Episode 1 Get Up and Grow

Fabulous flowers, luscious lawns, verdant veggie plots and back yards.

What does your garden say about you?

If it's crying out for an overhaul or you simply need help

to get started, then we're here to inspire you.

-We're happy.

-Is that a good shot for you?

I'm Chris Beardshaw, passionate horticulturist, landscape architect and mad keen cyclist.

I propagated my first seeds when I was four

and haven't looked back since.

SNEEZES

Excuse me.

And I'm Colin Donaldson, builder, landscape gardener,

and mad keen biker.

For me, it's always been about the property and the landscape working together

and if there's heavy machinery involved, all the better.

Are you trying to get a tune out of that?

We're on a mission to help six families transform their gardens.

So, let's Get Up and Grow.

Wendy Carson and daughter Sophie live in Ballycarry

within sight of the sea.

Before we came on the scene, Wendy and Sophie were quite happy

with what they thought were low-maintenance lawns.

It sounds as though you think we messed it up.

I think the grass is high maintenance and less pleasurable than a border.

And first time round we did give her a beautiful, boisterous, bountiful border.

Wendy with dirty hands. How does that feel?

-I even broke a nail.

-You've connected with the garden.

One of the things I think that's given Wendy great confidence

is the fact that the very first piece of planting that we did together,

the front garden, is looking so good.

I've really enjoyed the garden immensely.

It's low maintenance, isn't it?

You two are so dead!

The front garden, it has been an inspiration to me.

The garden has come to life and has a life of its own and it's lovely seeing it developing.

It's very infectious, I'll say I have got half an hour

and I'll go and weed, then it goes into an hour-and-a-half.

Well, all that weeding's going to be good prep

for the rest of the low maintenance garden!

The front is meticulously kept and she complains about the weeding,

but she's doing it.

It hasn't only motivated me to get up into the garden, it's been a lifestyle change.

You're saying all the right things!

Stealing all my lines!

I get the sense that what we should be doing is looking at the back of the house

and creating spaces there which have the same sense of excitement

and inspiration and meaning as this one is having at the front.

Get your work stilettos on.

For someone who's doing an hour of weeding a night,

these nails are looking very good.

What do you wear? Boxing gloves?

Are you sure you want to do this, Chris?

It's just a messy mass of tarmac at the moment. It's a really big job.

Trust me, I've had a vision. Let's see what Wendy thinks.

The back garden's an interesting space

because it's completely invaded by the car.

The driveway at the moment comes around and then you go

straight into the double garage. It becomes a very confused space

because this should be a very intimate space

and yet it's just tarmac, just coming straight through.

You need to keep in mind the practicalities.

He won't be happy until he's pulled your house to pieces.

So give me the bullet points then.

What do we have to achieve in this space? What are you looking for?

A surface that a car can drive over into the garage.

A seating area over there that can be private.

You need to be able to stand here and strip off.

But you've kind of got all the neighbours looking at you.

It's just not private enough.

A sort of backdrop that sort of complements the barbecue hut

and the trees also as well.

Ah, yes, the Scandinavian elephant in the room!

It was very expensive and took a long time to put up, but certainly we've enjoyed it.

The barbecue hut at Wendy's was always going to be a design issue.

It's a great big building,

it's been painted a vibrant colour and it just stands out.

It screams in the middle of the garden.

Do we get a couple of steaks if we can do something?

Yes, you'll get a couple of steaks if you do something

and I'll let you off the weeding part.

Listen, if you can turn that area of tarmac

into something that doesn't look like a motorway hard shoulder, I'll cook you a steak.

First thing to do is your speciality, clearing the site.

Let's bring on some horsepower.

Mind the barbecue hut, Mr Donaldson. I think you're upsetting Wendy!

Tell you what, we'll get on with some real work

and you distract Wendy and take her to Garden Show Ireland.

Shows like this are a great source of inspiration,

'and this garden has something we could use back at Wendy's.

'I've just got to sell the ideas to her.'

When you just take a few steps into a garden like this, you know,

you suddenly realise that you can create a completely different atmosphere,

and it demonstrates perfectly that we don't have to fill a garden

full of big, vibrant blooms -

sometimes that's relevant, but here the whole atmosphere and character is created

just using the different-sized leaves.

I think foliage, yes. I always said about flowers to bring in colour,

but certainly the foliage in this garden works.

But I think this is something that we can really go to town on around your barbecue hut,

the principle of just having greenery,

a cool, calm and relaxed space.

Meanwhile back at Wendy's, nothing cool and calm going on here.

'Hmm. Careful planning and contemplation required.

'Marker boards and spray marker will do it.'

That's the retaining wall.

HE SNEEZES COMICALLY

-Excuse me!

-Is that broad appreciation?

I was trying to hold it back.

I'll have to re-mark the line, you've sort of sneezed it out of the way.

If the white wall is there.

'Is this garden design equivalent of back of a fag packet?

'I like to call it precision planning.'

So the terrace is there like that,

and the boardwalk then comes off at the angle.

Wendy's looking a bit worried.

Perhaps she thinks there's nothing going on,

even though we have dug a few big holes and moved a lot of earth.

Chris, can you work your magic?

Can you see what we're up to?

I've absolutely no idea, but I'm worried.

The look of fear's in my face.

You see, I was hoping you were going to come out with some insightful instruction

as to what was going on, cos what we've done is cleared the space.

-No, you've wrecked the place!

-SHE LAUGHS

There's an element of demolition in order to get to this stage, admittedly,

but it's a bit cathartic. This is the horticultural equivalent, I suppose,

of emptying your wardrobe in spring and saying,

"Right, I'm going to throw all that away and now I've got some space."

-OK.

-That's the theory, anyway.

I think I've let two mad men loose in my garden,

and you wonder where the bomb has landed in it.

The idea is that when you come down the steps from the conservatory,

you come on to a piece of boardwalk.

On this side is planting,

and when you get to here,

the boardwalk ends and you can enter the lawn.

This is Sophie's lawn.

Because you might have noticed that in the course of having a coffee,

the fence fell over, so we decided to move it.

We hardly touched it. We decided to move it to about here.

You wanted lawn, so we've given you a lawn.

So if you come back in this direction,

you're coming across Sophie's lawn, past the bench,

back on to the decking.

This is all high planting to help nestle the barbecue hut.

-You come through here and then there is the hole.

-Yes, the hole, Chris.

Well, it's...

That's a big hole, Chris.

Come on, silver tongue, how are you getting us out of this?

We're going to line it with polythene,

ad then put the soil back in and create a bog garden in here,

so you get those verdant and lush plants,

and if you walk up here,

this area here then becomes a kind of woodlandy garden.

That's what's going to help to wrap the barbecue hut up and make it feel enclosed.

And then a two-foot high wall coming in and back and across,

and where I'm standing here, we're going to fill with soil and these become raised planting beds,

and when you come out here, you're then into an area of paving.

This section here is essentially your terrace.

The essential areas, boardwalk, Sophie's lawn,

coming through into the woodland garden,

the terrace, and enclosed by the raised beds.

I'm in absolute shock.

Imagine the work you put in out the front.

Look at the amount of planting beds that we're proposing here

and times the effort you put in the front by about four,

because once you're committed to it there's no going back.

I realise it'll be hard work, but we'll be creating memories

that I'll have for a lifetime,

and I think, you know, let's go and let's do it.

Good sell, Chris. Now we just have to get it done.

Hurry up!

-Do you even know what you're doing?

-Yes, spreading it.

I just want to know I'm going to the spa for three days

and when I come back it's all done.

Did he promise you that too?

Wendy's been very bubbly and very agreeable all along and slightly jovially sceptical about our work,

but she really has got stuck in,

and in all fairness, she did turn up today with boots on and no nails.

Chris has explained his ideas and I can't wait to see it all finished.

-All right your side?

-Yes.

THEY CHEER AND APPLAUD

A few weeks later, the front garden is looking even better,

and round the back has moved on, too.

It's all coming together to look like it was planned this way.

You have to link the spaces together.

You have to make those buildings, the barbecue hut, pergolas, sheds, whatever,

you have to make them look as though they sit within the landscape.

But there's a logical path down from the conservatory round into this collection space,

and because this area is being used as a bit of a dumping ground,

we need to filter through that and start to get some soil in there.

Bog garden, same thing, go through, we need to get the soil in there.

Lift the level a little bit.

The other thing that's really important is to establish whether this thing actually works.

We've heard lots of stories about barbecue huts

and how fab they are, and I think it's all a facade.

-I haven't seen any smoke coming out of this.

-Or prawns coming out of it.

-No.

-Where the ground is core, just taking that away.

-OK.

I always get stick about big machines. I'm like the village idiot!

HE LAUGHS

But they do just cut corners and they're no nonsense,

and that's the way we like to work.

OK, go!

Gardening one minute, cooking the next minute.

Watch your pinkies.

See them two guys just... I'm just brilliant.

They don't realise I'm multi-tasked.

-Oh, Wendy!

-That's the one with Indian marinade.

-Do you want another one?

-Thanks.

All that's planting bed. This is all dry.

Look at that. Did you see that? Did you see what happened then?

-What happened?

-Look, I was digging the perfect hole with a stainless steel spade.

It is undoubtedly the finest tool in the workplace.

I had nearly finished preparing my hole. I put it to one side and look...

THEY LAUGH

He's a magpie. Does he know what he is doing?

Look, I'll give you a masterclass and then you can go and assess.

-What do you call this tree?

-This is a larch.

-A larch.

Larix decidua, which is a British native.

So what you do, you put a layer of soil into the hole and then just use your heel and press it in like that.

And then you need to give it a really good water, but we'll do the whole garden once we've finished.

As it grows up, you can lift the skirt a little bit

so you can come in and start to prune out some of these lower branches to give you a view underneath.

And you've done that a few times, haven't you?

-What?

-Lift the skirt.

-THEY LAUGH

-Must you!

-Look. A man wearing Flashdance socks.

'Oi, don't knock the '80s.'

'The trees are there to visually provide a dividing line'

between the barbecue in the deep part of the garden

and then the driveway in the front part of the garden.

'That'll give her a greater sense of privacy. They're not in straight lines, not formally arranged.

'It's almost as if the seeds have been scattered by the wind'

and they've just fallen and then grown where they landed.

-'The patio...

-Get out of the '80s, it's a terrace.

'..is coming along.'

Chocolate cake. Tea.

Do you see the speed at which he disappeared then?

-Can I have it on the dining terrace, please?

-It's a lovely patio.

But it's growing into a decent terrace.

Yeah, today's been good.

'It really does suit me because just hands-on, getting stuck in'

and getting to the turning point so we can start putting it back together.

It's the best part of any job.

Chris is planting the new bog garden with plants that will enjoy moist conditions,

with more than a little help from Wendy's nephew, Barney.

This is called Sparkling Burgundy. It has really good flowers.

Great foliage as well, and comes up in very elegant spikes.

One of the nice things about the bog garden plants

and the reason I like using them is that extra moisture level

means more nutrients available for the plant and that means larger, more abundant,

just better quality leaves. They're very bold, they're very glamorous.

This is Gunnera, and it grows up so that each leaf is

three or four feet in diameter, and great, big, elegant umbrellas.

No, it is just lovely. You sneak up the board way

and in through the trees like Hansel and Gretel,

and the barbecue hut, which is just lovely.

Well, it'll feel like an adventure.

It really is beginning to look like it's meant to be there.

Starting to. You can start to see

the way that the colours and plants are

all starting to knit together.

What do you think, Wendy?

Lightweights! Come here and do some digging!

I do genuinely think that there is something going on.

Something has been tickled there,

and I think that she wants to know about her plants.

Look how casual you are with your plant material!

These are my friends now!

I think that's great. As the garden starts to mature,

she'll become more comfortable and confident.

The worst they can do is just die, but, you know, I think one or two...

The worst any of us can do!

So, Chris, let's recap.

-A lot of work being done, a plan of genius.

-Why thank you, sir.

Well, we've built and planted a bog garden, built raised beds,

a terrace, or a patio, a boardwalk,

and planted some trees to gently nestle the Wendy hut

into what's beginning to be a garden full of passion.

So while it's raining - again, Chris -

we need to talk about the tarmac.

Ah, the tarmac.

I think I need help to persuade Wendy to take the tarmac out.

I think you should get your gravel samples out for the lady.

Tell me where you are with the decision making on this,

because we were a bit undecided about what was going on.

Well, we weren't undecided.

We were very decided!

But, you know, I don't want you to feel as though

you're being pressured into doing anything.

So if I give you an idea of

why we felt that the tarmac wasn't working...

It looks like a driveway - which, of course, it was -

and it's just a very dour colour.

We all agreed, yes, the tarmac is a big sea of this black, hard stuff,

and it wasn't welcoming

and it wasn't in keeping with the rest of the garden.

It looks like we really have just cut into it and then have left it.

Yes, I agree in principle that the tarmac has to go.

So it was what we put there in its place.

There is a variety of things that you can use. That's a granular product.

The disadvantage with this is that it's hugely costly.

Way too expensive. So we ruled that out.

You can then buy a product which you can make into a loose surface.

You can drive on it, but it does move around in the rain.

So you wake up in the morning after rain, there's nothing there!

Then we looked at loose gravel.

You can pretty much choose whatever you want.

If you want to go down the route of a loose gravel.

And I did have a bit of deliberation.

The advantage of the loose gravel, as well,

it's only a rake you need every so often,

to get it to turn around and look fresh again.

Chris got his box out of gravel samples.

And the smallest chip that we've got here is like that.

-The smallest ones of those will get into the treads of your shoes.

-Yes.

It's entirely up to you.

It's really down to, if it's this type of surface,

which one do you like? It's pick a colour.

Then we decided on the flint.

We'll ask you again in another hour!

You know, we change our mind, you know!

It's a woman's prerogative - you should know that, Colin!

I feel like a gravel expert now.

I can't think of any other considerations.

There's probably a whole army of them!

You see, this is why we would go with tarmac.

There's so much to think about, it makes your brain ache.

"Oh, just stick with the tarmac, it's fine!"

Chris did suggest everything to us, and I thought, well, you know,

he's the expert, let's go with it.

She won't regret it. She really won't.

And if she does, it's Colin's fault.

-It was his idea.

-'I think it's you that's Dr Evil, Chris!

'It is a big job to take up the tarmac,

'so we move in with the big machines.'

If we get Wendy on the digger to take it up,

if it all goes horribly wrong, we can say, "Well, you did it, Wendy!"

-It's a blame culture, have you noticed?!

-I know, I know!

'Another excellent plan, Dr Evil!'

'Colin doesn't realise I'm not joking.

'Let's see when he notices.'

You can either take up the drive at this point

or you can demolish the conservatory.

-OK.

-It's largely up to you.

Just moving the stick across like that, and you're turning round.

-It's coming up like this. Like this. OK?

-Run!

That's not a problem at the moment!

Oh, I loved that!

Just gently.

And the look of fear in everybody's face!

The diggers are good fun and everything,

but they're pretty lethal!

Colin, stop looking so nervous!

I think Chris had it under control.

Just gently back towards you and the bucket will come up.

I think Wendy is pretty nifty on a machine, actually.

Left hand across to your knee.

Hey!

Yeah! High five!

That's your drive in the dumper!

'Rain didn't stop play from taking up the tarmac

'or for finishing off the raised beds,

'or for extending the patio. I mean, terrace!'

I'm not sure what we'd have done

if Wendy had have said she didn't want us to take the tarmac up.

You would have had to arm-wrestle her!

What depth are you putting yours to?

52 mil. What about you?

I was going about 57!

I had a go on the whacking machine and I realised there's no brake.

Hurry up!

It is just like walking the dog!

I think she likes big vibrating machines!

See how much faster I am?!

It's a big, hefty thing, but it has its uses.

-Colin?!

-Colin I'm talking about, yeah!

For a while, as I came out every day, "Oh, it's such a mess!"

But I think they've broke the back of it now,

and I can see that it's starting to come together.

I was concerned about it, I had my reservations,

but we'll get there. We'll get it in one.

Wow, what's this?

Lemon drizzle cake. Would you like some?

-Does Chris get one too?

-Yeah.

-Mine are the pink sprinkles here!

-You're lucky your mum didn't see,

she wouldn't put that on the driveway!

I was going to talk to you about the garden,

but I've got a mouthful of cake now!

-That's very good, love it.

-You're welcome.

'The boardwalk and planting around the Wendy hut has settled in nicely.'

'A nice use of materials for the raised beds

'and, of course, the terrace.'

'All that remains is a little more planting and, of course,

'the much-anticipated gravel.'

'This is proper rain. Everyone inside!

'No rest for the wicked, eh, Chris?'

'I'm staying outside. If I come in,

'she might make me eat something else!'

The soil is so wet. I mean, it's very gloopy.

If you walk on it, it'll just go like pudding,

and then when the sun comes out, it'll set like a clay pot,

and the roots won't be able to penetrate, so if the ground is wet,

or if you think you're going to damage the ground,

just put a plank there.

'OK, we get the message, Chris.

'Back out again, and we'll show you how to work out

'your measurements on the wall for the climbing plants.'

You're not as confident with your chalk as me, you see!

I've been standing on your cheap furniture!

Colin, did you eat all them pies this morning?!

I looked at it and it fell through!

'Thanks. What a good job you turned up today.'

Shot-Put Charlie coming!

This is such a hot wall.

And when the sun bounces off this,

it's really going to throw all the plants forward.

At this end, in the dappled shade of the elm here,

I wanted to put something which is quite boisterous - wisteria.

You can see it is starting to produce

those wonderful yellow leaves of autumn,

but it is a plant which is so vigorous,

it will certainly get involved in the trellis up here,

and the fence, and you can also, if it's showing real energy,

send it up into your tree,

and it's festooned with these wonderful azure-blue flowers.

So don't be afraid to show it the elm.

They will become good bedfellows.

And then you have got a bit of a partnership, this clematis which is very early flowering

and to partner it, we've got the solanum

and this is the white flowering solanum, star-like flowers,

but it is not an enthusiastic climber.

This gets a bit of vertigo

so you have to kind of help it. Tie the cane against the wire

and then each shoot that comes out, just gently tie that back in against the wire.

You can train it to wherever you wish.

-It is a good series of partnerships there.

-Yeah.

And then another good partnership here, the honeysuckle.

-Gorgeous flower.

-Stunning flowers. Another clematis next to it.

When the clematis has finished, the honeysuckle starts.

When that's finished, the clematis has a second flush.

There is always something in flower. There is never a moment

when the wall, the tapestry of colour on the wall, pauses.

There is always something performing and creating a real splash.

That sounds really, really lovely.

The gravel is a nice choice. The gravel is fantastic.

I actually did a lot of gravelling in my day.

Just to clarify, Colin, you like the gravel, right?

It is good exercise and after the ninth tonne,

Sophie is out helping as well.

Wendy, if you look at where your cane is at the top,

-you've got your cane vertical.

-Yes.

If you tilt the whole plant back

so the cane is touching the wall like that.

-OK.

-It encourages the plant to find the climbing mechanism

-and then once it's found it, it will be away.

-OK.

The choice of surface is, I think, absolutely perfect.

It has a warmth about it and it still operates as a drive.

And it is all hands on deck again to get the final finishing touches

of the plants and the raised beds in place.

When you're going out somewhere like to school in the morning,

you always know to leave five minutes earlier than usual

because we both spend

so much time looking at it on the way up, seeing how nice it is.

But it is so beautiful, magical, that you can't help but look at it.

It is easy to forget where we started from as it all looks so good now.

The Wendy hut is now embraced by the garden

and the planting brims with enthusiasm.

Much as I'm making fun of it, the gravel works

so well now to set off the garden, but it still lets Wendy park there.

So after all this hard work,

-do you think we get to see what the Wendy hut is all about?

-I do.

CHEERING

First up as usual!

Thank you very much, everybody.

I've met fabulous people along the way. Amazing journey and the garden is brilliant.

-So here's to Chris and Colin.

-Hang on, hang on. This...see this?

Size doesn't matter! No, it goes on the size of your mouth,

that's why Colin has got the big glass.

-That's very kind of you!

-The sausages are burning!

And now the barbecue hut, it is nestled in there lovely and it is magical.

It is absolutely fabulous when you look outside

and go, "This garden is actually mine, good grief!"

but I think I will be looking for a gardener just to help, Chris.

LAUGHTER

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