling their way over the brickwork...

..and daisies are sprouting from the paving.

The main path leads down to the magnificent folly

where climbing roses and clematis will, in time,

sprawl all over the structure.

A shaded courtyard offers a peaceful retreat

and a water feature provides the calm of a tumbling stream.

I love the planting up the middle. That's worked, hasn't it?

What you now have is somewhere that is alive

and that is growing and out of these ruins, you know,

there are plants tangling up and that's so much more interesting.

-Absolutely.

-How much have you spent?

What's the total hurt?

The original budget really has been spent on materials and...

-And that was how much?

-8,000.

-Right.

There's the labour cost which at least doubles that.

-Right.

-And then some planting on top,

so I would say the best part of about 18.

Does that sound reasonable, the moneyman?

You ain't got a clue.

What's the true figure?

In the region of three times what we originally budgeted.

-25?

-There or thereabouts.

I stopped counting after a certain period of time

because we were beyond the point of no return.

I think this conversation has to be put into the context of the fact

that this is an amazing garden.

You've something that is completely unique.

I've never seen anything like this attempted in a garden of this

sort of size and scale and standing.

It can't be compared to anything else.

-I like that.

-Well, it's a fact.

And Dave got his way, too, with a water feature.

-It's neat, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I like this vista.

There's no question, it does have the sense this could be an old road,

it could be a building, and you're just stepping over the plants.

It's nice. It's really good.

With Monty's approval,

it's time to welcome family and friends to the party,

including some who've had a helping hand

turning a dream into a reality.

Well, I think we should raise a toast

first of all to a fantastically bonkers garden,

and celebrate the eccentricity

and also to the hard work that's made it happen -

for bonkers and grafting has made a lovely garden.

-Cheers.

-Bonkers and grafting!

-CHEERING

Now, horticultural happiness is out there - that's where the garden is.

So let's remove the barriers.

Right, these will never go back up again.

Never ever.

It's open, please go in and enjoy it.

We've had a lot of satisfaction doing this and seeing the finished

product with all the planting, yeah.

I think it's one of our best, to be fair.

-I don't know what it is...

-LAUGHTER

..but it's one of our best. It does look fantastic.

We're really proud of Denise for what she's achieved here,

she has spent many hours in this garden trying to perfect it

-and so, yeah, we're really proud of her, aren't we?

-Absolutely.

I think it just sums up my mum.

It is a bonkers project and she is bonkers.

OK, bye-bye.

This really is extraordinary.

It's an amazing thing to have done

and it is absolutely in the hundreds-of-years-old tradition

of eccentric landscape British gardens,

here in a small back garden in a corner of Essex.

Monty thought it was delightful and I'm just so happy that we've got

the garden that we have.

All said and done, I think it was worth every penny.

I feel proud for Denise and Dave.

I'm really, really pleased to have been a tiny part of it.