Stamford Garden Rescue

With her can-do attitude, love of simple gardens

and decades of experience...

-Hello!

-..Charlie Dimmock is one of Britain's best-loved gardeners.

Looking good, boys.

But the new kids on the gardening block are the Rich brothers.

We want to be the brothers

that change people's perceptions of gardeners.

Winners of multiple medals at the Chelsea Flower Show...

-Ooh.

-Oh, wow. Amazing, isn't it?

..the boys have become known for their dramatic outdoor spaces.

Now these two different generations of gardening are going head-to-head.

I know they've got a gold medal, but I can come up with a few ideas.

They're meeting frustrated garden-owners across the country...

The photos made it look tiny.

-It is, isn't it?

-I'm sure you've seen larger.

I don't know what to do with it.

..and will each pitch them a design based on their needs...

-Wow!

-..and budget.

That looks really exciting.

It doesn't look like it could be our garden.

The winner...

Ta-da!

CHEERING

..brings their design to life.

Hold on, hold on!

Sweet as a nut.

And the loser has to help them build it.

Oh, I'm getting irritated now. We're sort of faffing around.

This is what happens...

-Does he ever get irritating?

-All the time.

..when different styles collide...

-Who chose these?

-One, two, three.

This looks like your design.

Yeah!

..to turn garden dreams into reality.

Wow!

-Open your eyes.

-Wow!

-Whoa.

It's amazing.

It's beautiful.

Today, Charlie and the Rich brothers are competing over a garden

whose owners have given up a place in the country

for a new life in suburbia.

Pippa and Tony, aka Mum and Dad to this lovely, huge family,

recently moved because Mum and Dad were taxi service for the children,

got fed up, so they've moved from a rural setting

right into a townhouse.

Yeah, does look very different to a rural setting, doesn't it?

Six months ago, Tony and Pippa Atkin

moved to Stamford in Lincolnshire, with their five children.

But the couple missed their old rural life.

The sacrifice we made is we actually lost, I feel, the countryside a lot.

So this is one of the reasons we want the garden changed,

so we can see more of wildlife.

The family lived in the heart of the Rutland countryside.

They had a garden dominated by a 500-year-old oak tree,

and the whole family embraced their rural lifestyle.

But now, things are a little different.

So that's what we really noticed, since we've moved here,

is that lack of birdlife.

We literally had ten pigeons

-and one lonely blackbird out in that garden.

-Yeah.

Although it has nice mature shrubs,

this garden hasn't been touched since the family moved in.

So they're keen to put their stamp on it.

The garden, at the moment, although it's a nice garden,

it's not our garden. It doesn't feel like it's got our mark on it.

So to us, it feels slightly soulless.

But the biggest challenge is that it's on a corner plot.

It looks a different shape than usual.

-There seems to be lots of little nooks and crannies.

-Wraps around the house.

The plot is a U shape, so it's not possible to see all of it once.

But Pippa and Tony badly need it to work,

because, with five children,

they're literally being driven out the house.

LAUGHTER

-We want a grown-up garden, don't we?

-Yes.

A more grown-up garden.

For us to relax in more,

rather than children to play.

SHE LAUGHS

Children can use it - not a play area.

-No trampolines, then.

-No, no.

But that's not all.

The couple would also like another reminder of their country life.

-What's your main thing?

-The veggie patch.

-The vegetable patch.

-Yeah.

-OK.

The second bit, for me, would be actually somewhere to go and escape,

so it's just for me and Pippa to relax in,

without the children driving us up the wall.

To get their own personal sanctuary,

Pippa and Tony are prepared to put their money where their mouth is.

We've got £4,000 to spend on the garden.

-£4,000!

-That's awesome.

-Yeah, that's great.

-That's a really nice budget for this space.

We're hoping to get out of it a garden that we're going to love

-for years to come.

-For years to come, yeah.

-So it will pay us back in dividends.

So it looks like it's a garden for the adults to relax in,

and kind of a little escape.

And then just chuck the kids out in the park, is it?!

-LAUGHTER

-Sounds perfect.

It's a healthy budget and a clear brief.

But this is a very challenging plot.

So Charlie and the Rich brothers are heading to Stamford

to take a closer look.

Now they're in competition,

they're looking for a nugget of inspiration that will enable them

to create the winning design.

The boys head straight inside and make an interesting discovery.

They may have moved into a town,

but the couple's love of the country life remains.

Nice! This is cosy.

-Lovely.

-Check out this sofa here.

Doesn't this evoke a real country feel?

-It does, yeah.

-But look. I mean, what's so nice

is actually the tweed pattern.

-That's really cool, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Look at the colours.

-Quite strong geometry, isn't there?

-Yeah, definitely.

Meanwhile, Charlie's trying to find something positive to say

about Tony and Pippa's odd-shaped plot.

The lovely thing about your garden

is it's not like a typical townhouse garden -

ie, rectangular or narrow.

It is wrapped round the house.

-Yes.

-This is very small, so it's never going to be

realistically fantastic for children running around,

you know, certainly older children running around in it.

And it would just be really nice to have something for us.

It would be, so we can sort of sit out here in the summertime, relax and enjoy it.

For us, it's a little bit soulless.

-Yeah.

-OK. So you want to put some heart into it.

-Yes.

And look at this.

-Chunky wood.

-Nice.

It looks like they have this kind of use of natural materials.

-Mm-hm.

-So I think what's really nice

-is to try and connect this with the garden.

-Yeah.

Some form of - you know, if it's wood, or if it's some other kind of natural material,

-I think they're going to love that.

-Oh, perfect.

The brothers are getting inspired by the rustic interior,

but Charlie hasn't finished with Tony and Pippa yet.

Are there any plants

that you really, really want to see in the garden?

Tell Charlie about your plant knowledge, darling.

-LAUGHTER

-I have very little plant knowledge.

-I just know what I like.

-I'm not just talking about him, I'm talking about me, too.

-Oh, OK.

-I should have said OUR plant knowledge, really.

I like to be able to walk out and grab a bit of rosemary when cooking lamb.

Maintenance is not too much of an issue?

No. I think we'd like a sort of mid-maintenance garden.

So not high-maintenance, not low-maintenance.

Somewhere in between, somewhere where we can potter around

-and do bits and pieces.

-Pottering is the key word, really.

Mid-maintenance - that's a new one.

They may not be averse to a bit of pottering, but for the designers,

finding a way to bring some rustic flair

to this odd-shaped suburban plot is a huge challenge,

even for four grand.

So our designers get down to business.

Each of them has to come up with a design

for the couple's ideal garden within their budget.

Pippa and Tony will then choose the winner,

and the loser will help the victor build the garden.

Will it be Charlie,

who's taken on board that the couple want a grown-up space,

a retreat away from their hectic family life?

Aww.

Or the Rich brothers, who've seen that they still have

a real taste for the countryside?

-This is the garden we've designed.

-Wow!

It's time for the designers to present their ideas.

We know you guys have recently moved from the country

to this townhouse. And what we really wanted to do

was kind of capture the character and that feeling

of being in the country, but giving it to you in the back garden.

So this area here, basically where we're sitting now,

is more of the more formal country-style garden.

I think it's the sunniest spot of the garden,

so in the evening it'll be great - dining out, drinking,

things like that, having friends over.

And what defines that space is the low box hedging.

So even when the planting dies down,

you've got lovely interest with these interesting shapes.

The boys have put a seating area

in the tricky middle section of the plot,

from where each side of the garden can be seen.

But Charlie's using it differently.

This is a patio.

We've got planting on either side so you're drawn in,

and we'll have a focal point against the wall,

whether it's a statue or a very beautiful plant.

The boys are working with the shape of the house

to create different zones.

But Charlie's working against it,

with a curved path to unify the different areas.

And she's keeping the couple's private seating area

away from prying eyes.

It's always nice to sit in an area that's open, but, for me,

I also sometimes like to sit in an area that's a bit more enclosed

and private and secret.

So up round here, behind this planting,

there's a pergola with a hard standing area,

so you can have a couple of chairs or a bench there.

The next challenge on the brief was an area for growing vegetables.

As this is the sunny area,

I've made this your vegetable patch, and for the vegetable patch,

-I want it to look pretty.

-Lovely.

So it's something you can look at and go,

"Ah, that's really nice."

And edged with willow.

Charlie's put a new veg plot by the back door,

but the boys haven't included one.

Instead, they focus the budget on mature trees

to make the garden more private.

Will this count against them?

To contrast that more formal area

we've got this lovely meadow area at the back.

It's just something that has that natural feeling, but is purposeful.

What's really good about this, also, is you've got the trees masking the building.

-Wow.

-So again, you've really softened that backdrop.

So if we were looking out of your kitchen window,

you're going to be looking out onto this lovely, natural space.

The last demand in the brief was that the sound of the countryside,

especially wildlife, be a key part of the new garden.

We loved the idea of being able to get rid of the cliched

kind of bird feeder and draw them in through trees,

cos these are going to have fruit, you know, berries on them,

and that's really going to draw in the wildlife. And the pollinators as well, through the meadow grass.

I'm going for things that will attract

lots of butterflies and bees,

because if you start attracting those,

you're going to start attracting the birds.

So we're going to go for things like buddleias and lavenders.

And Charlie has added an extra feature

that she hopes will tip the balance.

I have put in some water.

It is totally child-friendly.

-Brilliant.

-So it's just a millstone with the water bubbling,

and you'll find the birds will come in and bathe.

These designs couldn't be more different.

But now it's up to Pippa and Tony to choose one.

We have the Rich brothers. What do you think of that one, then?

It looks lovely. It looks absolutely lovely.

With the box hedging and everything.

And then you've got the wilder bit at the back.

So, what do you like about it?

I like the formal seating area.

That could be very nice in the summertime,

sitting out there, eating.

-Do you like the position of it?

-Yeah, I do like that.

What's your favourite bit of this one, then?

Oh, the back bit with the trees, actually.

-It does feel very country, doesn't it?

-Yes.

-When you look at it.

-And then we've got Charlie's.

What I like about this is definitely that we've got the vegetable patch,

and having it right by the back door would be great

-to nip out and pick things for tea.

-It will, won't it?

-Yeah, that's perfect positioning.

-And I like the way...

I like the bit of the hidden area there, so in the summertime,

if we want to escape the kids, you and me can go out there

-and hide away and have a glass of wine, couldn't we?

-Yeah.

If we could have a bit of each,

there'd be certain bits we'd mix and match together,

but we can't do that.

Only one design can win.

Will it be the Rich brothers, with their formal seating area,

trees that mask the neighbours' houses,

and their natural planting scheme that will attract the birds?

Or will it be Charlie, with her large, curvy pathway,

pretty vegetable plot and bird-friendly water feature?

It's time to find out.

-Oh, hey, guys.

-Hello!

Well...

We've made a decision.

And we can reveal...

-Oh!

-Charlie.

Ah, Charlie!

-Well done!

-There we go.

-Whoo!

Now, what was it, then, that did it for you?

There's something about it just hit me.

-It's the whole curvy...

-Organic flow of it?

-Yes.

-Oh, I'm kind of pleased with that!

-Yeah, lovely. Really lovely.

-Cos the designs were very different.

-Very different.

I like the vegetable patch, definitely,

which was lacking in your design, I'm afraid.

-Yeah, we didn't have it.

-Yeah, so...

-You ignored the vegetables!

-LAUGHTER

Charlie has emerged triumphant,

but a curvy design requires a lot of skill

and a lot of landscaping to carry off.

She's going to need the boys' brains and brawn to make it happen.

It's bright and early on the day of the build.

Charlie's away sorting out a secret feature for the garden,

which will be turning up later,

but her plant order has arrived.

Well, check these babies out. What do you reckon?

-They're beautiful.

-I know. They even look good in the van, which is always a good sign.

So the first job of the day for project manager Paul

and his team of landscapers is to unload all 200 of them.

But it's going to be a long time

before any of them will see a flowerbed,

because Charlie's design requires some serious

and complicated landscaping to happen first.

The large, curved pathway connects the two odd ends of the garden

and is wide enough at one end to be used as a seating area.

-Let's get this spray.

-Let's crack on.

Let's get this spray out, Lee.

And it's Lee's job to mark out where it needs to go.

Maybe come in a foot.

Just go for it.

When it comes to curves like this, there's no mathematics involved.

Come to my toe, Lee.

It just takes a good eye and good judgment.

I think we'll go with that now.

Pippa and Tony miss their old countryside surroundings,

so Charlie has chosen materials that will give the garden a rural feel,

starting with these reclaimed cobbles.

But it's not long before Paul has realised there's a problem.

The curvy path is rapidly using up all the stones,

and they're running out.

He psychs himself up to give the boss the bad news.

Hello.

Hi, you all right?

I may have slightly under-ordered on the cobbles.

'Well, if you need to, you can lose the bit...'

-You know, we...

-'You know where the water feature is?'

-Yes.

'We could end it at the water feature.'

-That's what we thought, Charlie.

-'We could do something neat.'

-Yeah.

That's great. Everything else is tickety-boo.

So Charlie's come up with a solution.

If they do run out of cobbles,

there's an area in the far corner that could easily be left out.

The build is back on track.

Meanwhile, out front,

Charlie's arrived with the boys,

and is ready to set them their tasks for the day.

The good thing about this garden, it's quite small,

and there's lots of really lovely plants there already.

-Does help, doesn't it?

-I think you guys can be on the vegetables.

-Oooh.

-Yeah.

-Sounds nice. Nice and easy!

The vegetable area has to look really pretty,

so we're going to do a bit of weaving with hazel and willow.

-That sounds exactly what I'd like to do.

-That excites me, that's good.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, I'm really excited.

-Right up your street. And then you need to do some physical work,

so I think you can put down the...

-No more physical work!

-Why? Oh, your hands!

-Your hands have gone all rough.

-Proper man hands now.

He keeps using those coarse pencils, you know?

So you can put down the patio area.

I'll do the water feature.

-Of course.

-Your day's looking easier and easier, isn't it?

LAUGHTER

Charlie wasn't joking.

There's a lot of physical work to do

before anyone can start doing any nice willow weaving

or vegetable planting.

She puts the brothers straight on to digging out

the area for the new patio.

It needs to be 15 - 20cm deep

before the hardcore can go down.

Luckily, there's just enough cobbles,

and Charlie's helping Andy edge the path at the back of the garden.

I love using these granite setts.

-Yeah, they're beautiful.

-Because of the curves,

it makes it much easier

to get a really good sweep and gentle curve on it.

-If we were using pavers that were much bigger...

-Yeah, it's more difficult.

..it would be much more difficult to get that curve,

-so it does make life a bit easier.

-Certainly does.

The great thing about these cobbles, they're granite,

so it's a natural material, so when they get wet in the rain,

they look beautiful. The other thing is they're recycled,

so that does mean they cost a bit more,

because you've got to pay for someone to lift them,

clean them up and then transport them.

But nice to work with, aren't they?

Yeah, fantastic.

A good two inches of concrete underneath them

and then haunch them up with the same concrete.

It'll be solid.

Pippa and Tony's garden is surrounded by a lot of modern brick,

so by using a contrasting stone,

the eye is drawn away from the walls.

And the brothers are begrudgingly acknowledging

Charlie's winning design.

Bit of a tricky one to design, this, wasn't it?

You've got lots of different little spaces within this entire garden.

Yeah, it's a slightly irregular size. Little pockets, isn't there?

-Not really your conventional rectangle or anything.

-No.

And Charlie's used curves in this. What do you reckon about that?

I think it's worked really well.

Definitely links the two spaces, creates that journey.

And I think wandering between these two pockets of planting,

-I think it'll be a really nice experience.

-Yeah.

One of the biggest challenges with redesigning Pippa and Tony's garden

was its shape.

But there are some simple ways to make an odd-shaped plot

look more appealing.

By putting a large focal feature in the middle of a triangular garden,

the eye is drawn away from the narrowest point.

To stop a long, narrow garden feeling claustrophobic,

it's a good idea to split the garden into different spaces

with their own function.

L-shaped gardens can suit a more inventive layout

and lend themselves to distinct garden rooms.

And with a large garden, it's all about scale.

Keeping garden features in proportion to the space

will make the most of the dramatic landscape.

A place to escape from the kids was one of the key criteria

for Pippa and Tony.

And Charlie's planning a secluded seating area just for them.

But she needs their help to get it right.

We're going to pop those into the ground

-to make a sort of hard standing.

-Yeah.

-OK.

OK, so this will then... You know, cos you're not, Pippa,

mad on all the walls or the fences, are you?

-No, that's right.

-So I'm thinking if you're sat here,

you don't see this wall and you don't really see the fence,

-because there's lots of planting there.

-Yeah.

And then just to screen this area, what do you think about...

You know, we talked about, you'd like somewhere to sit,

where you can see the children,

but the children might not necessarily be able to see you.

-LAUGHTER

-Yes.

-Yeah?

So I'm thinking about putting up some rails here

and staggering them like louvres, so you can look through,

but they can't necessarily look back.

-That sounds good.

-And it will slightly enclose

-this...

-Space, yeah.

-..adult-themed area.

-Ha!

-Yeah, that'd be lovely.

-That'd be lovely.

-Gives us a nice escape.

-The only problem is,

that wall is still really dominant,

and, on the design, there was a focal point there.

So I would like you guys

-to go and get the focal point.

-Ooh.

So we have a little bit of money left from the budget.

20, 40, 60, 80, 100,

and 20, 40, 50.

Lovely. Thank you very much.

So you can get something that you will like to look at

which will draw your eye.

But it can't be too small, cos it's got to have some sort of impact.

Right, let's go shopping.

This is a canny move by Charlie.

She wants the couple to feel they're part of the process.

Let's just hope she likes what they come back with.

The brothers are still on manual labour duties.

Now they've dug the path, they're adding a layer of hardcore.

But it's thirsty work.

-Nice little sun trap.

-It's not bad, is it?

The sun's not out, but when it was!

Charlie's been working us a bit hard today, hasn't she?

You poor old souls!

LAUGHTER

We were just moaning about you.

Well, it is a sun trap, but, um, we haven't really finished it.

We need you to sort of move away.

-It is perfect placement for it, though, isn't it?

-It is.

-Do you need us to dig it as well, or...?

-No, no.

But when I say move away, I really do mean move away.

-THEY GROAN

-Come on.

SHE STRAINS

My saviour. Thank you.

This is not a time for hanging around.

The Atkins are a family of seven,

and Charlie's turned over almost all of one corner of the garden

to a vegetable plot that's big enough for all of them.

The patch is bisected by another path that will be edged with hazel.

Perfect, thank you. These are beautiful hazel, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-Really nice material to use.

I know, I love using, like, a natural material.

I think it adds a kind of, like, earthy, cottagey feel, doesn't it?

-Really cottagey. Really nice. And they're sustainable as well, aren't they?

-Yeah.

It's great to use materials like that. Just cut down the tree, it'll regrow.

-I know.

-And you can cut it down again!

Hazel has been used for thousands of years in the countryside

to make fences, because it's lightweight and hard-wearing.

It remains very popular in garden design today,

because it's not only sustainable, but attractive, too.

-How's that look?

-That's not bad. So this is going to be our gravel path.

It's really just for access.

And also to make it as pretty as possible, is what I wanted.

It is a really pretty material, isn't it?

I mean, most people's vegetable patch

-is down the bottom of the garden and you don't see it.

-Hidden away.

We don't have this option in this garden. There's not enough space.

-It's right beside their eating area as well.

-Yeah.

You've really got it in for my calendula there, haven't you?

You know you can eat calendula flowers, don't you?

-Michelangelo.

-Calendula.

Pot marigold.

Do you want to try it?

-Yeah...

-You look so...

-SHE LAUGHS

I wouldn't trust her!

-That tastes of absolutely nothing.

-I mean, if I was starving...

But it looks really pretty in a salad.

-That's pepped me up now. Get me on.

-Woohoo!

-Get me digging.

-That's lunch over, boys! Keep working.

While the boys hammer away,

Andy needs Charlie's guidance in the new seating area.

So I'm thinking I don't want a uniform curve like that.

No, just staggered.

And Charlie's very exacting when it comes to how she wants it to look.

I don't want it uniform.

I want this to be a little bit more random.

-LAUGHING:

-I know you don't like it!

-That's fine.

-I can see your shoulders going up.

-No, it's fine. It's fine.

And that way, we're going to put some planting in between,

we're going to have some cobbles,

so it'll just soften the whole feel of this area.

To complement the large vegetable patch,

Charlie's asked Lee to make a wooden compost bin that will sit

in the shady area by the kitchen door.

The compost bin will take any organic matter,

from leaves to old newspapers.

Once rotted down,

the compost can be used to improve the soil, as it's nutrient-rich.

Meanwhile, there's some more tinkering to be done

in the seating area.

Doesn't look right with just the front, does it?

No, I think you should do the back as well, and then

say you maybe put one there, two close to there,

none in that one, one there, one there.

-Right, yeah.

-Yeah? And then we'll put all the gravel in.

Right.

As Andy cracks on,

out front, Pippa and Tony are back from their shopping trip.

Oooh!

Excited.

Charlie sent them off with £150 from the budget

to buy something that would detract from an ugly wall.

And this is what they came back with.

-Oh, that is fantastic.

-There we go.

We're really pleased with it, and really pleased now, as well,

getting it home, that I still quite like it.

-LAUGHTER

-Which is good.

You were worried that you might not like it?

I've never bought a statue before.

-Ready?

-Yeah. Go on.

It's ever so light(!)

As it's going to be the key focal point,

this delightful cherub now needs to be

properly positioned in the garden.

I think she should be like that, yeah.

Like that.

Yeah, a bit higher.

-HE STRAINS

-Higher!

And it looks like she needs a bit of a lift.

This country garden is starting to take shape.

The brothers are finishing the small path by the veg patch

with some gravel, and Lee's almost there with the bespoke compost bin.

Lee, this is looking amazing!

-It's getting there.

-So this is going to be a compost bin.

Won't take a huge amount,

but it will take the scraps from the kitchen, you know -

peelings, a few weeds, that type of thing.

And it's going to be ideal for her vegetable patch.

Yeah.

I'm very pleased with that!

Now it's time for Charlie to reveal her secret feature.

Pippa was won over by Charlie's suggestion of water in her design,

so Charlie's ordered a freestanding bowl to sit amongst the new plants.

It may be small, but it's made from basalt,

so it's incredibly heavy.

I've gone for a self-contained water feature.

You can get them at most garden centres these days.

You get everything included, so there's the reservoir,

there's the metal grid that's really strong,

that will support the actual feature,

and it comes with a submersible pump,

and it'll all plug into this weatherproof socket here.

£500. Not bad.

And it's a little bit different.

And it'll be great for the birds to bathe in.

Fixed bubble, as always.

-Ooh!

-Oh, my word.

-CHARLIE LAUGHS

Charlie, it's like you've done it before!

SHE GIGGLES

Right. Slowly down, slowly, slowly.

A water feature like this does require power,

so if you're going to install one,

remember to factor in the extra cost of an electrician.

All Charlie needs to do now is cover up the reservoir.

A water feature like this is great for children because it's very safe,

because there's no big open body of water,

but they can still touch it, which is quite fun,

so it's sort of quite a sensory part of the garden.

Also ideal for the birds, so we'll put a couple of pebbles in there.

The birds will come and bathe in it.

Likewise, insects will come and drink from it as well.

Over in the vegetable garden,

Charlie wants to add some structure to the new beds,

so she's challenged the boys to show off their weaving skills.

What Charlie's done here is she's used hazel

and she's used them in different forms,

so she's got the lovely kind of horizontal weave as the low fencing.

Also, what's so nice is using the same materials,

but in a vertical way. So having these kind of tepees

is really going to create a little focal point in this area.

And it's very natural material

and, you know, gives this lovely, like, authentic feel to this space,

-doesn't it?

-It does, yeah. It's lovely.

Willow and hazel are versatile, natural materials

that can make practical and beautiful objects in the garden.

Someone that knows all about this ancient craft

is professional weaver Eddie Glew.

My father was a basket-maker, and when I was about 21 years old,

he saw me not doing much, and gave me the opportunity to work with him,

which was the greatest thing that I ever did.

And I learned to fall in love with the craft.

And I'm still doing it to this day.

I can make anything from willow, basically.

I'm a yes man when it comes to willow.

It's such a versatile material. You can do anything with it.

It's so supple. And we're in the perfect country for it -

you can grow it anywhere. Stick a rod in the ground,

if it's green and fresh, it'll grow.

You can make lots of things for the garden,

so we've been making plant supports, the obelisks,

the bird feeders,

decorations for the garden -

things like dragonflies and sunflowers that we've made.

For me, if you're going to have fencing in your garden,

some willow fencing is always going to look better,

because it's in keeping with the garden,

it's made with a material that you could be growing.

The material is extremely tactile and it's very rewarding.

So you're making things that are coming to life in front of you.

And at the end of the day,

there's a sense of satisfaction, because you've created something

that will be useful to somebody else.

Eddie's had years of experience working with willow.

This is the boys' first attempt.

But they're not doing too badly.

They're not the easiest to construct.

This bit, the whole tepee idea, is fine.

Weaving this around is a little bit tricky.

You've got to be a bit careful. But it's good fun.

You know, it's the idea that you're making something.

You can do it as a family, you know, as brothers.

So it's just quite fun, and a bit of an experiment as well.

Charlie's going to put sweet peas on this.

It's functional, practical, but also looks great.

It's time for Charlie's selection of nearly 200 plants

to be placed around the garden, ready for planting.

Tony and Pippa loved the sound of wildlife

in their old country garden,

so she's chosen a mix of bee- and butterfly-friendly plants.

Mm, yum! Just your basic lilac.

Pippa and Tony have got quite a lot of shrubs in the garden,

but I want to add one or two more to give a bit more structure.

But it's all about getting a lot of wildlife into the garden.

So there's lots of scented plants, like the lilac.

We've got honeysuckle, which is great for attracting bees

and butterflies into the garden.

And of course, if you get those coming into the garden, you'll get a lot more birds.

But I've gone for a lot of cottagey plants as well,

so, sort of real favourites, like Geum,

and then Phlox, and one of my favourite scented cottage plants,

lily of the valley, that does really well when it gets going.

And then there's some that are sort of woodlandy,

so we've got Solomon's Seal, dicentra

and lots and lots of different geraniums

to get the colour in there

and to make her shrubs look a little bit more attractive.

And of course, the key thing

for Pippa and Tony is the vegetable area.

So we've got some plants that we've bought,

but the great thing about growing vegetables is sowing them from seed.

One, you can choose exactly what you want to grow,

the children can be involved

and it's way more satisfying

than just buying them at the garden centre.

Charlie's next challenge is to try

and find a way to make the statue that

Pippa and Tony chose feel part of the garden.

Looks like she was designed to sit under that lilac.

Under the lilac, she's graduating the planting at different heights.

Soft-leaved perennials contrast well with the metal of the statue

and will cover up the wooden plinth the landscapers have built.

The sculpture Tony and Pippa bought

looks great against this brick wall.

She's used a muted colour palette of plant below it

so it doesn't detract too much from the statue itself.

And then she's also planted this lovely, lovely lilac tree,

that in time is going to arch over the statue.

She's picked out the dicentra, which is going to be this lovely

little bit of pink which will kind of

link really well with that planting.

So although it's very muted and very white,

just having this hint of pink really does bring your eye into here

and up into the tree.

In Charlie's seating area, Paul and Andy are adding

vertical wooden panels that will work like a shutter.

When the couple are sitting behind it,

they will be able to look out,

but it will be trickier for the kids to see in.

With a little imagination,

a hidden hideaway can be created in any garden,

whatever its shape or size.

The clever use of plants like ferns around a seating area can create

privacy without it feeling confined.

A pergola covered in pretty climbers,

like a rambling rose or a clematis,

can make a magical retreat.

If you want to enclose a section of your garden for an intimate setting,

box can provide the perfect living screen.

Or you could use a pretty row of espalier trees

to create a secret space.

But for complete peace and quiet, you could always

go up into a treehouse, the ultimate garden retreat.

Before the team can enjoy any peace and quiet,

there's a garden to finish.

With Charlie wanting to bring

a piece of the countryside to this town garden,

she's chosen to use the country favourite - a hoggin path.

A mix of gravel, sand and clay, it binds firmly when compacted

but still allows water to drain through it.

It's taken nearly all day, but Lee has finished not one

but two compost bins.

Made out of wood and shaped as beehives, these charming crafted

pieces are placed in the shady area behind the kitchen.

Lee has made some beautiful compost bins for the garden.

Now, that one there behind me is for the more garden waste,

the bulkier waste, this one here is for the kitchen peelings.

And as you can see, inside of it...

..there is a wormery.

Now, the point of a wormery is the fact that you can

take your kitchen peelings and you can put them in here

and then the worms will break them down and create gardener's gold -

really nice, nutritious fertiliser for your plants.

It's really simple, as you can see.

You just need some plastic containers

and then inside here you want to put your compost to start off with,

some wet newspaper, kind of like a lasagne, make some layers.

Regularly feed the worms with all your kitchen trimmings.

Slowly, over time, then, that builds up to the top layer, to the lid.

And that's where the stacking system comes in.

So here, you've got your second box.

You drill holes in the bottom which line up with these holes in the

top here. This goes on top.

And then you'll do the same thing again,

you'll put in your compost and your newspaper layers

and obviously some of your fresh kitchen trimmings.

And that will draw the worms up into this top box

and leave your bottom box with some great fertiliser for your plants.

So then you can take that out, use it, put this at the bottom

and start the whole cycle again.

All that Pippa and Tony will have to do now

is add the 500 worms that the boys have ordered online.

The last of the plants are going in

and the wacker plate has almost done its job.

And as the sun begins to set, the garden is complete.

Just a few days ago, Pippa and Tony's garden

was a massive lawn with shrubs at the borders.

The awkward-shaped plot lacked colour

and was overlooked by brick walls.

Now it's had a £4,000 transformation.

Charlie designed a large, sweeping pathway,

big enough to accommodate a seating area.

Made from rustic hoggin and edged with reclaimed granite cobbles,

it came in at £970.

Pippa and Tony wanted to attract wildlife into their garden,

so Charlie spent £1,000

on a selection of colourful and scented flowers.

Pippa was keen to have a water feature to attract the birds,

and Charlie chose a small one made of basalt at a cost of £500.

With a family of seven to feed, Harry and David built

a large vegetable plot framed with hazel fencing.

This leads to compost bins made by Lee for just £60.

To mask the ugly brick wall opposite the house,

the couple bought a statue for £150,

next to which Charlie planted an overhanging lilac tree.

And Charlie designed a secluded seating area

just for the couple for £200,

adding a purple wisteria as a finishing touch.

PIPPA LAUGHS

That's a very nervous laugh!

Charlie has brought a taste of the country into the town garden,

but is it the relaxing rural idyll Pippa and Tony were after?

You can open your eyes now.

Oh, fantastic!

That's very pretty, isn't it?

Charlie will be really pleased,

because she really wanted to create a pretty garden.

That wisteria, that's very pretty.

It's quite an eye-catching plant, isn't it?

Look at that! The statue goes in really nice.

Good choice there.

-Brilliant!

-I love the colours.

That's really lovely. Oh, the veggie patch!

Wow! Look at that.

-A path.

-That is really lovely.

Loves the kitchen garden, thinks it's really cute.

I think they'll get a lot of use out of that.

-Very nice wigwams.

-Very posh wigwams. And what are these?

-That's a compost bin.

-That's a very posh compost bin.

And then this is a wormery.

-OK.

-Wow!

-So that's all for your peelings from the kitchen.

Here we've got your rosemary.

-Oh, yes.

-OK?

But there's enough space there for you to have some coriander.

And that's the same with the vegetable patch.

We've got garlic in there, lots of lettuce, some sweet peas,

because that's good for bringing insects in to pollinate.

And then we've just really enhanced

the planting that you already had here.

-Yes! Yeah, that's really clever. That's really clever.

-Yeah,

it's perfect not to get rid of some of those existing shrubs.

-Yeah.

-Adds that nice bit of maturity to the garden.

I love the sound of that water.

-Don't you?

-Yeah.

-That's really lovely, isn't it?

Sounds like she loves the sound of the water.

Yeah, well, it's a new little feature, isn't it?

It's a cool little thing.

And it's got a light in it.

At night-time, that will be really pretty.

-And then this is the area for a couple of seats.

-Yeah.

And we were sat there earlier today, and it's a huge sun trap.

-It was gorgeous.

-Brilliant.

Although you've put a lot in and there's a lot more in it,

it feels bigger, because that whole path coming round, it joins,

-doesn't it? The whole, you know...

-It's like the Yellow Brick Road.

He just said he loves the Yellow Brick Road.

Charlie can be Dorothy!

Fantastic, yeah. I love it, absolutely love it.

Cheers!

Pippa and Tony missed the countryside

and wanted their new garden to attract wildlife, to grow their own

produce and provide a relaxing retreat.

Well, this garden's worked really well.

It's a small space and they wanted a lot in it,

but I think we managed to pull it off.

The couple love it and the kids do, too.

And now they have their own piece of the countryside in suburbia.

We'd never have been able to do this on our own.

-No.

-Not in a million years.

It's money well spent, and we're going to enjoy it for years to come.

Yeah.