Episode 6 Get Up and Grow


Episode 6

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Fabulous flowers, luscious lawns, verdant veggie plots in backyards.

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What does your garden say about you?

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If it's crying out for an overhaul or you simply need help to get started, we're here to inspire you.

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We're happy!

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Is that a good shot for you?

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I'm Chris Beardshaw, passionate horticulturist,

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landscape architect and mad keen cyclist.

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I propagated my first seeds when I was four and haven't looked back since.

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SNEEZES Is that a roar of appreciation?!

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And I'm Colin Donaldson. Builder, landscape gardener and mad keen biker.

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

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If there's heavy machinery involved, all the better.

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Trying to get a tune out of that?

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

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So let's get up and grow.

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In among the rolling hills of County Tyrone, schoolteachers Dave and Julie Hardy

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have just finished building their dream home.

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Dave and Julie are passionate about growing their own produce,

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especially now there is a new addition to the family - baby Theo.

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Neither of us are afraid to get our hands dirty. Get stuck in.

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As long as somebody permits!

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On our first visit, we set about giving Dave and Julie a starter pack for growing their own.

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That was a seriously busy day, building raised beds then filling them in with edible plants.

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Then fighting with the polys to get the frame up before the rain came and nightfall.

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Get some more bags of topsoil!

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It was busy, but we gave Dave and Julie those basic tools and look what they did!

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They filled the polythene tunnel full of edibles that can be picked and taken straight to the kitchen.

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Nice bird, Chris. He's like you're doppelganger.

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Everything is just together.

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We can come out and spend a couple of hours out here.

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We can just walk away and the time just flies by.

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We're still obviously getting used to having Theo as well.

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I'm used to just going and doing things and remembering that I have to take the pram with me.

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I can't seem to find wellies that small yet, but we will get there.

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School finished today so now I have got eight or nine weeks off where I can really get stuck in.

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This looks like a proper productive garden, so does it feel like a productive garden?

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Yeah, it has been really nice to come out and almost pick

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which lettuce you're going to have for tea tonight.

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You end up eating half of it before you get in!

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"One for me, one for the bucket."

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-Would you like to increase the size of this?

-Yeah.

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Things we haven't got in, like potatoes.

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Anything like that just occupies so much space.

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You have to be generous with the amount of space you dedicate.

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I suggest we start to look around to see where we can make those larger beds.

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Because those beds will be very different to the beds we have got over here.

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That's the next logical step, if you invest that extra time.

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You think this is absorbing, if you want a bit of extra time

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but greater rewards, then bigger beds are the way to go.

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Now, with the summer coming around,

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hopefully we will get some good weather and we can get out

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and together we can get some stuff done.

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-Three metre and then 900 path.

-Then we can always shoot it down.

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'So, Chris, you decided that we should build some more, bigger beds. Isn't that a little ambitious?'

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Extending the area may seem like a strange thing to be doing,

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given that the guys are in that early stage of getting familiar

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with how the fruits and veg are starting to settle down.

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But actually, by making the space larger, the range of produce they can grow

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suddenly becomes extended and also the nature of that produce.

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'Bit early for a drink that strong, isn't it?

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'I needed that before the Chris "maths for paths" class.'

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Three beds, four metres by three metres with a 900 path between.

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And if we want to put a hedge in here, there's not enough room for a path AND a hedge, obviously.

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You are looking here for about a metre off of this fence.

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Say that's 11.30. You are looking for 10.30.

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And that would give you 500 for a hedge.

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And a 500 path, which is a very narrow path.

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-Would 600 be too narrow?

-Just walk your wheelbarrow through, that's the easiest thing to do.

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-That's a shiny new wheelbarrow.

-It is. I killed the other one!

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-You could get away with a 600.

-Yes, I think 700, to be safe.

-Yeah.

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If you go with 700 path, then?

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'Good crops rely on one thing. Good muck.'

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It's still steaming. That's how you know it's good stuff.

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I think if we just get it in through the gate? Yeah.

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That's great, super, thanks.

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That'd take the lungs out of you!

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Before the muck can be dug in, the builders' rubble has to be dug out.

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In order to dig those beds, it would be a week's work and it would be too punishing to even attempt.

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But yet again, digger at hand, job done in an hour.

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-Big Al is making a great job!

-He is. He knows what he's doing.

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A good digger man, you could spend hours just standing and watching.

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Is that why you stand and watch me for so long?!

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You just admiring my handiwork? I thought you were idle!

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It was never happening, was it, with the spade? Rubbish soil. Everything else was great!

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There's nothing more frustrating than sowing your crops and looking at them and they're not performing.

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With the larger beds in deep soil, you can grow the deep-rooted plants.

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Even a humble carrot. When you think of a carrot, the root you eat could be six, ten inches long.

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But the taproot can go down three or four metres. Horseradish, 12 metres.

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A horseradish will penetrate the ground.

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All you'd end up with is novelty vegetables if you grew on this.

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Which would keep us mildly entertained for an hour or so.

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While the digger was weaving its magic, I took a little time out in the tunnel with Dave

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to see what he has already managed to grow.

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There have been colossal changes since we were last standing here.

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-You can get in now.

-A bit warmer? I'm in shorts.

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I have ended up building two raised beds and made them nice and long and just got plenty of stuff in.

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I'm just trying things, really.

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Your tomatoes are coming along nicely.

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They're all at different stages.

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-You've gone for the natural pest control with the marigolds?

-Thought I'd give it a go.

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And you have stuck by "what grows together, goes together"

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with your basil sitting in amongst your tomatoes, there?

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This is a Thai one. And I just love the smell,

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I end up picking it and rubbing it on my fingers.

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It's just lovely. It really is.

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'Oh, look. A small load. Well, 20 tonnes of topsoil.'

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'Yes, I can sense a big job for me coming on. Where is the digger?'

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-That would be good for your spuds.

-Excellent.

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-Shall we go and plant some trees and leave Colin?

-Where is the shovel?

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-You could equally divide that.

-Wait till you see!

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When you think, you are harvesting fruits and veggies, there is a lot of products going out of the garden,

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you've got to put a lot going in.

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And that is essentially in the form of nutrients, organic matter.

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The nice thing about doing this to the garden is you can play with anything.

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You can put in anything you like.

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So I wondered if you wanted to have a play with these wee beasties?

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This is a very special hazel. The latest craze in hazel growing.

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And the roots are impregnated with a fungus.

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Actually, most fungi are not at all a problem to plants.

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They co-exist with the plants around us.

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So this is a mycorrhizal fungi, and the result is once you plant it

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and they start to grow, you get truffles.

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So the principle is that you should end up with these.

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Two little black truffles. £35 for two truffles.

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So if, in five years' time, you get two truffles, you've hit the jackpot.

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-Excellent.

-They are dead easy to grow.

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Truffles are not necessarily going to create great crops here but that doesn't matter.

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That single truffle Dave harvests in five years will be the best truffle he has ever tasted.

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I need a pig to start sniffing them out.

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They're good at finding them but also eat them, so it could become a very expensive pig.

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-You're much better off with a Jack Russell.

-A Jack Russell?

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'Is there anything you don't know, Chris? Do some real work!'

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I sense you are feeling the pressure today, sir?

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One more.

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One of the lovely things about your garden is the way that

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the land wraps around the building and almost encapsulates it,

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and it gives you an opportunity to play with different spaces.

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You get a completely different character if you come round

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from the veggie gardens at that end, round into this blank canvas.

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This is going to be what you're going to see all the time

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-and you want something pretty.

-When the sun comes out...

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-And it does.

-..this is quite a nice space.

-Yes, nice and sheltered.

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And logic would have it that this is a space that you spill out of the sitting room into.

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A space out here, a garden around it, with viewing from that end,

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viewing from this end and viewing from the house itself.

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Excellent. Sounds good.

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At the moment, it is just a bare piece of soil, really,

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and not even that - it's mud.

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'Here we go for another one of Chris's designs on the back of a fag packet.'

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A landing, almost.

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A seating area or a dining area in the centre of the garden

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and then rose garden around.

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'Then Dave had to seek approval from the missus.'

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COW MOOS

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'Is that a yes?'

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COW MOOS AGAIN

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Have we got approval from the boss to continue?

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-Yes.

-She's all right with that, is she?

-Yep.

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She likes the view from the kitchen window?

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Yes, she can stand there when she's doing the dishes and look out.

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You walked away from the window before you said that!

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That's your linking path through.

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It's just been a bit of a mud bath.

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So it'll be quite nice to actually have an area as it grows

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over the next few weeks or months that we can then sit and enjoy.

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I hope everybody likes tomatoes.

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'Home-grown tomatoes are like sweeties. And talking of sweeties,

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'here's two kids in a sweetie shop.'

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This packaging's perfect for Colin, look.

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"Planting instructions." "This way up."

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Keep it simple, I say.

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-Does this feel like Christmas?

-It does.

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If you look over here, there's somewhere...

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There it is... There we go.

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That one.

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Just grab a leaf in there.

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Two, four, six,

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-eight, nine leaflets.

-Mm-hm.

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And this one...five leaflets.

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-Right.

-Old rose, new rose.

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All the new rose varieties have five leaflets, occasionally seven,

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but the older ones have all got sevens or nines.

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You get a much better flowering season with these things.

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-With the newer roses?

-With the newer roses. The disadvantage is that they are more susceptible to disease.

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You know, you never see rosa rugosa with mildew and black spot,

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whereas the new varieties, you tend to,

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so the breeders are now trying to breed some of the resilience of the old varieties

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back into the new ones.

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so there's a right old mix here.

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-Did you know there's a Chris Beardshaw rose?

-Is there?

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-Which obviously will take pride of place in your garden.

-Yes.

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And it's a kind of...

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It's a masculine sort of rose,

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in a shade of...babydoll pink.

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DAVE LAUGHS

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Quite feminine. I'm in touch with my feminine side. I get it from Colin.

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What I want to do is something which is full of fragrance,

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full of blooms, based around roses, and a large seating area.

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'Chris, you go, girl!'

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'There's nothing wrong with two boys getting in touch with their feminine side. Where's Colin gone?'

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'Urgent business in Tuscany, I think you'll find.'

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'Well, while you were away, we built more beds - this time for ornamental plants,

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'and in particular, our rather fabulous roses.'

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I've tried to move away from that rather funereal look

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that we grew up with as kids, which is rose, rose, rose, nothing on the ground -

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just sort of bleached out.

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That's what gave roses such a bad reputation.

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This is a slightly different way of doing it,

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insomuch as we're using a whole host of different roses,

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different flowering styles and lengths, and different habits,

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so some are upright, like Fantin-Latour in the centre -

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it's one of those big, fluted... almost like a kind of champagne vase.

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It's a very grand plant.

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Framing that on either side, slightly darker colours,

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just to add a little bit of warmth to the garden.

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And on this side, it's frilly, it's froufrou,

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it's almost like a kind of ballerina's tutu...

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Darcey Bussell. So you've got Darcey Bussell in the garden.

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You can claim at school you've had Darcey Bussell in the garden.

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And then, you introduce some more pastel shades.

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And you'll find also the herbaceous will help to protect the roses, too.

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This is quite a general mix of herbaceous

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but they've been chosen so that they either just peep through

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the branches and leaves of the roses without impeding their growth,

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or they spread around underneath, a little bit like a carpet,

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and nestle themselves against the understory.

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Neither will affect the roses - they'll actually enhance their performance.

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Roses don't like being alone. They're very gregarious -

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they like to be partnered with other plants.

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Much better to treat them as they deserve -

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the queen of the shrub border.

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Then surround them with all their ladies in waiting - the glamorous herbaceous plants

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that will just very politely play around underneath the skirt of the roses.

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'Fair play, though, Chris - by the time we were both back, Dave and Julie had put in

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'a huge amount of work to their garden again, on both the productive side and the ornamental side,

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'and look at it now.'

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Chris, I was away for one day and this has sprung up.

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Mm. You know sometimes you have to make decisions about what you want in life?

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-Yeah?

-Sometimes those things are very ephemeral and...you know,

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and sometimes you want to go for something that's got a bit more substance and meaning to it.

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So, you know, you opted for the St Tropez spray-on tan,

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after ten days of relaxing by a swimming pool, dangling our pinkies in the water.

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Well, there's certainly some fragrance around here.

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And the roses are fighting, very manfully,

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through the rather...abundant and ripe smell of the mushroom compost.

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The mushroom compost we used to use, and it stinks!

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There's no two ways about it. But it is very good and they're beside a mushroom farm.

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-Go and stick a fork into it and see what happens.

-It'll just melt the fork.

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'And that's not the only surprise. Something else new.'

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Now, guys, just behind us, this rose garden has sprung up.

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-Mm-hm.

-I knew nothing about it, but it's great.

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And over here, something else has been happening.

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I've laid a bit of lawn

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and we're planning actually to change it slightly.

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We're thinking about having a slightly larger area

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down this area here against the wall.

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So we can barbecue and entertain.

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Dave had always talked about... He wanted a barbecue area.

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He wanted it over there because you get the...obviously, the evening sun.

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But we didn't realise just how much he wanted to entertain there.

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-We've been able to say...

-We don't like it.

-It's not that...

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Well, no. It's not that we didn't like it. We just....

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There was an area we wanted to change slightly and we've been able to.

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And what happens to the... to the lawn, now?

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Are we foreshortening it much?

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We were having a chat about it, bringing it in.

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Probably to round about where this one is here.

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Worth just thinking about the size of those elements, though.

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Because if you've got a hedge,

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your hedge is going to be 50 centimetres minimum - width,

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in order for it to be a decent height.

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And for it to look like a proper hedge.

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So that's going to take you to about there.

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If you're reducing the size of your border down by 60,

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you end up with a border less than a metre wide.

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-Which is...

-Which is, it's going to look meaningless.

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So I think we're in danger of trying to include too many elements in here

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and it may be worth considering keeping the borders where they are

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but doing away with the lawn.

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Much better to say, well, this area where the lawn is,

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that's going to be hard surface, then you've still got room

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for some decent sized borders and your barbecue.

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If you take that centre line off the path,

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you can still utilise that.

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So you can come in here to a permanent barbecue fixed in here.

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So you've got the facility and then you can have a couple of low walls

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coming out with prep surfaces, cos there's always,

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what do you do with your utensils and food?

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You've got things you want to put down when you're...

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Trays and...

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Either side becomes planting.

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You could put a tree there which gives you height.

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You could create a great little outdoor kitchen.

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Then the borders drift out from that

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and when you want to serve the food

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you walk out and you've got your dining area out here.

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And I think if you went for a relatively loose surface here.

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-Maybe going along those lines then, today.

-OK.

-Yeah?

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The whole thing has a much more edible and organic feel about it.

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Amongst this rather more formal structure.

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And that's great,

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it doesn't distract from what we'd originally proposed.

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It just means that it means a lot more to Dave and Julie.

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Is that an accurate size, do you think, of the table you might get?

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I would think so, you could get... Yeah, that would be ideal.

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The turf would be fine if it's left and it is beautifully laid turf, Roger.

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Unfortunately it does have to become hard surface. Sorry.

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DAVE LAUGHS

0:19:370:19:39

Are you making a mess of that? COLIN LAUGHS

0:19:420:19:47

COLIN GRUNTS

0:19:470:19:49

'Look at this fine example of an Olympic athlete.

0:19:490:19:53

'That's what you get for taking time off.'

0:19:530:19:56

Wow, that's rooted in!

0:19:580:19:59

Now you've torn it!

0:20:000:20:03

Is it easier putting it down or lifting it up, Roger?

0:20:030:20:07

Hooray!

0:20:100:20:11

Do you want a seat?

0:20:110:20:13

'Move over, Dec. I'll show you how to do it.'

0:20:170:20:20

I had that problem yesterday. Right, go.

0:20:200:20:23

See if I can do it first time.

0:20:230:20:24

ENGINE RUNS

0:20:240:20:27

Oh-ho-ho!

0:20:270:20:29

When a child has a little bit too much sugar

0:20:290:20:31

they get a bit excitable.

0:20:310:20:33

Just watch your foot.

0:20:340:20:36

And a bit hysterical.

0:20:360:20:38

That's what's happening now.

0:20:380:20:40

He just had a few too many of those blue sweeties at lunch.

0:20:410:20:45

'Stop making me laugh.

0:20:450:20:47

'I'm trying to plant those fruit bushes in a straight line.'

0:20:470:20:51

Are you going for the staggered line?

0:20:510:20:55

What are you talking about?

0:20:550:20:57

Don't let Declan see that, otherwise he'll have his string line out, correcting that.

0:20:570:21:02

He's going to go absolutely OCD to make sure his aren't.

0:21:030:21:07

I think we're going to overtake each other!

0:21:070:21:11

CHRIS LAUGHS

0:21:110:21:13

Look what a mess you made.

0:21:150:21:17

Look, mine's all neatly... Look! See?

0:21:170:21:22

Trees. Where shall we put them, where would you like them?

0:21:220:21:26

We've got walnuts, filberts.

0:21:260:21:29

What is a filbert?

0:21:290:21:30

Well, a filbert... This is a filbert.

0:21:300:21:32

Cos we were looking at the labels and we were wondering what...

0:21:320:21:36

You have probably seen them in a mixed bag of nuts.

0:21:360:21:40

-OK.

-At Halloween-ish time.

0:21:400:21:42

You know a hazelnut is round? Whereas a filbert is more egg-shaped.

0:21:420:21:46

-So it's more like that.

-Like an almond, almost.

-Yeah. Oh, there's a picture.

-Oh yes.

0:21:460:21:51

-Aha.

-It's got those kind of big, shaggy ears to them.

0:21:510:21:54

It's more prolific than the hazelnut, more likely to get nuts on it.

0:21:540:21:57

'The work is really moving on. You rotavated the area for the nuttery

0:21:580:22:03

'while Roger was left with the job of mulching the new rose beds with ripe mushroom compost.

0:22:030:22:08

'And now, Chris, for your next trick.'

0:22:090:22:12

This project's at a stage where we're making big steps forward,

0:22:140:22:17

partially because Dave's been working whilst we've been away,

0:22:170:22:20

so he's really seized the initiative

0:22:200:22:23

and moved the project forward,

0:22:230:22:25

which means every time Colin and I come in, we can move forward even further.

0:22:250:22:28

So it's almost a game of catch-up.

0:22:280:22:30

-So the frame is starting to form, isn't it?

-Yep.

-It gives you an idea.

0:22:300:22:35

'From what I expected at the beginning,

0:22:350:22:37

'we've - to an extent - got something completely different.'

0:22:370:22:40

Now, the new space is going to be far, far better.

0:22:400:22:42

'It's nice to have the grass area, but we'll have so much grass to the back.'

0:22:440:22:48

-It'll be nice to have the more entertaining, social adult space, really.

-Yes.

0:22:480:22:55

'And speaking of adult entertainment...'

0:22:550:22:57

When this comes up, you throw that one that way instead of underneath.

0:22:570:23:00

There you go. That's it.

0:23:000:23:02

'Time for a recap, Chris.

0:23:090:23:11

'This started out being about Dave and Julie wanting to grow more

0:23:110:23:14

'of their own, so we set them up with a polytunnel and raised beds.

0:23:140:23:18

'Then we prepared yet more ground to make a small orchard for fruit bushes.

0:23:180:23:22

'The final touch was to plant a nuttery.

0:23:220:23:25

'Julie and Dave will now be able to go from fork to fork, garden to kitchen.'

0:23:250:23:29

'But this garden is a game of two halves

0:23:300:23:33

'and it's also important to have a social space, and in this case,

0:23:330:23:37

'we built an outdoor kitchen diner surrounded by the heady scent of roses.'

0:23:370:23:43

This is like landscaping with the man from the Milk Tray advert.

0:23:430:23:49

And someone out of Brokeback Mountain, just looking at our outfits...

0:23:490:23:53

COLIN LAUGHS

0:23:530:23:54

I brought my work shirt.

0:23:540:23:57

We need to get some sort of harmony between our outfits.

0:23:580:24:01

I'm going to go and get my shirt on.

0:24:010:24:03

'Dave and Julie really worked their socks off over the summer to fill the new beds

0:24:050:24:10

'to capacity with edibles in the productive side of the garden.'

0:24:100:24:15

'And on the ornamental side,

0:24:150:24:17

'they can relax amongst the bountiful borders and fabulous fragrances.'

0:24:170:24:22

It's nice to see this with sunshine on it, and drying up as well.

0:24:220:24:25

-You wet it down to compact it.

-I was expecting it to be more dust.

0:24:250:24:30

I know it's quarry dust, but I was expecting it to be more... You know, sink into it.

0:24:300:24:35

I think you can get hung up on the type of product that you use,

0:24:350:24:39

thinking that's where the beauty comes from.

0:24:390:24:41

Really, when the plants start filling, this really isn't that important.

0:24:410:24:46

If any of your friends comment on the surface instead of the plants,

0:24:460:24:50

you need to think about your friends more carefully, really!

0:24:500:24:54

'Dave has rendered the wall.

0:24:540:24:56

'The barbecue area is nearly finished and now he and Chris

0:24:560:24:59

'are planting something a little unusual for Northern Ireland, figs.'

0:24:590:25:03

-Have you resolved the barbecue?

-Yeah, we're planning on getting it rendered, the same as the wall.

0:25:030:25:10

-So this will be cooking in here?

-Cooking.

0:25:100:25:13

That's prep and serving.

0:25:130:25:14

Yes. Cooking here.

0:25:140:25:16

And then another bit of granite worktop here.

0:25:160:25:18

So you can set things, utensils.

0:25:180:25:20

It's a great spot, especially on a day like today.

0:25:200:25:24

Will it be finished for this afternoon, by the time we...?

0:25:240:25:27

Hmm... Maybe not. We could maybe stand the gas barbecue in there for now.

0:25:270:25:31

We'll get Colin. He's good at gassing!

0:25:310:25:34

You spend so much time in the garden creating good planting and rooting, for most plants.

0:25:360:25:42

Figs are the opposite - you spend a lot of time digging a big hole and then filling it full of rubbish.

0:25:420:25:47

Give it good, fertile growing conditions and it's just away.

0:25:470:25:50

I mean, I've got brown turkey at home and it goes up 12, 15ft a year.

0:25:500:25:54

The idea is to give it poor rooting conditions, which reduces the size of the leaf.

0:25:540:25:59

It reduces the vigour of the plant, and you end up with

0:25:590:26:02

the plant panicking and producing lots of fruit.

0:26:020:26:05

-OK.

-So we'll make little boxes and backfill with rubble.

0:26:050:26:08

A little soil as well, and then plant the figs into that

0:26:080:26:11

and it'll help to hold them back a little bit.

0:26:110:26:13

'The figs are going to need a little support to spread across Dave's new wall.'

0:26:130:26:18

That's 120 there. Will I mark it?

0:26:180:26:21

Just leave me little kisses on the wall.

0:26:210:26:23

If you do the same on that end, I'll start drilling.

0:26:230:26:26

Oh, a sneaky one.

0:26:430:26:45

He tried to do the undertaking thing again.

0:26:450:26:47

-Look at the record.

-Oh!

0:26:470:26:51

What I didn't want at the beginning was it all done for you.

0:26:510:26:55

I didn't want to be sat in the house, or go away for a weekend

0:26:550:26:59

and come back and, "Ta-da! You've got a garden."

0:26:590:27:01

-Yeah, it's something that we have been able to work on together.

-Mm-hm.

0:27:010:27:06

I think it's just fabulous.

0:27:060:27:08

I used to be quite good at this.

0:27:080:27:10

Blame having children. That's what it is.

0:27:120:27:15

You should never play this sober.

0:27:150:27:17

-Thank you.

-This must be the nicest bowl arena ever.

0:27:170:27:20

It's brilliant. It's like a picture frame, almost,

0:27:200:27:24

just frames all the different areas and it really works.

0:27:240:27:28

It's completely not what I was expecting, but I'm so pleased with it.

0:27:280:27:33

-Really happy with it.

-It's a great learning environment for Theo,

0:27:330:27:36

and, crikey - I'd have loved to have had a garden like this when I was growing up.

0:27:360:27:41

It's going to be really enjoyable to see it develop and grow.

0:27:410:27:45

-Did we win that one?

-Course.

0:27:460:27:48

-Is that 4-0 or 5-0?

-I lost count.

-No! We won the first one.

0:27:480:27:53

-The second one?

-That was just practising.

0:27:530:27:55

-Oh, right.

-We weren't competitive at that point.

0:27:550:27:58

We let you win.

0:27:580:27:59

On a lovely crisp morning with the frost, like this morning,

0:28:110:28:14

It just looks fantastic, the whole area.

0:28:140:28:17

Just thinking, "That's ours! We're able to go out and use that space."

0:28:170:28:22

The first time everybody came, Theo was five days old

0:28:220:28:29

and he's now six months old, so within six months,

0:28:290:28:32

we've done what we were probably planning on doing over four or five years.

0:28:320:28:36

-Maybe even six.

-Probably even six!

0:28:360:28:38

Look at you, giving away smiles.

0:28:390:28:42

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0:28:510:28:55

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