Pontefract 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 gardens.

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

-Oh, wow.

-It's 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!

-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.

-It looks really exciting.

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

-The winner...

-Ta-dah!

THEY CHEER

..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 with faffing around.

This is what happens...

-Does he ever get irritating?

-All the time.

..when difference 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. It's amazing.

It's beautiful.

Today, Charlie and the Rich brothers

have a very big garden to battle over.

Kerry and Chris have sent this from Pontefract

and they're a lovely couple with two children.

They look a really lovely family, don't they? Real smiley-smiley!

Account manager Chris and his wife Kerry live in West Yorkshire

with their two young children, Anais and Rudy.

They moved into their family home in 2013.

And the reason that they bought the house was because of the garden.

-So I think it means a lot to them.

-Big old garden, though.

-It looks like it doesn't end.

-I know.

-It's very long, isn't it?

The garden is 10 metres wide and 50 metres long.

We do appreciate the size of it. It just doesn't work.

I think it could do so much more.

Really, at the moment, it's just a big space.

A load of grass to cut every now and again.

And it couldn't look more different to the family home

which, in the last few years, has been completely modernised.

They've just built an extension, a garden room,

so now the focus is on the garden.

-So they can see all the garden now, can they?

-Exactly.

It's staring us in the face every day, in terms of what needs to be done,

but then, yeah. It will be wonderful when we open up those bi-fold doors

on to this amazing garden.

But Kerry and Chris don't just want

their new garden to LOOK stunning...

I'd just like the whole family to eat a more organic, vegetarian diet,

so this garden is giving us the opportunity

to grow lots of organic vegetables.

I think something that's really natural would look amazing.

So she's really into the Good Life.

She's more Barbara than she is Margo.

-Eh?

-Oh, you boys are so young!

Kerry and Chris may dream of the good life,

but they don't have a huge amount of money to achieve it.

So the budget is pretty decent, it's two grand.

-Yeah.

-It is quite a big garden, though.

I appreciate that, for a garden of this size,

£2,000 is not a lot of money.

I kind of had the idea of what I would like the end product to be,

but how to get there and what planting and stuff is beyond me.

And I don't have a clue.

But just weeks after they first heard from the couple,

Charlie and the boys are faced with some unusual early spring weather

in Pontefract, which is under several inches of snow.

Not exactly ideal conditions for recceing a garden.

Today, they are looking for a hidden gem of information

that might give them an edge when it comes to their design.

Definitely large.

Yes, it is.

It's got lovely mature trees as well, so it's going to be...

Oh, I've got a snowflake on my nose.

-No, the trees are gorgeous.

-I have to say, that tree's a little dodgy.

They call that one a totem pole, don't they?

I think this one's going to be a bit of a challenge with the budget.

-Yeah.

-Maybe have nature on our side for this one.

Nature on our side? She's really helping us out at the moment(!)

The garden may be a blank canvas,

but the boys want to see how the couple's taste in interiors

might give them some clues.

-Oh, wow! Look at this.

-Yeah.

-Now, this definitely stands out.

-It's a pretty funky floor, isn't it?

-Does it remind you of anything?

-It does, yeah. Nan and Gramp's kitchen.

-I was thinking that.

-It's really funky, really '60s.

-Yeah.

Meanwhile, Charlie wants to probe them for ideas

on what THEY want from the garden.

Fabulous view of the garden.

It's just right in front of you.

It's going to be our garden room.

Having the room here's probably made you go, "Oh! A garden!"

That is absolutely it.

When those doors went in, I was sitting there looking, thinking,

"Where to start?"

Look at this as well. A lovely, wooden surface.

Kind of retro, and then nice and natural with curves.

-Yeah, there's a nice balance, isn't there?

-Yeah.

The boys can see the couple like using natural materials

and are fans of retro style.

Yeah, because they've got the wood, the funk, lovely fixtures.

-This baby seat's pretty cool.

-That's epic, isn't it?

And then this wallpaper. It looks like cow parsley.

-Yeah.

-All quite retro, but it works really well, doesn't it?

-It does.

Harry and David are already brimming with ideas,

but Charlie wants to know how the garden could improve the family's lives.

What do you want from the garden,

apart from bringing the garden into your garden room?

Just a reflection of nature, rather than something sculpted.

My idea with a formal garden is that you'd be asking the children,

"Don't step on that," and, "Stay away from there,"

and I want something that is for us all

and I had the idea of a garden that could provide for us.

It's fun, lots of nature involved, lots of vegetables and fruit...

-Yeah.

-It's slightly wild and woolly.

-Absolutely.

-Definitely.

-Perfect.

Turning a plot that's half a football field

into a haven for nature

AND an inspiring vegetable garden for £2,000 is a huge ask.

It's going to take every ounce

of Charlie and the boys' creative thinking to make it happen.

So, our rival designers get straight to work.

Each of them has to come up with a design for Kerry and Chris's

perfect garden that will work within their budget.

The couple will then choose a winner,

and the loser has to help the victor build the garden.

So who will the couple go for?

Will it be Charlie,

a safe pair of hands who's seen her fair share of veg plots

and wildlife gardens,

or the boys, who are more known for their modern outdoor spaces,

and might offer them something out of the ordinary?

It's time for the big pitch.

-Wow!

-That's amazing.

So, what we wanted to do was to

create this very beautiful garden view.

The garden's quite large, so we wanted to focus on splitting it into these three individual areas.

The one straight up from the terraced area

is framed with these bold orange walls.

This is much more of a naturalistic space.

It's a much larger lawn area, but it's surrounded by longer grass, like wild meadow.

So that would be great for wildlife and encourage more native species.

And then that leads on into this network of organic foraging paths.

So somewhere that's just really fun, really wild, really natural.

This garden is a basic structure for you to develop.

-Yes.

-OK?

I've got sort of three key areas.

This key area here, it's very organic, flowing...

It's banked-up soil,

-sort of slightly Teletubby land, that curve...

-Undulations.

Undulation, to add a bit more interest.

With one eye on the budget,

Charlie's playing it safe by using existing elements in the garden

to create a long, flowing plot

that the couple can develop as the years ago by.

But by pitching three different gardens in one,

the boys are going for broke.

Can they deliver all this for two grand?

The next area are the vegetables.

Raised beds,

again with big curves on them just to make them a bit more interesting.

The boys are taking the idea of planters a step further

and appealing to Kerry's love of retro colours.

We've got three cylindrical raised beds.

These would be concrete cylinders that we'd paint a warm orange.

These are things you can get the whole family orientated round, growing their own veg,

-picking it, eating it, bringing it into the kitchen.

-Yeah.

From there, it leads you into a network of organic foraging paths.

A really soft, really natural area where you can plant all the fruits,

raspberries, elderflower, things like that that you can pick, use, learn about.

These areas here are great for the kids as well,

so they can run around, play hide and seek,

make dens, and it will be a really good natural escape for them.

This is going to be seating.

I don't know about you. As a child,

I always used to put on plays, me and my friends,

for mums and dads, and I'm thinking this

could be like an amphitheatre.

These areas will be great for the children

because they will be canopied and they can make dens in there.

Exciting to think that that could bring that area to life

and could be our garden.

That's it. Time's up.

It's now all up to Kerry and Chris.

With the boys, the thing that gets me straightaway about this one

is the colours.

The orange and this lovely vibrant planting, with purples and blues,

and the fact that's carried through with the cylindrical raised beds.

With Charlie's, I like the idea of the amphitheatre and the seats

because the kids will love doing the show in that area there.

I think it's a really good idea.

And the bits where they can make dens and things.

The raised beds, the kidney shapes, they're lovely.

Because they're sort of an angle, aren't they?

-How natural it all is, is really, really nice.

-Yeah.

The couple really want their garden

to be a wildlife-friendly family space

where they can indulge their Good Life fantasy.

It's difficult.

But only one design can win.

So will it be Charlie's Teletubby-inspired garden

with its log planters?

Or the Rich brothers' garden

in three parts, with its brightly coloured concrete silos?

It's decision time.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-It's been a really difficult decision.

But the design we've chosen is...

THEY CHEER

-Amazing.

-I knew they hadn't quite got it.

Oh, that's amazing. So what made you go for our design?

We did love them both. It wasn't an easy decision.

The flow up to the top of the garden,

the fact that it's three different areas.

You particularly liked the meadow.

I really liked this bit, just thinking about the kids.

I liked the open area as well.

That's epic. I can't wait to get started on the garden

and I think it will transform your life.

The boys may be happy,

but they're promising an awful lot of garden for not a lot of money.

They'll need all of Charlie's experience

if they're going to make their design a reality.

It's the day of the build.

Thankfully, the snow has long gone

but the weather forecast for the next few days is dire.

So, there's no time to waste.

While the Rich brothers are off choosing plants for their scheme,

Paul, the project manager, along with his team of landscapers

are getting started.

And the boy's design is already causing them problems.

This should have been dropped in the back yard

but, unfortunately, it's in the front yard

and we have to get that concrete ring,

which is 750ml wide, through that door there.

That's the only access into the back garden.

A key feature of the brothers' design

are three concrete cylinders that

will form an architectural vegetable plot.

They looked quite small on the plan, but now they're here,

they're not only huge, but weigh a tonne.

Look at that, it's meant to be.

-OK.

-Nice and steady now.

And once they're through the side gate,

they have to go through Kerry's brand-new extension.

Yep, yep, yep, bit to you.

-Easy.

-Keep it moving, if you can.

Keep it moving,

-Keep it moving.

-Lovely.

One down, just two more to go.

One happy discovery that the boys have made

is that the couple had already paid for new patio slabs,

so the Rich brothers have instructed them to crack on

with laying a new patio,

which will instantly improve the view from the garden room.

Apart from the cylinders,

the other major landscaping feature

are the two walls that will dominate the first third of the plot.

In the boys' design,

the walls will create a staggered gateway

from the patio to the garden beyond.

But unlike the rugged natural style used in the rest of the garden,

they'll be finished with a smooth layer of render.

Unlike traditional brick or stone,

rendered walls have a smooth finish,

so they're often used in modern gardens.

They're cheaper than brick or stone and are easy to paint and are ideal

for integrated seating and raised beds.

The boys sold their design on the feature walls

being painted retro orange.

It's a bold move, and time will tell whether it works.

Meanwhile, Charlie and the Rich brothers are emerging from the undergrowth

and digesting the scale of the task that lies ahead.

So nice that there's not four inches of snow over the garden.

I know, but now we can see the challenge ahead of us!

That's the issue, isn't it? With larger gardens and a smaller budget,

it's a real challenge to make it look like something.

Like concentrating the planting.

Definitely that lower area there, just outside the living room.

-Yeah.

-It's key just to sometimes pick a point and do it well.

-That's what we're going to do.

-I think the first thing for us to do

is maybe get marking out the shapes and stuff.

-I've got my weapon of choice, so let's go.

-Come on.

But before any spraying can be done,

Paul and the landscapers need approval

from the bosses on the position of the concrete cylinders.

Good work, guys. Paul, you must be in charge -

they're not quite in the right place.

They're pretty close to where we need them.

-I think they're going to have to move...

-OK!

There's enough of us to do it, so...

-Those muscles...

-Exactly.

I've got my spray can. I'll mark out where they're going.

And when you're in charge,

you do the spraying whilst others do the lifting.

Because there's three concrete cylinders,

it's nice to play around with their relationship with each other.

They're not only raised veg beds, they're also a piece of sculpture.

So it's really key, where they go, the layout,

and with the lay of the land, they really need to work with that angle.

So, tilting these on their side,

and kind of playing around with their form,

kind of takes them away from being a veg bed, a traditional veg bed,

and much more like a bit of sculpture, or a bit of art.

One of the key issues with a large garden is that small features just

disappear. Big pieces of sculpture can cost a fortune,

but these concrete silos will make a big impact

without blowing the budget.

Perfect.

What's great about these is they're a really cheap bit of sculpture.

-So these ones would be about £60?

-Yeah, about £60.

-And the bigger one, a little bit more?

-Just over £70.

So they're really interesting, really cheap,

and with a lick of paint, they'll look really cool.

One of the benefits of Chris and Kerry's plot

is that there are a number of mature trees dotted throughout it.

And they're all in good condition.

Except for this one.

The boys want it out

and because they're busy designing,

they've delegated the job of telling Kerry to Charlie.

Kerry, do you have much love for this tree?

No, I feel sorry for the poor thing.

It's obviously got a few problems in life.

This bark's come off here and round there,

so it's just going to keep dying back.

-I see you've been cutting the dead stuff out.

-Yeah.

But it's just going to keep doing that.

So, we were thinking of doing a bit of up-cycling with it.

-Andy, have you got your chainsaw handy, mate?

-I have.

Stand back.

If you want to cut down a tree in your garden,

do double-check with your local authority that the tree

doesn't have a preservation order

and, if possible, cut it down out of the nesting season.

I want you to go now.

Bye-bye, bye-bye.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the garden,

the concrete silos are still not right.

Perfectionists Harry and David are happy with the location,

but now they aren't quite at the right angle.

Which way are you going to tilt this one?

That one we want to be kind of across.

-Yeah.

-That one just down, but slightly on angle,

and that one, maybe just straight down.

So all I'm doing is marking the spade around the planter

while it's in place, so, then, when we move it,

we can quickly dig out the soil, and then put it down on its tilt.

These are very heavy blocks of concrete,

so if you're going to buy something similar, you might need some muscle.

With the boys' backs turned,

Charlie's got an idea of how she can recycle the old tree to make a new

feature in the garden. But first, she needs some evenly-cut logs.

It's no good running away, Andy.

Are these metric two-feets, are they(?)

-Erm, yes.

-Boy's two foot(!)

Yes!

SHE TUTS AND LAUGHS

Just take a little bit out.

-Good man.

-OK.

-I've got it, I've got it.

-Go, go, go...

Just shove. Just going in.

Perfect.

But just as things are going well,

the weather takes a turn for the worse,

which is not good news for the boys' feature walls.

Before they can be painted orange,

they need to be bone-dry.

So Harry's moving on to the flower beds.

The one thing I can get on with is actually marking out these beds,

and these are all straight lines, but the beds are all curvy.

Creating large flower beds is a simple way

to break up the long lines of a rectangular plot,

and curved beds work against the straight shape of the plot,

drawing the eye away from the boundaries.

But for real impact, a stunningly planted large bed

in the middle of the garden creates drama.

Not only does it break up an expanse of lawn,

it creates twists and turns

that entice you to explore the garden further.

Before you start cutting your lawn,

it's a good idea to use a specialist garden marking spray to mark out

exactly where you want your curved beds to go.

Yeah, looks great.

-Really nice.

-I actually love the way you've got these two walls.

They're quite kind of powerful, aren't they? They do hold the space.

-Then, within it, we've got these lovely, curved lines.

-Yeah.

But the boys are taking a risk,

adding such big beds on a limited budget.

They'll need a lot of plants to fill them, and plants cost money.

So Charlie's helping them out.

She's come up with an idea for a raised central bed,

and the boys have given her the green light,

because it costs nothing.

She's already got her logs,

and now she's recycling the turf from the other flower beds.

So, we're not taking out the trunk, just cut it down to grass level.

I'm going to stack some turf around, just to give a bit of a mound,

we are going to put some logs round it, a bit more soil,

and then a few more bits of log as well.

So it goes in like a sandwich layer.

Further up the garden is a huge pile of soil

left over from when the house extension took place.

To save money, David's planning to use it to create

the next big planting bed.

Some people would see a big,

brown pile of soil in their garden as a big negative,

but we see it as a massive positive.

Although it's a lot of soil to shift by hand and by barrow,

it's going to add a lot to this garden

and it's going to help increase that wild, natural look

by playing with the contours and the relief of the existing ground.

So, just by marking out a few nice curves along the ground...

..and then filling in with soil...

..it will really help to give shape to the garden.

We're bringing that soil down here,

and we're going to follow the curves that I've just drawn.

Once the beds are planted, the grass will grow through,

creating a natural meadow.

The build may be progressing

but the rain has now gone from drizzle to downpour,

turning the middle of the garden from a grass path to a trench.

It's a bit like a ski slope here.

SHE LAUGHS

So, I reckon I need about three more barrow loads.

Charlie's using the recycled logs as a wall

and banking the soil against it.

But the first plant going in isn't a flower.

So I've got this. These are spores of mushrooms,

edible mushrooms, and we're basically impregnating the logs with them.

So cardboard goes down on top of the logs...

Now, it does say that you should wet the cardboard,

but the rain's doing that for us very nicely.

And that's going to act like a seedbed for the mushrooms,

and then the roots can get down into the rotting logs.

They're not going to get loads and loads of mushrooms the first year.

It'll take about three years for them, really, to get going.

I'm just going to sprinkle that over.

Spores are to mushrooms as seeds are to the plant.

In a damp, well-ventilated area like this,

they'll happily sprout for years.

This added feature by Charlie should be a hit with Kerry and Chris,

as they're keen for their children

to get involved with the nature around them.

So this will be a great area for the children to go on a mini-beast hunt,

because beetles and woodlice and lots of insects love piles of wood.

I mean, look, we've even got some already.

There's some lice in here.

So it's a great place for them to come hunting for bugs.

And if you get insects in the garden,

you're going to get lots and lots of birds as well.

Charlie may be doing it on the cheap,

but it's the front of the garden

where the boys have invested a lot of the £2,000 budget.

This is always our favourite part of planting up the garden

because we've got the structure here, ready,

and now we're going to go and plant.

You've really got to think about longevity within a planting scheme.

It's really easy to just go down to the nursery and pick things up that

are looking great now, but it's really important, you've got to look to the future.

You've got to plant a scheme that's going to give you lots of interest all the way through the year.

They're concentrating most of the planting

in the two beds visible from the extension window.

When laying out a bed,

the first thing I do is think about the structural plants that are going

to be key plants within this border.

For me, this time, it's molinia.

That's a lovely grass, which is going to look incredible all the way through the season.

In this instance, the molinia will give this lovely structure and height.

And when you're starting the border,

I think height is the most important thing.

Molinia or purple moor grass, can grow a metre high,

and will contrast beautifully with the wall.

To make the budget work, and with such large beds to fill,

the boys have invested in a large number of young plants,

rather than a small number of full-grown specimens.

They may not look spectacular now,

but will eventually fill the space and provide colour all year round.

We've got a lovely selection. As you can see, some things are kind of out like the lavender,

and then some things like the persicaria and asters aren't out yet,

but it's going to give a lovely floral display.

By contrast to the contemporary planting by the walls,

Charlie's finishing off her raised bed with an informal mix of wild

flowers and ferns.

So we've got lots of wild flowers that will do well growing through grass,

and will self-seed.

All the primroses and violets will spread

quite naturally and they'll just

keep propagating on in the long grass.

And look beautiful in the spring.

But the wet weather is taking its toll on the troops.

How goes it in the veggie patch, then, David?

I'm going to put a complaint in to the bosses.

-Ah.

-This wet weather, this liquid sunshine, I'm not keen on.

Well, complain all you like, boss ain't listening.

Let's think of our plants rather than ourselves.

One of the key elements of the Rich Brothers' design that won over Kerry

and Chris was the foraging area at the top end of the garden.

And David's creating a copse of fruit bushes.

So we've got four fruit shrubs here at the moment.

We've got blackcurrant, blueberry, gooseberry and loganberry.

Lots of berries. And at the moment I'm just going to, like, kind of range them out in a

natural kind of fashion, really.

Not really thinking too much about where they go.

Just giving it a natural kind of...

Natural look, so that when you journey through the garden, you can pick all the different ones.

April is the ideal time for planting the shrubs.

And, kept in a sunny spot and properly cared for,

they'll be fruiting from midsummer.

Charlie's foraging, too, but not for berries.

Having won over the boys with her raised bed,

they've now given her another challenge.

It's lovely that the garden backs out onto the countryside.

It sort of gives you views, and also

the wildlife can easily get into the garden.

And I'm on a bit of a collection of materials.

I have a little plan for these cow parsley stems.

One thing Kerry and Chris were very keen on was to encourage wildlife into the garden.

And Charlie's come up with another low-cost idea,

using old clay drainpipes.

Ha! Just right.

So these are old clay land drains.

And, back hundreds of years ago, when I was at college,

we actually had a lesson on how to lay them.

But I'm using them to make some bug hotels.

So I'm basically stuffing them with, these are the prunings of the hedge,

which Chris has cut down, and then some with soil,

and then some with the canes off the raspberries.

These will make lots of different environments for insects to crawl into.

And this is cow parsley, the old stems,

which I collected from outside.

They're hollow, so absolutely ideal, and I think they look quite good.

In an average garden, there can be over 2,000 species of insect.

And one of the best ways to attract them is with a bug hotel.

Whether it's giant, circular gabions filled with stones,

bottles and earth for attracting creepy crawlies...

..a stumpery planted with ferns which stag beetles love,

or insect apartments with tubes for solitary bees,

the right environment will have your garden buzzing with nature in no time.

Charlie's keen for boss man David's approval.

Hi, Charlie, what's going on here?

Look, do you not like these?

These are amazing.

-They look great, don't they?

-I love them. They look really cool.

-They almost look like a bit of art.

-They're amazing. They're kind of like the logs.

-Yeah. Where do you want them to go?

Well...

Maybe underneath the tree there.

Just in front of the log, maybe.

-All right.

-It's a nice little habitat.

-I quite like this, as well.

-Just sticking up like that.

-Just stuck up like that.

-Like an outside vase.

-Yeah.

-How do you feel about that?

-No, perhaps not.

Another key requirement in this garden is that it helps the family

become more self-sufficient.

And there's plenty of growing room in Harry and David's concrete planters.

All right, Paul, we've got the veg for us to plant up now.

What are we starting with?

Well, we've got some fantastic courgettes here.

-This is a lovely yellow one.

-Nice. The yellow will look nice

-against the orange, won't it?

-It's going to be absolutely superb.

Obviously, it's very small at the moment but, in a few months' time,

it's going to have huge, great big leaves on it and it will be trailing

over the side and, hopefully, the fruit will really look fantastic.

So it's a good idea to plant them on the outside of things, so they don't swarm the rest of the veg.

It is, really. They're going to get very big indeed, yeah.

So they need to go just about there.

Nice. And then we've got some carrots.

We've got some lovely carrots here.

Obviously, we've got a really deep container, as well, so the carrots,

hopefully we'll get some really long carrots.

Show-winning carrots!

Can't guarantee they're going to get all the way down to the bottom,

-but...

-It's going to love its little home there.

Yes, so I think they'll enjoy that in there.

David's companion planting -

adding vegetable plants that will help protect their neighbours in the

same container.

What do I smell there?

-Oh, garlic!

-Oh, garlic.

-We've got garlic here as well.

Yes, that's right.

Garlic's great, and it attracts the hover fly, and that's great again with the pests.

That'll really look after the rest of the crops, hopefully.

Yeah, right.

We've got these beautiful beetroot here.

What's so nice about the beetroot is they've got a lovely foliage and a deep,

red-veined stem, as well, so this will link with the garden theme.

And what's so nice about this is, it's just experimental. It's great for the kids to get involved.

They can pile up different vegetables.

They can change them up each year. They can bring in herbs.

And it's just the chance for them to really discover and explore gardening, really.

Whilst David enjoys the relatively clean job of

vegetable planting,

poor old under-gardener Charlie is battling the mud again.

The boys have given her the glamorous job of planting the fruit bushes.

Now, the boys want this to be long grass

with some nice gooseberries in.

Now, we want the gooseberry bushes to actually establish properly.

So I'm taking out a big circle of grass.

That way, the grass won't take the nutrients and moisture away from the

bush as it's rooting down.

Once it's mature, so after two or three years,

it doesn't matter if the grass does grow back underneath it.

They do say that, if you leave the grass there,

it reduces the growth of the plant by up to a third.

So if you have got a big apple tree and you want to slow its growth down,

leave the grass right up to the trunk.

The rain has finally let up,

which means that the concrete vegetable containers can at last be painted.

The boys are using orange, partly to make them stand out as a feature,

but also as a vibrant backdrop to the planting.

Using colour in hard landscaping is a great way to create different

effects with plants.

In south-east London, the Greenwood Theatre,

part of King's College London,

is now a landmark because of its vibrant exterior and urban garden.

The garden was commissioned by Adolfo Harrison from Cityscapes Design.

I think in London, whenever anybody uses colour, it's because they've got something to say.

It's not something we associate with these grey, busy, urban streets.

This was always going to be a challenging site at the best of times. It's very loud, very busy.

There's a lot of architecture going around.

And, before, it just got lost.

The colour allows us to compete with that.

All of sudden it gave the building the confidence that you would expect from a theatre.

The bold use of orange,

pink and blue not only allows the building to make a statement, it also

has a dramatic affect on the garden that surrounds it.

There's this whole world of plants that, as garden designers,

we don't necessarily use, because they might not be fashionable.

Plants which some of us might think are gaudy, sometimes. Here,

they become stars, they really do.

What could be just an ordinary hanging basket

has become an interesting focal point.

And evergreens and trees that would fade against grey,

make a bold silhouette against the vibrant colours.

One of the successes of this garden has been

how it doesn't matter what the weather is,

whether there are clouds, whether it's morning or evening,

the colours are always working, but they're always changing as well.

So, yes, it's lovely when it's bright and sunny

and it looks spectacular.

But even on those grey days, it really does cheer people up.

It's really quite surprising.

Back in Pontefract, the rain may have passed,

but Kerry and Chris's garden is looking rather soggy.

And so are the team. But they're battling on.

In the boys' design,

the middle part of the garden is defined by a path mowed through tall

grass, adding to the wild, natural look.

The grass may be sodden

and not exactly meadow height, but David's creating a guideline which

Chris can follow when the ground dries out.

With the containers done and the fruit shrubs in,

it's all hands on deck to finish the feature beds between the walls.

You've got lots in there.

Amongst the plant choices, are wildlife-friendly varieties that the

boys are hoping will bring the sound of bees and butterflies to the garden.

Here I've got scabious, and this is great for butterflies.

It's one of the best plants.

They love it. It's got a nice flower at the moment,

so if you are really bringing in the wildlife, it's a key plant.

Colour and access are the keys to planting for wildlife.

Purple is one of the colours bees can see.

So Lamiums,

Alliums and sea holly are all favourites.

They also prefer single or tubular flowers,

as the nectar is easier to get to.

Planting flowers like foxgloves

and Geums

will have them buzzing around your borders in no time.

Got two butterflies in this bed.

The boys are clearly happy with the way the garden's turned out.

-Charlie, we've got these here, the Heucheras.

-Oh, right.

Let me just check them. The white cloud.

Do they plant themselves?

Yeah, they'll jump right out, wiggle in, job done.

But after planting all the fruit trees

and a raised bed, AND building a bug hotel,

the under-gardener has finally had enough.

I'm just muddy now and look like I've got really greasy hair,

but the garden's looking nice.

This garden build has been a battle against the elements.

We've had sun, we've had snow and an awful lot of rain.

But as the very last plants go in,

Kerry and Chris's huge garden is finally finished.

For £2,000,

it was never going to be possible to

completely transform this 50-metre plot.

Particularly in the driving rain.

But thanks to Harry and David's design,

it's now well on its way to being the wildlife-friendly,

grow-your-own garden Kerry and Chris dreamed of.

With such a large space to deal with,

the Rich brothers and their team have had to make every penny count.

But will the couple feel it's a big enough transformation?

OK, guys, well...

-Are you ready?

-Think so.

Yeah.

She looks all-excited already, and she's still got her eyes closed!

Open your eyes.

Wow!

I can't believe how much you've got done.

-Can we go and explore?

-Definitely, yeah.

Chris, do you like the sort of curves of the lawn?

Yes, it's brilliant. It really does go on a journey,

like you described to us when you showed us the plans.

It sort of curves, and then a straight line there.

Oh, she does like it.

She's very smiley.

So, will some of these grow as tall

as the wall, with the lovely orange wall...?

Yes, so, like the Astrantias and the grasses and things.

-Gorgeous.

-Looks like something's caught your eye over there, Chris.

-I'll go and have a look at that.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Come on.

-I'm really excited to get up here and have a look and see what

we've got. Obviously, I'm loving the colour.

-She likes the orange.

-This is your own little bit of sculpture here.

Each one has different things in it. So this is herbs, rosemary, thyme.

We've got our veg, we've got broad beans,

and then we've got beetroot and some cabbage.

Over here, we've got some courgettes, they're yellow.

Courgettes... So when they cascade over, it'll match and mix with the whole

scheme, so that's really cool.

The kids are going to love these, definitely.

A bit more fun, isn't it? Bit more playful.

-It's a different way of having the...

-It's a great idea.

OK, guys, will we go and check out the rest of the garden?

-Yeah.

-This is the start of the wild part of the garden.

It gets more intriguing, the more you walk up.

-This is where we'll be able to go foraging?

-Yes, exactly.

You've got your blueberries there, gooseberries, blackcurrant,

and then some loganberry bushes over there.

And then we used the kind of old stumps.

This looks absolutely gorgeous.

This is Charlie's dab hand.

I love it. It's quite sculptural, as well.

-In a natural way.

-Still smiling.

Charlie's also planted loads of kind of British native plants,

so we've got our snake's heads, we've got the Primulas, Violas,

and then some ferns as well.

They'll just self-seed and you'll have more and more and more?

-Yeah, yeah, exactly.

-Gorgeous.

And then this is what we've done with the pile of earth

that was just a kind of useless mound.

-Yes.

-We've just created a little bit more contour,

and when the grass is a lot taller,

it's really going to define the shapes.

Makes you feel like you're on a kind of nature walk.

So, do you feel that this garden has achieved the brief?

-Absolutely, yeah.

-Brilliant.

And it's kind of solved my problems of not knowing where to start

with something this size, and what to do. So...yeah, amazing.

Thank you so much.

-It's been a pleasure.

-It's gorgeous.

It's a miracle transformation.

We're lucky we've got a good team, plenty of wheelbarrows,

plenty of willing people. Amazing.

The boys are relieved that Kerry and Chris feel they've got

their money's worth.

And just a few weeks later, the sun is shining

and the garden is already coming into its own.

The concrete walls have finally been painted, creating a dramatic

retro-inspired entrance to the garden, all for just £350.

Using giant concrete cylinders

enabled the boys to create a bold statement in a large garden.

And will be bursting with vegetables and herbs come the summer.

Not bad for under £200.

But even cheaper is Charlie's bug hotel.

Made from recycled materials from the back of the garden,

it's a haven for creepy-crawlies.

Harry and David opted to invest in younger plants to fill more of the plot.

£70 got them six young fruit bushes that will grow to fill the

upper part of the garden and enable the family to forage to their

heart's content. Which left over half the budget to spend on flowering perennials,

which are already establishing, and will create two colour-filled

statement flowerbeds for Kerry and Chris to enjoy from the window

of their new garden extension.

Looking as quirky and different and exciting as it does, it's brilliant.

Once the grass starts growing that little bit and they mow their paths,

that will instantly make a massive difference, won't it?

You won't get me out of this garden now.