0:00:02 > 0:00:03I'm Carol Klein,
0:00:03 > 0:00:05and this is my garden,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09nestled in the heart of North Devon 15 miles from the coast
0:00:09 > 0:00:13and surrounded by this tranquil and beautiful countryside.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21I've taken care of my garden for 30 years.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24I know every inch of this place,
0:00:24 > 0:00:26and every plant.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Each season brings its own delights.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35There are plenty of challenges too,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39but that's what makes it so exciting and so fulfilling.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45It's late spring
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and the whole garden is exploding into life.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Over the next half hour
0:00:50 > 0:00:52I'll be enjoying the bounty of this season
0:00:52 > 0:00:56and following the garden's rush into early summer.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12May and June are the time of exuberance,
0:01:12 > 0:01:13of lushness.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Everywhere you look things are surging forwards.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21You almost feel as though the rest of the year
0:01:21 > 0:01:25has just been a preparation for this moment.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30And yet at the same time there's so much to do
0:01:30 > 0:01:33to prepare for other seasons yet to come.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40But it's hugely important to grab the moment,
0:01:40 > 0:01:42to enjoy it,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45just to stop and stare and take it all in.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50BIRDSONG
0:01:53 > 0:01:56May is all about abundance.
0:01:56 > 0:02:02It's all about wallowing in this wonderful effervescence.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05The branches are laden with blossom
0:02:05 > 0:02:09and the hedgerows are thick with hawthorn blossom,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12pure white and sparkling.
0:02:12 > 0:02:18And all along the ditches, cow parsley spumes in a great wave.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20And leaves are translucent.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24You just know that they've never been seen before.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27They're fresh and bright and brilliant,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30but so tender as well.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Spring is a time to get out,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46to fill your lungs.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48There's so much to see.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Inspiration abounds.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04People talk about woodlands being "magical",
0:03:04 > 0:03:06and they are.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Look at this, Fleur!
0:03:09 > 0:03:11Just look at that!
0:03:11 > 0:03:15I think everybody has their favourite kind of environment.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18My mum used to love being on top of mountains
0:03:18 > 0:03:22and she used to love feeling the wind in her face.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27But what I love is to be deep inside a wood.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29It's so tranquil.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32It makes you forget everything.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35You can almost hear the earth breathing.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43I think Devon woodlands particularly
0:03:43 > 0:03:45have an extra sort of magic.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47The climate here is so moist
0:03:47 > 0:03:52and so conducive to all the things that love to live in woods -
0:03:52 > 0:03:54for a start, to the trees
0:03:54 > 0:03:58and the plants that carpet the woodland floor.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Look at the bluebells,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05and these magical ferns.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Ferns adorn my garden.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14I just love them. They've very special plants.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17They have their own secret lives.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20They're quite different from other plants.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25They're probably the reason I came to Devon in the first place.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29All the hedgerows were so thickly thronged with ferns,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31I couldn't believe it.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34And now my garden at Glebe Cottage is the same.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42It's now that the woodland garden reaches its zenith.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46There have been a succession of plants,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49starting with snowdrops.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51Then hellebores,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54and primroses.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Now it's the turn of the grand finale:
0:04:56 > 0:04:58bluebells,
0:04:58 > 0:05:00aquilegias,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02woodruff and foxgloves.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Foxgloves really fit into my garden,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09but I prefer the white ones.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13All forms of Digitalis purpurea are biannual.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16In the first year they grow a rosette,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19but in the second put on a towering flower spike.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22They set seed and then they die.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27Every year I sow my collected seed in either a nursery bed or a tray.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30But it doesn't always come true.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34When the seedlings are still young, you can spot which will be pink.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36There's a sort of redness, a purpleness,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38running through the stems.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41So I rogue those out and I grow them on
0:05:41 > 0:05:45and put them in the bottom of my native hedge.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48The white ones have much softer, pure green foliage.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50It's paler too.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52These I pot up and grow on.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55I plant them out in the final flowering position
0:05:55 > 0:05:59either in the autumn or in the following spring,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and the whole cycle starts again.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Every year produces its triumphs and tragedies,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31and I certainly wasn't expecting this one.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37I've been turfing out some of my exotics
0:06:37 > 0:06:40that are bound for the hot border.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45But my beautiful red banana...
0:06:45 > 0:06:48just hasn't made it.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49Look at it.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I kept burrowing down further and further
0:06:52 > 0:06:54just hoping it was all right,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57but this is the old root ball
0:06:57 > 0:06:59and there's nothing here any more.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01It's just gone.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03And all this dead foliage,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06which I was hoping to strip off
0:07:06 > 0:07:10and reveal wonderful new shoots.
0:07:10 > 0:07:11And look at this base.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14I mean, it's actually squidgy.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Oh, it's such a tragedy!
0:07:18 > 0:07:20I've had these for about four years.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Each year I've protected them over the winter, then put them outside,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26and they've been so dramatic.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28It's instant drama, really,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30and glamour too.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33But it's not very glamorous now, is it?
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Aww...
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Just look how leafy everything's got!
0:07:51 > 0:07:57But this morning there was actually frost on the field.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00But I'm determined to get to grips with my hot borders.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Let me introduce you to them.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05They're not so much borders as beds, really,
0:08:05 > 0:08:09because "borders" implies that they've got a back and a front,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12and these are very three-dimensional.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16You've actually got these two completely separate beds
0:08:16 > 0:08:18joined together with this box.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21And isn't it looking smart?
0:08:21 > 0:08:25So you've got a constant sort of backdrop and looks through.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28But all the plants in here are hot coloured.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31There are things that start the show,
0:08:31 > 0:08:32like this Rheum here.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36And that foliage stays for ages.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38But look at this!
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Look at this cheeky Lobelia tupa.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46It's poked its way right under this sleeper, and it's pushing out.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48It's brilliant that it's survived.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53But now I'm going to get on with planting.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56And one plant in particular.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59It's this fine rudbeckia.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01It's a big, yellow daisy.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05It doesn't come out until later on, at which time it will accompany
0:09:05 > 0:09:08all these cannas and dahlias,
0:09:08 > 0:09:13and the whole thing is going to be a seething tropical mass.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16And I'm going to break it up and divide it
0:09:16 > 0:09:18to really thicken up this line.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21I couldn't work in here at all, as you can see,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24because the hedge sparrow's nest was in there.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27But now I feel I can do whatever I like
0:09:27 > 0:09:29because the birds have fledged.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31I'll start off with this rudbeckia.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36The whole idea is to link this side of the garden with the other side,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40particularly with the brick garden over here.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47This is a poppy called 'Beauty of Livermere' - or it used to be.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50It's now called 'Goliath Group'.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52And it's magnificent -
0:09:52 > 0:09:56great, towering stems with big red poppies.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58And you wouldn't believe...
0:09:59 > 0:10:02that this is the same thing.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Even though this has started to make good taproot down here,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08those roots want to get into the ground.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10They're dying to get in there.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15Do you know, those stems have grown a foot in the last week
0:10:15 > 0:10:19and those fat buds are already starting to swell there.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23I'll tell you what, if I don't stake these poppies now,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27they could be disastrous start to the hot borders.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55This is my raised bed.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58I built this maybe...
0:10:58 > 0:11:0025 years ago
0:11:00 > 0:11:03because I wanted to be able to grow some of the plants
0:11:03 > 0:11:07that I just couldn't grow anywhere else in the garden.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Things like the pulsatilla,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11and these eryngiums.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13And one of the major features in here
0:11:13 > 0:11:16were three of these lovely Phlomis.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19It's Phlomis lanata, meaning woolly.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22They've been here for several years
0:11:22 > 0:11:25and they form the backbone of this bit.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28But in the last winter they succumbed. They died.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32- But, fortunately for me... - SHE CHUCKLES
0:11:32 > 0:11:36on this occasion I'd actually propagated some more.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38It's something I try and do
0:11:38 > 0:11:42with anything that's on the edge of tenderness.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45So I'm going to put these three in here.
0:11:45 > 0:11:51I just adore this place. It basks in the sun all day long.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Plants like that love to live here,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56and so does this,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58this little tiny erigeron.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00This is karvinskianus.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02It's a Mexican plant,
0:12:02 > 0:12:07and in full summer you can't even see these stones at all.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11It's just full of this great curtain of white and pink daisies.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13I thought last winter had done for it,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16but look, it's reappearing already.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21This also provides a perfect home for my family of lizards.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24They love coming out here, and if you're very quiet,
0:12:24 > 0:12:29on a hot, sunny day you can watch them just basking in the sun.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37BUZZING
0:12:38 > 0:12:41The welcome hum of insects has returned to the garden.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46Somehow the garden's not alive until you hear that sound.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49My husband Neil is really keen on bees,
0:12:49 > 0:12:55and last year a swarm attached itself to this tree,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57completely spontaneously.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59We were thrilled to bits.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02But it was late, the swarm was small,
0:13:02 > 0:13:07and after that brutal winter the whole lot died.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Well, Neil's determined to carry on, and so am I.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13We really want honeybees in the garden.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16We've invited beekeeper Phil Chandler
0:13:16 > 0:13:21to come and show us how to keep bees the natural way.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23ELECTRIC DRILLING
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Can I lend a hand? You look very competent.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34What a wonderful design! It's intriguing.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38I'll tell you what's intriguing me. You brought the bees yesterday.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Why did you do that?
0:13:40 > 0:13:44To give them a day to settle down and orientate themselves to this location.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47They'd been used to being somewhere completely different.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50So we'll put this hive where the travelling box is.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53That's right. Even two feet will make a difference.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55It's like a sort of trough, isn't it?
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Yes, it is. It's very simple. It's just a long box.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01This design has sloping sides,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04and we just use these top bars,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07which is why it's called a top bar hive,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09base it across the width of the hive,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12and the bees build their comb underneath.
0:14:24 > 0:14:25Put those in place.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30The comb, which is the remains of an old frame.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39And there again, this is a lot of brood on here.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43- Here you can see the beginnings of a natural comb.- Ah!
0:14:43 > 0:14:45That's how they start building their comb.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48And you can see, as long as you remain calm,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51that the bees tend to stay calm as well.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55This next one has got two combs.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58They're building up a single bar.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01- Will they join it into one? - Eventually, yes.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05This is worker-size comb. You can see by the size of the cell.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09That's the size the worker brood will emerge from.
0:15:13 > 0:15:14Ah, there's the queen.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- The queen is longer than the other bees.- Oh, yeah!
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Long abdomen,
0:15:19 > 0:15:25and that's where she stores all her eggs-to-be.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28I suppose you shouldn't interfere with her or touch her.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31I have a rule: never touch a queen unless absolutely necessary
0:15:31 > 0:15:34because...
0:15:34 > 0:15:38you don't want to get her smelling like a human.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Now if you could take the duster
0:15:41 > 0:15:46and just gently dust over the tops of the bees,
0:15:46 > 0:15:47that'll keep them calm.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51The idea is that you coat the bees with a light layer of icing sugar
0:15:51 > 0:15:54and they immediately start grooming each other.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56It smells much nicer than smoke does.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59CAMERA CLICKS
0:16:12 > 0:16:15That all seemed to go very smoothly, didn't it?
0:16:15 > 0:16:17- They look quite at home.- Yes.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Yes. The bees were well behaved. That went very well,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23considering how much they've been disturbed.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45RUMBLE OF THUNDER
0:16:47 > 0:16:51It's June, and late spring is a thing of the past.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56The frosts are gone and we're gliding into glorious summer.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59But just typical! Look at those clouds.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09How's that for glamour? That Chelsea nail job didn't last long!
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Do you know, the last week in May,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14every single year for the last 20 years,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17I've been away from my garden and going to Chelsea.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21And when I come back, everything's transformed, totally different,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and I always miss that wonderful time.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27But look what's here to greet me when I get back.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30This lovely oriental poppy. Isn't it magical?
0:17:30 > 0:17:34And I'm so glad I got in there and staked it before I left.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36But look here.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41You can tell, can't you? Do you love these elegantly curved stems?
0:17:41 > 0:17:45This plant was almost prostrate when I came back.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49I hadn't got round to it, and it was just lying along the ground.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52But put these stakes in as a sort of temporary measure
0:17:52 > 0:17:54and just tie this around them.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59But what I need to do both with these and all these other stakes,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03now that I see where those poppy buds are about to explode,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06is to reduce them,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09to take all this ugliness away.
0:18:09 > 0:18:15I'll take this down so I'm actually not aware of these stakes at all.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19And then we can just enjoy these buds.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25And this Cotinus...
0:18:26 > 0:18:31I pruned this earlier on and it really is looking pretty good.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33But if you look right through the bush,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36there are these stems which just didn't grow.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39I pruned them very nicely, according to the book,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41but to make the most of it
0:18:41 > 0:18:43I've got to take off all these little pieces
0:18:43 > 0:18:46right the way through the shrub, then we can just enjoy it.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50What a beautiful background it makes for these poppies.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55Just look at that appearing through the sort of mist.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57And it's got its hat on!
0:18:57 > 0:18:59Oh!
0:18:59 > 0:19:02And now it can just expand.
0:19:02 > 0:19:03Perfect place for it.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13WIND RUSTLES THROUGH TREES
0:19:20 > 0:19:23One minute it's spring, then suddenly it's summer,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26with all its glorious abundance.
0:19:26 > 0:19:32And nowhere is this more apparent than in my daughter Alice's garden.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37Her garden is packed full of all those glorious plants
0:19:37 > 0:19:39that just remind me of Alice.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43There are crimsons, there's pink, there's white,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47and everything's soft and beautifully mounded.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52You just wait till this white phlox starts to flower.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56That's Alice's grandma's plant, and it's all through this garden.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58But meanwhile, look at these astrantias.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02There are astrantias of all different kinds in here,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04some of them white, some of them dark,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06but this probably is my favourite.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09It's Astrantia 'Roma' and it's a sterile hybrid,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11so it keeps on flowering.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And the place is full of white geraniums
0:20:14 > 0:20:16right from spring into the autumn.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20But during June this is the one that's at its best.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22It's Geranium sanguineum 'Alba'.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27If you've got to choose one plant that typifies Alice's garden,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29it's this lovely rose.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31It's Rosa mundi,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33and Alice's second name is Rosamund,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and they were planted just for that reason.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39It's got these gorgeous pink-and-white petals
0:20:39 > 0:20:41that change all the time,
0:20:41 > 0:20:42masses of buds,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46and it's at its best for her birthday month, June.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Just lovely.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09A few herbaceous plants, like oriental poppies,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11acanthus,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13and Crambe cordifolia
0:21:13 > 0:21:15have long, fleshy roots
0:21:15 > 0:21:18which make them perfect candidates
0:21:18 > 0:21:21for creating new plants from root cuttings.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Earlier in the year, I exposed some of the roots on this Crambe.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29I severed them from the mother plant
0:21:29 > 0:21:32and cut them into short sections.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36I inserted them into a good, gritty potting compost.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42After three or four weeks, top growth began to show.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Once this crown of healthy new shoots has developed,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49new roots begin to develop afterwards.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52At this stage they can be pushed out,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54potted up
0:21:54 > 0:21:55and grown on.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59With a bit of luck, the new plants
0:21:59 > 0:22:02will be ready to plant out in the autumn,
0:22:02 > 0:22:03or, failing that,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06in the following spring.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11And after a couple of summers look at what you get.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14These magnificent, towering stems
0:22:14 > 0:22:17covered with a myriad of tiny little flowers.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20It's so light and fluffy.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23It's the pure essence of the season.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34OWL HOOTS
0:22:40 > 0:22:45This gravel track runs right the way through the garden
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and it's the source of all sorts of wonderful plants
0:22:48 > 0:22:51that seed themselves freely everywhere.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56I can remember the very first time a source of mine seeded itself.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58It was a geranium up by the kitchen.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01I couldn't believe it! But now they're everywhere.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04And sometimes these plants will put themselves
0:23:04 > 0:23:06into the most beautiful arrangements,
0:23:06 > 0:23:08things you could never replicate.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11You could never do this sort of thing yourself.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13There's a whole little garden here
0:23:13 > 0:23:17full of alchemilla and beautiful geraniums,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19and then this great fennel in the centre,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22this lovely, feathery thing.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26I just leave them because, not only are they not in everybody's way
0:23:26 > 0:23:30but you enjoy them - they're lovely!
0:23:30 > 0:23:33But sometimes they're on a path
0:23:33 > 0:23:37or in a place where they're not going to thrive and flourish,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and then you can get in there with your little fork.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48This is Geranium nodosum in here,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51shade-loving geranium.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Just tuck it into a pot straightaway.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Put some gravel on the top of it.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02And that's it. I'll give it a good water later on.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05There's oodles of them here, absolutely masses.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Ooh! Such bounty!
0:24:10 > 0:24:12That's what the garden gives you.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Look at that.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42A beautiful, big grass snake.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46I'm pulling this plastic up because I want to water it thoroughly,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49because this is where we grow all these climbing pumpkins,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51these great big trailing things.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52It gets really warm
0:24:52 > 0:24:56and that's obviously why the snakes come in here.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58I wonder if she's laying her eggs.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00SHE GASPS
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Compost is at the heart of all I do in my garden.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Making it is a never-ending cycle.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27This is my present compost heap.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31I've been collecting all this lovely green stuff -
0:25:31 > 0:25:37fabulous nettles and all the leftovers from my chard -
0:25:37 > 0:25:39to put on this heap.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43It's a fast heap. It's only been built during the last few weeks.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45This is what I always do in summer,
0:25:45 > 0:25:50and I'm putting this green stuff on to really speed everything up.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55And underneath I've got a lovely brown layer
0:25:55 > 0:25:57with all manner of stuff.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01There are twigs and also layers and layers of muck.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05When I shove my hand under there, I can feel the heat.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07It really is beginning to hot up.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Compost is the lifeblood of my garden.
0:26:11 > 0:26:17I just couldn't grow things the way I do without it.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18But I'm just going to...
0:26:18 > 0:26:20SHE CHUCKLES
0:26:21 > 0:26:23Over the top!
0:26:23 > 0:26:26I'm going to spread it around,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29make a thick layer of it,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31and then later on, as soon as I've got it,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35there'll be more brown stuff on the top too, so...
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Those nettles were a bit...
0:26:40 > 0:26:44they were a bit stingy, but I'm all right, actually.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48Nettles are one of the best ingredients
0:26:48 > 0:26:52because they bring all sorts of trace elements
0:26:52 > 0:26:55up from the soil underneath them.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57But I'll tell you what,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59some of this chard...
0:27:01 > 0:27:04looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Perhaps we ought to have a bit of this for supper.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Yesterday was the summer solstice,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19the longest daylight hours of the entire year.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23But during May and June the garden has changed immeasurably.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27It's become an entirely different place.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33At the beginning of May, you could stroll around this way and that,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36but now, the garden encompasses you.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39It draws you in. Every step you take,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41you're touched by plants.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44You can feel them caressing you.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48And the whole place is full of wondrous texture.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Lovely, gorgeous, soft, undulating growth,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and beautiful, frothy flowers.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58And the scent is like nothing else.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03The scent of honeysuckle and Hesperis pervades the air,
0:28:03 > 0:28:07especially in the evening as the sun sinks lower.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Although I adore this time of year,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14I'm looking forward to July and August,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17all those dog days of summer,
0:28:17 > 0:28:23the real sort of explosion that you get at that time of year.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26But for now, this is where I want to be.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:55 > 0:28:57E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk