0:00:02 > 0:00:05I'm Carol Klein and this is my garden
0:00:05 > 0:00:08nestled in the heart of North Devon,
0:00:08 > 0:00:0915 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 > 0:00:26I know every inch of this place and every plant.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Each season brings its own delights. There are plenty of challenges, too,
0:00:34 > 0:00:39but that's what makes it so exciting and so fulfilling.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45In this series, I'm going to share with you a whole year in my garden.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Autumn is over and my garden begins
0:00:48 > 0:00:51its descent into the depths of winter.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16This time of year plants are dying or going to sleep all around
0:01:16 > 0:01:20but it's actually a really beautiful time of year
0:01:20 > 0:01:23to enjoy my surroundings.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33I just love to get into the countryside during December.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Y'know, in the garden all the time,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41can be a very introspective, sort of, experience,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44but you come out now at this time of year
0:01:44 > 0:01:47and you really appreciate where you live.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51I mean all the leaves have come off the trees,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55you can see the, sort of, skeletons underneath.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59And the hedges, too, and just look at that view.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04You can really feel the bare bones of the landscape.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08You can appreciate what's underneath the whole place.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11It's just lovely.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14It's so beautiful.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16It's so austere, though.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43This beautiful holly tree on the lane.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46It's the best one around here
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and as I've been walking through here every day,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53it's been smothered in berries, absolutely dripping with them,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56but the weather's turned really cold and there have been
0:02:56 > 0:02:59flocks of fieldfares and redwings
0:02:59 > 0:03:02and they've been gorging on those berries, and now
0:03:02 > 0:03:06there are more on the lane than there are actually on the tree.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09I mean, holly's such an important plant.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12And I want some in my native hedge
0:03:12 > 0:03:14so I've picked up a load of the berries,
0:03:14 > 0:03:15Look here.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Masses of them and I'm going to stratify them when I get home.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22That's a fancy word for saying I'm going to delude them
0:03:22 > 0:03:25into thinking that they've been through winter.
0:03:25 > 0:03:31If I shove these in a bag with a great big load of sifted leafmould,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33put them into the fridge for a couple of weeks
0:03:33 > 0:03:36then bring them out and sow them in trays and some soil,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39they should germinate within a few weeks
0:03:39 > 0:03:42and I'll have young trees next year and I'll have my own holly.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44It's such an important plant,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48but so too is this ivy.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Look at that in the oak.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52It's just beautiful.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Ivy's another magical plant - it's got such significance,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01and when it's trailing along the ground
0:04:01 > 0:04:03it doesn't flower at all, and although it's great cover,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06for little mammals and birds,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09it's when it starts to climb that you really appreciate it,
0:04:09 > 0:04:14because that's when it flowers and these flowers are full of nectar.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17They're born in the autumn and they go right into the winter.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21And then they're followed by these gorgeous black berries.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23I've got some at home, here and there,
0:04:23 > 0:04:29I'm always planting it because it's such an important wildlife plant.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32I mean, the oak and the ivy support more forms of life
0:04:32 > 0:04:35than practically anything else at all.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37They're hugely important.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40I'd better look for some acorns, too, sometime.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54December... It's full of anomalies.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58On the one hand everything's dark and dank and dreary
0:04:58 > 0:05:00and you just feel like hibernating.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07On the other hand, underneath all this seeming death
0:05:07 > 0:05:13is this life just bursting through, just waiting to get going.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16There's snowdrops appearing all over the place.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20My mum's beautiful Christmas rose has already pushed through
0:05:20 > 0:05:22and it's in full flower.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24It's things like this that remind you,
0:05:24 > 0:05:28that underneath all that there's all this energy
0:05:28 > 0:05:31and dynamism waiting to get going.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Do you reckon that's stable?
0:05:49 > 0:05:50THEY LAUGH
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Ish!
0:05:54 > 0:05:59How about this for a complete tangle?
0:05:59 > 0:06:02I've got two wonderful plants here and the whole idea
0:06:02 > 0:06:05is that they grow in sweet harmony,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09but this clematis huldine - it belongs to the viticella group -
0:06:09 > 0:06:13has completely taken over, and it's actually distorting
0:06:13 > 0:06:15and pushing apart this lovely crab apple.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Now, if you're wondering who this bloke down here is,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21it's Neil, my husband.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23SHE LAUGHS
0:06:23 > 0:06:28Ideally, with a clematis like this, I should be able to prune it
0:06:28 > 0:06:31down to two buds from the ground, but if I do that,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35I'm going to miss the beauty of some of these flowers
0:06:35 > 0:06:38at a, sort of, taller level
0:06:38 > 0:06:41and although I should prune it when it's dormant,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44can you see it's already beginning to come into bud?
0:06:44 > 0:06:48So, there's no time like the present.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52I'll pull as much of this tangle out as I possibly can
0:06:52 > 0:06:54and then I'll try and select a few shoots
0:06:54 > 0:06:56to be reintroduced.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00I'm going to shut up and get tugging.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Winter can be cruel,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13the frosts have done so much damage.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Some of the pots with my tulips in, up at the top
0:07:16 > 0:07:21are completely shattered and the plants struggling to survive.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26And as for my beautiful brick paths... they're just in pieces.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33And amongst the plants, there have been so many deaths
0:07:33 > 0:07:37and where things haven't died, some things are maimed so badly.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41There really is quite a lot to get over.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Oh!
0:07:45 > 0:07:48That's so much better! Thank you for your services.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51I thought you were stuck to that ladder!
0:07:51 > 0:07:53How about a cup of tea? That'd be lovely.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56It's all work, work, work, isn't it, Neil?
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Well, what do you think? It's a whole lot clearer now,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02I can really see what I'm doing.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Now, can you see there are masses of these stems,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10which have actually layered themselves into the ground?
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I want to take a few of these out,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16want to retain some so that I'll get these lovely starry flowers
0:08:16 > 0:08:20decorating the top branches, but look at this one.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24That's sort of coming right out onto the track
0:08:24 > 0:08:28so I think I'll be able to pull that one out
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and I'm going to prune it, just as you would
0:08:31 > 0:08:36any classic sort of group three clematis.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38So, if you just trace the stem to where it's coming from here.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40It's quite old wood, this.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43I just need to leave two or three buds there,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47probably do it to that one there. And you don't make a sloping cut,
0:08:47 > 0:08:53like a rose, because it's got two buds, one on either side,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57but meanwhile, where's my shoot? I'd better finish the job,
0:08:57 > 0:09:02it's behind me. It's a question of pulling it right out of here,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05I feel a bit like a bell-ringer, but here we go!
0:09:05 > 0:09:10I might disappear out of sight.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28We've got two lovely daughters, Annie and Alice,
0:09:28 > 0:09:30they've each got a garden named after them
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and I love it when they find time to come home.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41This is Annie's garden and it's the site
0:09:41 > 0:09:45of the biggest revamp of the year, it's a major project
0:09:45 > 0:09:49and before I do anything at all, I've got to clear away
0:09:49 > 0:09:53all this debris so I can see what's in here.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58I can see where these clumps are and once I can identify everything,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02I'm going to lift it all out onto the tarpaulin there.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04And having done that,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08I'm going to make a quick stock list, see what I've got
0:10:08 > 0:10:13and think about what the design of this is going to be.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16But for now, there's plenty of work to do.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35I suppose winter seems a very long, sort of, season.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40It's a time when everything's dormant, dying, dead perhaps.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45But although the majority of the garden is brown
0:10:45 > 0:10:49and very austere, there are already things starting to happen.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53If you look at the ground, there are shoots beginning to appear
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and in the hedges, catkins are beginning to dangle.
0:10:57 > 0:11:03Those lovely lambs' tails, spreading the pollen if you get a windy day.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08But the stars of the moment have to be my snowdrops.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13They're the plant that invites us into the New Year.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18The dark, dank earth, you can almost hear it being split asunder
0:11:18 > 0:11:21as their shoots pierce it and up they come.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28The flower is just so perfectly designed.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32This great long pedicle, skinny, tiny,
0:11:32 > 0:11:34the stalk which actually supports the bell.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37And you wouldn't think it could hold that great weight,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41but it enables these bulbs to move backwards and forwards
0:11:41 > 0:11:45in the thrashing winds that we get in January and February.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Look how it's clumped and moved itself around
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and you can exploit that with any snowdrop
0:11:55 > 0:11:58by digging it up, just as it goes to ground
0:11:58 > 0:12:01as the flowers and the foliage begins to fade
0:12:01 > 0:12:06and separating the bulbs and replanting them, straight away.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11The other way is to twin-scale them.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15You take your bulbs at the beginning of their dormancy,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18in June or July, and you slice them vertically
0:12:18 > 0:12:20with a completely clean knife,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23you must make sure that everything's sterile.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Each piece must have at least two scales
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and a bit of a basal plate
0:12:31 > 0:12:33and then you put those pieces into a bag
0:12:33 > 0:12:38filled with vermiculite and put it away in a nice, warm dark place.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44After a few weeks, new bulbs will start to form
0:12:44 > 0:12:49and then you can line them out into seed trays in decent compost,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51grow them on and after a couple of years,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53you should have decent-sized bulbs
0:12:53 > 0:12:56and then you can put them out into the garden
0:12:56 > 0:12:59to start the whole cycle going again.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27I just love this shed.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34I love this time of year, because even though it's gone dark outside,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37we can still come in here and I can still carry on gardening.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39There's so many things to do and...
0:13:39 > 0:13:43I don't know, you're so close to everything in here.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47I can pot up these primroses, just look at them,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50and anticipate just what they're going to be.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53You know, the times when they're growing away outside
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and how the year is going to progress.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01It's not always going to be dark like this.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07Eventually, the garden will change and things will heat up,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10but for now, it's just lovely to be in here.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41That's the very last of that debris from Annie's border.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45I can't believe how much I've taken out!
0:14:45 > 0:14:48But I'd hoped to come straight down this morning,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52shift the last of the rubbish and get right onto lifting those plants,
0:14:52 > 0:14:58but not a chance. It POURED down during the night, absolute deluge,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01but there are other things I can do.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03While I'm waiting for that to dry out,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05I think I'm going to take these out.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07This is Phlomis lanata,
0:15:07 > 0:15:12it's from hot, dry sunny places and it's got very grey, furry leaves,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16but they should be grey-blue - at the moment, they are brown
0:15:16 > 0:15:20and the whole thing is as dead as a door nail.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Fortunately for me, I took cuttings last year.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28I always do take cuttings from all the tender plants
0:15:28 > 0:15:33or the borderline plants and they are thriving in the cold frame.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37All I did was, sort of June/July, take little side shoots
0:15:37 > 0:15:43with a heel or you can get your knife in, right under a leaf node,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45nip the top out, put them all around the side
0:15:45 > 0:15:49of a pot of gritty compost and they root fairly rapidly.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53It's worth doing it two or three times, though, different weeks.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56But I think it'll be fairly easy to get it out.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59I shall replant some of those plants in here,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01but I certainly won't do it yet.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04I'll wait until the weather warms up.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10Things won't warm up for ages yet, but at least the rain's eased
0:16:10 > 0:16:13and finally, I can get on with Annie's garden.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Are you helping?
0:16:30 > 0:16:31Oh!
0:16:31 > 0:16:37At long last, I can almost hear that roll of drums.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41I can get cracking and start taking these things out.
0:16:41 > 0:16:47Something tells me, it's going to be a lot easier said than done.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10This is a phlox
0:17:10 > 0:17:13and it's strange to think,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16that when they went in, these plants, they were tiny!
0:17:16 > 0:17:19They were minute little things, just look at them now!
0:17:19 > 0:17:21And this is one of the smaller ones, too.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25And what I'm going to do, when I've got them all arrayed here,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28is to divide them, to put some of them into a nursery bed,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32to look after them, anyway. I'm sure they'll be fine.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35And then I can get to work on this soil,
0:17:35 > 0:17:40preparing a really lovely home for my new design.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Some of them are going to come back in here,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46but they'll be joined by all sorts of other lovely things.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06Each day you come out at this time of year, it's different,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10you get days where the sun is sparkling through the trees
0:18:10 > 0:18:15and then you'll get other days where it's foggy, really misty.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23Traditionally, the shortest day is the winter solstice,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27it's the day for putting your garlic in the ground.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35But I never do that, because it's SO wet and soggy here.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38I prefer to start them off in modules.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41That way they're off to a flying start.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Most of the weather in my garden comes from the west
0:19:02 > 0:19:04from the Atlantic.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07But in February it comes from the east.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Bitter winds bite you to the quick.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19They don't go round you, they go straight through you.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21It's a wonder anything survives at all.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38I'm taking down these completely rickety wattle panels.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43The weather's just finished them off, really.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Cos I want to get to this hedge behind here.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51This is our native hedge that runs right the length of the garden.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56And today, Marcus Tribe, who's an incredible woodsman
0:19:56 > 0:20:00is going to come round and help lay this hedge.
0:20:06 > 0:20:07Hello, Marcus!
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Good morning. How are you?
0:20:09 > 0:20:11- Lovely to see you. - Step across your garden.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Step across. Do you think we could get through here?
0:20:15 > 0:20:16Yeah, no problem.
0:20:16 > 0:20:17See what's happening.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19I spend most of my time going through hedges.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Yeah, I know!
0:20:21 > 0:20:22You're good at it.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Well, my maths teacher always used to say...I looked as though
0:20:25 > 0:20:27I'd been dragged through a hedge backwards.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29- Now you know where it comes from. - Yeah!
0:20:29 > 0:20:31SHE LAUGHS
0:20:31 > 0:20:33- Can you get them through? - Yeah, there you go.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37They're sturdy, aren't they?
0:20:37 > 0:20:38Yeah, they're good stakes.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40It's grown, hasn't it?
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Yeah, it's come on nice.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45They're good enough to lay now.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47- You reckon?- Yeah.- You could do a good job with that?
0:20:47 > 0:20:50- We can match it in with the rest of the hedge now.- Fantastic.
0:20:59 > 0:21:00We've got two.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06So we're just going to pull that one in.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11This one, I won't cut this one, I'll...I'll just lay this one in.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Just weave it in.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22OK, the idea is, we've got to cut
0:21:22 > 0:21:25three-quarters of the way through the stem,
0:21:25 > 0:21:30but leaving enough on there so that it stays attached.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34We want a little bit of the wood, a little bit of the cambium layer
0:21:34 > 0:21:37- and the bark...- That's the layer that all the sap passes through.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40And that will carry on up through there. There's enough there
0:21:40 > 0:21:44for it to keep on living.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47We just put the billhook in there and split that off.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48Right.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51And pull it over gently.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54And weave it in between the posts.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Just weave it into your big hazel.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59And the whole idea of doing this
0:21:59 > 0:22:02is that that sap's going to come rushing up here...
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Rises up this tree and then it'll also create new shoots
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- that'll come off there. - Right.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10So we're going to have all that growing up there,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14- plus a mass of new shoots produced at the base.- That's right.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16And in future years you'll layer those too.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18And later on we'll layer them again.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27This is part of the hedge that Marcus laid about four years ago.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31And it perfectly demonstrates what happens.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35All these laterals have sprung up, all those new shoots,
0:22:35 > 0:22:40and they themselves can be laid too to thicken the hedge even more.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43It's a sort of ongoing process.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47And it gives me an opportunity to grow a forest full of trees, really.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50There are about ten or 12 different native species here,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54so we get a really rich tapestry, all manner of leaves,
0:22:54 > 0:22:59beautiful flowers, incredible fruit, climbers through here
0:22:59 > 0:23:03and of course it's beloved by wildlife.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05It's a real sort of corridor.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08It's beautiful. I couldn't live without it.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20In winter the woodland garden always lures me in
0:23:20 > 0:23:22and I love spending time there.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Nestled deep in one corner
0:23:26 > 0:23:29there's a lovely little stream, a little let.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32And after all the rain and snow it's gushing away.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35And of course it's completely clogged up,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38so I have to get in there and clear all those leaves out.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47I suppose it's over here that the hellebore really introduces itself.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49What I think I love most about them
0:23:51 > 0:23:54is how different they are, how diverse.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Some have pure white flowers and you've got everything
0:23:58 > 0:24:02through a huge range right through to black.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08And they're fairly trouble-free,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12but one thing I always try and do is cut all the old leaves off
0:24:12 > 0:24:16each and every plant. This makes sure that disease isn't harboured.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It also means that light can get into the centre of the plant
0:24:19 > 0:24:22so the new growth can really shoot through.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27I think when you've got a few hellebores,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30one of the most exciting things you can do
0:24:30 > 0:24:32is to try pollinating some of them.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36And you just choose two plants. From one you collect the pollen,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39and you do that either with a little paintbrush
0:24:39 > 0:24:42or by rubbing the lid of a biro on your knee
0:24:42 > 0:24:45to create static, and collecting the pollen
0:24:45 > 0:24:48from the anthers of that plant.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52And then, on the plant that you've selected to receive the pollen,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56you find a flower which is just about to open
0:24:56 > 0:24:59and you pull those petals gently back
0:24:59 > 0:25:03and you introduce the pollen from your biro or your brush
0:25:03 > 0:25:06onto the stigma in the centre of the flower.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10You close the petals carefully and you repeat the process
0:25:10 > 0:25:14over three days to ensure that pollination has taken place.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17And to identify the flower you've pollinated,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20just tie a bit of embroidery thread or a bit of coloured wool
0:25:20 > 0:25:22on the back of the flower.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29And then come the end of May, the beginning of June, in some cases,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31watch your plants carefully
0:25:31 > 0:25:35and as those seed capsules start to burst asunder,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38move in with your paper bag and collect the seed.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43Take it off and sow it directly onto the surface of good compost
0:25:43 > 0:25:45in seed trays or big pots.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48And cover it with grit.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Leave it outside, water it regularly
0:25:52 > 0:25:54and in September or so
0:25:54 > 0:25:57these new seedlings will start to pop through.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Keep on potting them on and within a couple of years
0:26:00 > 0:26:03you'll see these brand new flowers,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05flowers that have never been seen before.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35It's the end of February and the long winter's drawing to a close.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52It's wonderful to have reached this stage in Annie's border.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54We've got everything out now.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56The whole thing's been dug over,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00forked over, and I'm at the stage where I'm adding compost to it.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05This wonderful, fantastic black stuff
0:27:05 > 0:27:09that's going to make everything I replant in here thrive.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11I never feed my plants. I feed the soil.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Because it's the soil that feeds the plants.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17That's the way to do it.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20And compost is just such magical material
0:27:20 > 0:27:23To think that this is just...
0:27:23 > 0:27:27all that death, all those plants that have died down,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31all that detritus, that rubbish, and it's turned itself,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35magically, with the help of thousands of micro-organisms
0:27:35 > 0:27:39and worms and all sorts of things in this lovely process,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41into this fantastic black stuff
0:27:41 > 0:27:45that's just going to feed my whole garden.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50These months, although they move very, very slowly,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54they've consolidated the whole sort of beginning of the year.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Laid the foundation for everything that's going to happen afterwards.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04And I can already tell that things have begun to accelerate.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08There's already that sniff of spring in the air.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10I can't wait!
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd