0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello and welcome to The A To Z Of TV Gardening.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06We're digging up the best advice
0:00:06 > 0:00:09from all your favourite programmes and presenters,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12so join me as, letter after letter, one by one,
0:00:12 > 0:00:17we explore everything from flowers and trees to fruit and veg.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38Everything we're looking at today begins with the letter Q. Here's what's coming up.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Monty Don reveals the truth about quinces.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47These were the fruit of good and evil. It was this that tempted Eve, not an apple.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50We look at the quirky side of gardening.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55So this is it. This is your fantastic little garden in a van.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59And top celebrities checking out top quality gardens.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04You see extraordinary plants that you've never seen before in your life.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08Lots to look forward to there, but we're starting with a real treat,
0:01:08 > 0:01:14a very rare look at some of the most famous and exclusive gardens in the world
0:01:14 > 0:01:17because our first Q is for the Queen's Gardens.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Back in 2004, Her Majesty granted Monty Don
0:01:21 > 0:01:26and the Gardeners' World team a special "access all areas" pass
0:01:26 > 0:01:29to the open spaces of Buckingham Palace,
0:01:29 > 0:01:31so let's enjoy what they found.
0:01:59 > 0:02:06Buckingham Palace Garden in the heart of central London is flanked by St James's and Green Park,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10both originally hunting grounds for the monarchy.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13The garden occupies an area of 39 acres.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18The Serpentine Lake is at the heart of the garden
0:02:18 > 0:02:23with a lawn the size of five football pitches running down to it.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29The lake has been enlarged a number of times
0:02:29 > 0:02:33and in the dig of 1827, some of the spoil was used to enlarge this mound
0:02:33 > 0:02:37that was created to hide the garden from the Royal Mews.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42The Buckingham Palace Rose Garden was originally laid out in the 1960s
0:02:42 > 0:02:45by the celebrated rose grower Harry Wheatcroft
0:02:45 > 0:02:49and has been continually updated, often with commemorative roses.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53This is Royal William, Rose of the Year in 1987.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Silver Jubilee flowers all summer long.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06The Queen Elizabeth has been going strong since 1954.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11And Gracious Queen was launched at Chelsea for the Golden Jubilee.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19And species roses, always a favourite with the Queen Mother,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22still thrive around the Admiralty Summer House.
0:03:25 > 0:03:32One of the oldest residents in the garden you'll find dotted around in the grass and it's this -
0:03:32 > 0:03:38the chamomile, which was first recorded in the 17th century and has been here continuously ever since.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45In more recent times, a sand pit, swing and slide were added
0:03:45 > 0:03:48for the young Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51The swing and slide have gone, but the sand pit is still there,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54its wooden cover now hosting a colony of lichens.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59There's also a tennis court.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04King George VI was a keen tennis player, even competing at Wimbledon.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Today, the court is used by Palace staff.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11And like anybody trying to encourage wildlife into the garden,
0:04:11 > 0:04:13the Queen has her own royal bird table.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21BIRDS SING
0:04:30 > 0:04:35'One of the highlights for most of the guests is the herbaceous border.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39'Over 150 metres long and five metres deep,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41'it peaks in July.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45'One man who knows royal gardens better than most
0:04:45 > 0:04:49'is writer and garden historian, Sir Roy Strong.'
0:04:49 > 0:04:53I suppose the first thing is how does a herbaceous border fit
0:04:53 > 0:04:57into the gardening tradition, let alone a palace one?
0:04:57 > 0:05:01The herbaceous border, Monty, was really a mid-Victorian invention.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03The great reformer William Robinson
0:05:03 > 0:05:07who wrote The English Flower Garden, then his pupil was Gertrude Jekyll,
0:05:07 > 0:05:12and the apogee of this form of gardening was really before 1914
0:05:12 > 0:05:15with the relationship of Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Mass planting of herbaceous plants in a kind of symphony of colour,
0:05:19 > 0:05:25ascending at the back to tall things like delphiniums which we can see here,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28and, believe it or not, banana trees.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31I suppose you can say they're a symbol of a vanished empire,
0:05:31 > 0:05:37plants from all around the globe gathered into this fantastic border here.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Then it's like so many other things.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44Once they cross the Channel and they arrive here, we think they're English.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49They're part of our multicultural identity or diversity now.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02It's nice to see sweet peas because they always make me think of the late Queen Mother
0:06:02 > 0:06:04who absolutely loved sweet peas
0:06:04 > 0:06:10and all her houses were decorated in sweet pea colours and she always dressed in sweet pea colours.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15- I think that's... - Do you think that's deliberate, a sort of family...?
0:06:15 > 0:06:19It's possible. It's a kind of memory of a much loved person.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24I mean, do remember that the Royal Family and the Queen live in there
0:06:24 > 0:06:28and it does give her something wonderful to look down on.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33Then also the border screens what, if I remember rightly, is a little, private walk
0:06:33 > 0:06:37because any royal person leads such an exposed life.
0:06:37 > 0:06:43I understand that Her Majesty takes the corgis for a walk behind there, which I find absolutely enchanting.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54And I do like to see delphiniums that are huge.
0:06:54 > 0:07:00I think this trend of breeding dwarf delphiniums seems to be losing the very essence of the plant
0:07:00 > 0:07:04- and to see enormous...- They're quite a fierce blue, aren't they?
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Yes, I don't mind that.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10And what is unusual about this border...
0:07:10 > 0:07:15There's great attention to flower and leaf shape and height.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20But there's less attention to colour. Some of the colour is quite aggressive.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25If I had to be critical of this, I think it's planted, but not designed.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30But in a funny sort of way, the fact that this arrived in the post-war period...
0:07:30 > 0:07:35All through the 20th century, you've seen the democratisation of the monarchy,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38then more and more accessibility of the monarchy,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43and the monarchy in a way responds to that and you can say this is almost a gardening response
0:07:43 > 0:07:48because here on a mega scale is what most people have in their back gardens.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51They have a border, a mixed border,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55but here at the Palace, boy, you have a mega mixed border!
0:07:55 > 0:08:00I like that kind of relationship because people can really relate to going along and looking...
0:08:00 > 0:08:05A lot of the plants, like the dahlias and the delphiniums, everybody grows those,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08so I think there's a very good statement
0:08:08 > 0:08:12about the dialogue of monarch and people said through the border.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17Fascinating stuff and we'll return for another behind-the-scenes tour
0:08:17 > 0:08:20of the Queen's back garden later in the show.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Now to a tree that most of us know as the mighty oak,
0:08:24 > 0:08:28but botanists call it by a different name.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32This Q is for Quercus, the family name for oak trees,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and here is Will Cohu to get us started.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43I feel a big oak is like a wise and welcoming Buddha.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And look how those limbs sweep out and down,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50as if inviting children to climb up and up
0:08:50 > 0:08:53into the protective embrace of its canopy.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56An oak can live up to 600 years
0:08:56 > 0:09:01and old oaks feature in legend as the refuge of kings and outlaws,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03of wise owls and wily foxes.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10Oak was vital to shipbuilding because of the particular shape of its largest branches.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13The branches of an old oak are often massive and curved.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Known as crooked wood or compass timber,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20these limbs formed the rounded shapes needed for the skeletons of ships.
0:09:20 > 0:09:26Small wonder that the official march of the Royal Navy is the old anthem, Hearts Of Oak.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39So what is it about the English oak that makes it so supremely tough?
0:09:39 > 0:09:44Is it our rich clay soil or our generous rainfall?
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Or is it perhaps our bracing, windy weather?
0:09:48 > 0:09:55Strange as it may seem, big or tall trees can thrive from a life of exposure to strong winds.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01An oak that is tested by a harsh, windy environment will adapt by deliberately adding extra thick wood
0:10:01 > 0:10:03where its structure is most stressed.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09This is called reaction wood and it gives oak the strength to outlast iron.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19It's as if the tree has captured the elemental energy of the wind in its branches
0:10:19 > 0:10:23and sucked it down into its heartwood and roots.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25I know it may be something of a living Buddha,
0:10:25 > 0:10:30but it doesn't seem to be particularly wise in its choice of seed.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Its acorns are extremely tasty to birds, squirrels and mice,
0:10:34 > 0:10:41so although a mature oak may produce as many as 90,000 acorns in a year, very few of them will get a start.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Does this strike you as wise?
0:10:44 > 0:10:48In fact, the oak has a cunning long-term plan.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54Squirrels or birds do eat the acorns, but they also take a few away, bury them and forget about them.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56The hidden acorn starts to germinate.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Here, protected by a canopy of nettles and brambles,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02an oak can germinate safely
0:11:02 > 0:11:07and grow and grow and grow up into wide-open spaces
0:11:07 > 0:11:11with all the light it needs to become a massive, spreading tree.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19So, the clever old oak has struck a bargain with its predators.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24It seems prepared to sacrifice 89,999 acorns
0:11:24 > 0:11:27to grow one perfect seedling.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31It takes at least a century for an oak to make usable timber
0:11:31 > 0:11:36and when oak was the raw material of warfare, there was continual anxiety about supplies.
0:11:36 > 0:11:42Hardly surprising when the construction of a single ship required 2,000 mature trees.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49And so in 1798, the British government began planting its own oak forests,
0:11:49 > 0:11:54one of them deep inside the ancient Forest of Dean.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59This was back-breaking, heart-breaking work.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Some 11,000 acres of wasteland had to be cleared, fenced, drained and planted
0:12:04 > 0:12:06and all by hand.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11Thousands of seedlings died in the horrible, wet and cold winters
0:12:11 > 0:12:13and then came the mice.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18In one winter, the mice ate some 200,000 young trees.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Pits were dug as traps, catching 30,000 of the hungry vermin.
0:12:22 > 0:12:29After 20 years of hard labour, four million oaks were eventually established, but it was all in vain.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35In 1862, the first iron-clad ships saw action in the American Civil War.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37The age of oak was over
0:12:37 > 0:12:42and the trees of the Forest of Dean would never be called into action.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46These days, the trees planted for battle have more peaceful uses,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50so what was intended to withstand the roar of cannon
0:12:50 > 0:12:53may well end up as a cuckoo clock.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55CUCKOO SOUND
0:12:56 > 0:13:02And joining Will in his admiration for the magnificent oak is Chris Packham.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07He loves them and he's been looking at some of the wildlife that loves them too.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Beautiful. What a beautiful tree!
0:13:19 > 0:13:26An oak... An oak woodland is an incredibly rich habitat here in the UK.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30It supports a vast amount of life and the reason for that
0:13:30 > 0:13:35is that these trees have been growing here for longer than nearly any other species,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39so lots of invertebrate herbivores, things like caterpillars...
0:13:40 > 0:13:43..bugs,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47beetles, so on and so forth, have learned to feed on them.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52But when I say "invertebrate herbivore", I also mean food for birds
0:13:52 > 0:13:56and that's why oak woodland is such a rich environment for these species.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01But how do they all live here at the same time feeding on the same trees?
0:14:01 > 0:14:06Well, they do that by using niche separation.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09They partition themselves,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12so that they reduce the amount of competition.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16They find different ways of feeding in the same place at the same time.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20How does it work? Well, let's start at the bottom.
0:14:20 > 0:14:26The ground beneath the oak tree has plenty of insects and other invertebrates living on it -
0:14:26 > 0:14:29food for robins,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31blackbirds,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34thrushes, even redstarts.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Then, of course, there's the trunk.
0:14:38 > 0:14:44The trunk itself is home to a couple of our most charismatic members of the oak community -
0:14:44 > 0:14:46the treecreeper
0:14:46 > 0:14:48and the nuthatch.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52Now, treecreepers climb up the tree,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56carefully examining all of these little crevices
0:14:56 > 0:15:00into which they put their very fine bill to remove their prey.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Nuthatches, they'll go up and they'll go down too,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08looking for similar sorts of things,
0:15:08 > 0:15:14but their bill is slightly larger and they also eat a little bit of fruit on the side.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Then you've got woodpeckers and if there's any deadwood here,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22the great spotted woodpecker will be pecking it open on the trunk
0:15:22 > 0:15:25and even excavating a nesting hole.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Well, as we go higher
0:15:28 > 0:15:31and the trunk separates into its boughs and branches,
0:15:31 > 0:15:36you've got a completely different set of birds that's feeding up there,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39most notably, of course, members of the tit family.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44The smaller the bird, the further it will go out away from the main trunk
0:15:44 > 0:15:46until it's right out here,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49hanging on those twigs,
0:15:49 > 0:15:53turning the leaves over, looking for tiny caterpillars.
0:15:53 > 0:15:59This means that this huge guild of birds can all survive on one tree and its neighbours
0:15:59 > 0:16:02at exactly the same time.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04It's amazing, absolutely amazing,
0:16:04 > 0:16:09and it's why, if you take a walk in an oak woodland at the beginning of spring,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14it's bound to be rewarding because it's seething with life.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Thanks, Chris.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Still to come, how to score a gardening gold
0:16:23 > 0:16:27and more Monty Don. This time, he's looking at quince.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32But now, we're looking at the unique, the creative and the sometimes highly unusual.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35We've reached Q for the quirky side of gardening.
0:16:35 > 0:16:41And here's Joe Swift with an example of a garden growing where you wouldn't normally expect it to.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46I've finally found a garden that comes to me. Raphael!
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Hold up, hold up!
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Blimey!
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Hello, Raphael.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06- So this is it, this is your fantastic little garden in a van.- That's right.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08What gave you the idea to do this?
0:17:08 > 0:17:12My partner Michael lived in this van for two years
0:17:12 > 0:17:15and you have to have a house with a garden.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19He drove many thousands of miles and he looked at the glove box
0:17:19 > 0:17:24and thought he could do something more creative with that and that was the outcome.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29So he made a little garden. What have we got in here? Some sempervirens and some sedum.
0:17:29 > 0:17:35We have some Sedum Red Dragon here and then there's four sempervirens making up the rest of the planting.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40They're commonly called hen-and-chickens for obvious reasons.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45I like the way they're spilling over the front edge. Have you got drainage holes in the bottom?
0:17:45 > 0:17:47No, it has no drainage at all.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50What this relies on is not being over-watered.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53It's filled with gravel and scree.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58You're talking maybe ten centimetres' depth of material and into that the plants grow.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02All you have to do is treat it mean and keep it keen.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06And if "quirky" can mean gardening in a glove box,
0:18:06 > 0:18:11there's no reason why it can't also mean botany on a barge.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15For any gardener who floats through life aboard a houseboat,
0:18:15 > 0:18:21the only option is to plonk the garden overhead on the main deck.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23A-har!
0:18:33 > 0:18:37I first got involved about 25 years ago.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41I got to know the moorings when they were still in commercial use.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46Then people came along and were interested in keeping residential barges here.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49They're a very traditional part of the river
0:18:49 > 0:18:53and it's nice, actually, to carry on with the traditions of the river
0:18:53 > 0:18:57and keep the river full of life too. I think that's very important.
0:18:57 > 0:19:03It has a lot in common with gardening on a roof garden
0:19:03 > 0:19:07where you're not in direct contact with the soil.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13These are old Thames lighters, the old workhorses of the River Thames,
0:19:13 > 0:19:19so we'd take one of these and put, first of all, insulation on top of the steel deck,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22and then earth on top of that,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24together with a drainage system.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29The soil is 50% topsoil
0:19:29 > 0:19:32and 50% well-matured dung.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36And it's about a spit deep on all the barges,
0:19:36 > 0:19:42although in some places we've made it a little bit deeper for special trees.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47And as you can see, the plants that thrive are those which are fairly drought-tolerant
0:19:47 > 0:19:51because watering is always an issue on a garden like this.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58During the hosepipe ban, we actually did pump river water on to the gardens
0:19:58 > 0:20:02and I'm glad to say the gardens thrived on it,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06but I think, in fact, the river water is quite nutritious,
0:20:06 > 0:20:11partly because when it rains, most of London's sewers get pumped into the river.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14We've planted two orchards,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19so we have a little avenue of quinces on one of the barges
0:20:19 > 0:20:22and we have an avenue of medlars on another.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27A quince is a wonderful thing, the truffle of the orchard, I would say.
0:20:28 > 0:20:35These gardens envelop the snug, little, floating homes beneath like cosy, green eiderdowns.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40They're open to the public, but only twice a year.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49And from a barge to a barcode.
0:20:49 > 0:20:55Just look at the quirky garden James Alexander-Sinclair found at the Chelsea Flower Show.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01On the face of it, this is a formal garden with a little bit more to it.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11You've got clipped yew and box wrapped with bits of acrylic plastic,
0:21:11 > 0:21:17then grasses sunk below ground level, red Perspex, maybe a little bit Japanese,
0:21:17 > 0:21:24then the middle of it is a great, big, abstract sculpture, except this is so much more than that.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40This is actually a QR or quick response code. It's like a barcode in a supermarket.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44It was invented in 1994 in Japan as a sort of stocktaking arrangement,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49but it's only within the last year or so that it's become popular in this country.
0:21:49 > 0:21:55What you have to do is take your smartphone and point it not just at this code, but all of the gardens.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59The notice will have a little thing. Point your smartphone at it,
0:21:59 > 0:22:04and this will link you to that garden's page on the RHS website.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08So what this is is, 99 years after its inception,
0:22:08 > 0:22:14the Chelsea Flower Show embracing technology and the 21st century.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34But even if you don't have a smartphone, you can still look at this as a garden.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37It could be an abstract sculpture.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42And here is a very wonderful green wall - four species of plants.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46You've got a Hart's tongue fern, Asplenium, here,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49here's a primula, a white primula,
0:22:49 > 0:22:54then tucked in the middle, just here, there's a viola, again white-flowered,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58and all the way through it is this froth of Baby's Breath.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03So while you're walking around the show, look out for the QR codes, hit them with your smartphone,
0:23:03 > 0:23:08but it's not just about technology. It's also about plants.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15Now a very quick look at a fruit that's been described as the truffle of the orchard.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18This Q is for quince
0:23:18 > 0:23:22and that man Monty is back again to sing its praises.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25I'm picking quinces.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Quinces, I think, are one of the most romantic of all fruits,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31and certainly the best fragrance.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36If you just put one in a bowl it will fill the room for weeks
0:23:36 > 0:23:40with just a hint of beautiful scent.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46In fact, they have an ancient history. These were the fruit of good and evil.
0:23:46 > 0:23:52It was this that tempted Eve, not an apple. As a gardener, they're dead easy to grow.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58They make a small, compact, but rather untidy tree. You don't try to prune them.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01They corkscrew off and grow irregularly.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06They store pretty well. The idea is to pick them before they fall and bruise.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08There you are. That's come away.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12Can you see there? It's got a little downy covering.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Just on here.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19And I love the story how in the 17th century
0:24:19 > 0:24:23a poultice was sold as a hair restorer.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27It was, fundamentally, just mashed up quince. It's got lots of pectin in it
0:24:27 > 0:24:31so it's really quite mucilaginous.
0:24:31 > 0:24:38And then you slap it on your bald pate and, presumably, it's so you will regrow these little baby hairs.
0:24:38 > 0:24:44And it may not do much for your baldness, but you would smell lovely.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52'The best reason for growing quinces is that they taste delicious.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58'You have to cook them, but they improve any apple dish, are great with roasted meat
0:24:58 > 0:25:02'and the combination of quince jelly and cheese is sublime.'
0:25:05 > 0:25:11Thanks, Monty. Whilst most of us try to do the best we can in our gardens,
0:25:11 > 0:25:17some are the Olympic athletes of the gardening world, constantly striving for gold and silver medals
0:25:17 > 0:25:22in our annual garden competitions. So this letter Q is for quality.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27A look at who triumphs and what it takes to win those top prizes.
0:25:27 > 0:25:33Let's start with Alan Titchmarch explaining what separates the best from the rest.
0:25:33 > 0:25:39Luciano Giubbilei has won a gold medal for the garden he designed for Laurent Perrier.
0:25:39 > 0:25:45It is his first Chelsea garden and I can't begin to tell you how rare that is,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49to get a gold medal on your debut. Two ladies said to me this morning,
0:25:49 > 0:25:57"We've been looking at these gardens. What's the difference? Why does one get a gold and one not quite?"
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Well, let me try to explain.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03For a start, all the designers will submit a brief to the RHS
0:26:03 > 0:26:08explaining what they want to try to do. If they fulfil that brief to the letter,
0:26:08 > 0:26:15they could get a gold medal. Then there is finish - it has to be absolutely immaculate.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Well, this garden fulfils both these two requirements.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23It's fulfilled its brief and is immaculate. Then there's style.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26This garden has it in spades.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30From the yew and box step down on one side,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34the Tuscan paving across, the banks of flowers, the sitting area,
0:26:34 > 0:26:39those tranquil pools with the water chutes going into them
0:26:39 > 0:26:43and the focal points down this end - five great lumps of sandstone,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47a big square of water here and a sculpture on the wall
0:26:47 > 0:26:51which is the focal point right down this alley of hornbeams.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54It is perfection.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56It is a gold.
0:26:57 > 0:27:02So now you know. Let's enjoy a look at some of the best of the best.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08Here's a selection of Chelsea highlights, all of them of the absolute highest quality.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26The first ever garden from the Principality of Monaco is here
0:27:26 > 0:27:32and it's been commissioned by the world's most eligible bachelor, Prince Albert II.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46This garden captures the interaction between the landscapes and the architecture of Monaco
0:27:46 > 0:27:52and shows that even in high-density urban areas, there's still some space for some planting,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55be it on the roof or the walls.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06I'm a sucker for these exotic plants, but this tree aloe, the aloe bainesii, is absolutely magnificent.
0:28:06 > 0:28:12It's the first time ever that we've seen such a spectacular succulent at Chelsea.
0:28:15 > 0:28:21When designing a garden at Chelsea, the sky is the limit and the B&Q garden has taken that literally.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26With a nine-metre tower, this is the tallest garden ever built here
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and it's visible throughout the showground.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34But it carries an important environmental message to promote urban gardens.
0:28:34 > 0:28:42It's been designed to show that you can grow your own wherever you live, whether in a flat or a tall building.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47The best thing about this garden - every single plant is edible.
0:28:55 > 0:29:02The Australian entry from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, is poised to make show history
0:29:02 > 0:29:07as the first garden ever to showcase purely Australian native species.
0:29:09 > 0:29:15Everywhere I look in this garden, there are plants I've never seen before at Chelsea.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19There's a Swainsona, which is rare and threatened in the wild.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23Then there's this plant here, the emu bush, the eremophila,
0:29:23 > 0:29:28a little plant that emus eat the fruit of. It's incredibly unusual.
0:29:39 > 0:29:44The Royal Bank of Canada New Wild Garden highlights an important theme.
0:29:44 > 0:29:49This is the first ever full-size 100% rain-recycling garden.
0:29:49 > 0:29:54Any rain water that lands on the roof that doesn't get soaked up by those plants
0:29:54 > 0:30:01goes down into the gutter and into this pool, which overspills into that planting, which can take flooding.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Nigel, you designed the garden.
0:30:08 > 0:30:14A few other things have been recycled, not just the rain water. What about this building here?
0:30:14 > 0:30:17It's the ultimate in recycling.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22It's an old shipping container. It's been to virtually every continent -
0:30:22 > 0:30:29South America, North America, Europe, the Middle East, Far East, China - and then it's ended up here.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32What about these insect boxes?
0:30:32 > 0:30:38We tried to make a living structure, so we have these panels on there full of recycled materials.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43They look fantastic. They provide shelter and home to lots of wildlife.
0:30:50 > 0:30:56That was Andy Sturgeon liking what he saw. Another one backing the judges is Rachel de Thame.
0:30:58 > 0:31:04With seven gold medals already under his belt and three Best In Show awards,
0:31:04 > 0:31:08it seems hardly surprising that Tom Stuart-Smith has done it again.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10This is his eighth gold medal.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14He just seems to get it right year after year.
0:31:14 > 0:31:20This garden really takes as its starting point this bronze pavilion at the back.
0:31:20 > 0:31:25Very elegant, very rectilinear. That's followed with this pond.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Extremely serene. Just still water. Very simple.
0:31:28 > 0:31:34And it's all surrounded by sandstone, the hard landscaping material throughout.
0:31:34 > 0:31:39But for me this is really a garden about planting, sublimely beautiful planting.
0:31:39 > 0:31:45These wonderfully sculpted box balls all the way down this wall and again there at the back.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50Then you've got the river birches, betula nigra. Beautiful and airy.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55And everything is underplanted with iris sibirica, that purple,
0:31:55 > 0:32:00and the strong euphorbia, lovely, white and frothy.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02It's a beautiful garden.
0:32:07 > 0:32:13From a multi-gold medal winner to first-time gold medallists James Wong and David Cubero.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18They've really tried to encapsulate the whole atmosphere of Malaysia,
0:32:18 > 0:32:20both the traditional
0:32:20 > 0:32:24and the very modern 21st century. They succeed brilliantly.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28You've got this wonderful dark, reflective pool of water
0:32:28 > 0:32:33and across it, stepping stones made of limestone. Pale and beautiful.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37They illuminate this area, which is otherwise quite dark.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40You can see that in the dark stems of the tree ferns.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45The whole of the planting is very lush, very architectural
0:32:45 > 0:32:49and, above all, very green. You've got a green wall at the back
0:32:49 > 0:32:53and everything else is about the foliage rather than the flowers.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58It just proves you can do that and make a garden work brilliantly.
0:33:04 > 0:33:12This garden is designed by Mark Gregory. It's his first gold medal for a big show garden here.
0:33:12 > 0:33:18I can really relate to this garden. He's designed it with the family in mind, particularly teenagers,
0:33:18 > 0:33:25and I've got one of those. It's all about tempting them away from the television. This would do it.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30There's this wonderful solid oak pavilion in the middle with a fire pit.
0:33:30 > 0:33:36Ingeniously, the smoke goes straight up through a vent in the roof which is covered with camomile,
0:33:36 > 0:33:42so it's lovely, fresh and green. There are even curtains to draw round for a bit of privacy.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47And then a plunge pool so you can sit, dangle your feet. On a hot day, what would be nicer?
0:33:47 > 0:33:52And really clever planting with young people in mind.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56Pittosporum along the front edge, which is virtually indestructible,
0:33:56 > 0:34:02these gorgeous, dark aquilegia and one of my favourite shrubs, this viburnum plicatum Mariesii.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04It's all beautiful.
0:34:09 > 0:34:14Beautiful indeed and beautiful gardens attract the beautiful people.
0:34:14 > 0:34:21As well as the quality plants at Chelsea, you get some top quality celebrities turning up, too.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25- Where do you start? - It's like living art, really.
0:34:25 > 0:34:30Just everything! The vegetables are astonishing.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32This rose, these roses.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36- So many things catch your eye. - I'm amazed by the perfume.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39I'm fascinated by the sky garden.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44We saw the Times and the Telegraph. We only look at broadsheet gardens.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48I saw a fantastic red thing. I don't know what it's called.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53There's a fish pond in the middle of a table. It's extraordinary.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57I like the roses and the sweet peas. They smell good.
0:34:57 > 0:35:04I've been past the Monaco garden and just wanted to dive in the pool. It was amazing.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11And it's all edible. Yeah!
0:35:11 > 0:35:16You see extraordinary plants that you've never seen before in your life.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20It's the perfect place to come for inspiration.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23You're seeing the best of everything.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28But let's get back to the plants and end with some quality flowers,
0:35:28 > 0:35:35who are, according to Carol Klein, the real superstars of the gardening world.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55Tall, bearded irises are at their showbiz best for Chelsea.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00Gently coaxed, not forced, they're at the real summit of their career.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04They absolutely shine forth.
0:36:06 > 0:36:13Grower Claire Austin returns to Chelsea this year with no less than eight new varieties.
0:36:13 > 0:36:19They wouldn't look out of place on Sunset Boulevard. Get out your dark glasses.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24Wouldn't you just roll out the red carpet for Evening Drama?
0:36:24 > 0:36:29So sultry and gorgeous. Completely flamboyant.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33That's what these irises are. Over the top.
0:36:33 > 0:36:39They're gone very, very quickly, but while they're there, don't they live well?
0:36:43 > 0:36:47Irises put on such a brief, but brilliant show
0:36:47 > 0:36:52and here on Hardy's beautiful stand is another shooting star.
0:36:52 > 0:36:58This is Papaver orientale, Patty's Plum. Gorgeous and glamorous,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01sultry and just delicious.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03It doesn't last long, though.
0:37:03 > 0:37:10People complain about the way the petals fade, but who cares how it dies
0:37:10 > 0:37:15when it lives in such an exuberant and glamorous way?
0:37:23 > 0:37:28And here in a supporting role is this glorious gaura Ruby Ruby.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33In my book both of them deserve an Oscar.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42Tulips have to be the most glamorous of flowers.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48Whatever your taste, there's a tulip for you, whether it's totally in your face
0:37:48 > 0:37:51or pretty and subtle.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55And if this lot leaves you feeling in need of some refreshment,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57well, how about this?
0:37:57 > 0:38:01This is a brand-new tulip called Ice Cream,
0:38:01 > 0:38:03perfect for the intermission.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07If you're looking to mingle with the bold and the beautiful,
0:38:07 > 0:38:11it seems the Great Pavilion is the place to be.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19And, finally, let's return to Q for Queen
0:38:19 > 0:38:23and another exploration of the gardens at Buckingham Palace.
0:38:23 > 0:38:29Here's Monty Don again, this time looking at the royal lake, royal shed and royal greenhouse.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43As garden ponds go, the lake here at Buckingham Palace is huge, 3 acres,
0:38:43 > 0:38:49but at no point is it very deep. The deepest point is about 5 foot, which comes up to my chest.
0:38:49 > 0:38:55It's great for wading birds, but its history is also connected with its shallowness.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00This was the wettest part of the garden, almost swampy,
0:39:00 > 0:39:06so the lake was made simply to drain it. In Victorian times, people complained it attracted malaria,
0:39:06 > 0:39:08that it was stagnant and shallow.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12But it was deepened out, the soil was used to make the mound,
0:39:12 > 0:39:18and the lake as we see it has been pretty much the same for the last 150 years.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Beyond there, you can see the trees that are on the island.
0:39:22 > 0:39:29An island on a lake in a large garden in a city. The supreme urban haven for wildlife.
0:39:29 > 0:39:35The intention throughout the whole area is to preserve that naturalistic feel and make an environment
0:39:35 > 0:39:41for animals and insects to prosper. Along the edge, you wouldn't expect to see this fringe
0:39:41 > 0:39:45of grasses and reeds, but ideal cover for insects and birds.
0:39:45 > 0:39:51And as you face it, you can be forgiven for thinking that this is a country lake
0:39:51 > 0:39:54or part of St James's Park.
0:39:54 > 0:40:01It's not until you turn away and go back towards the house that you remember where you really are.
0:40:04 > 0:40:10I'm always fascinated by the working areas of any garden, so it's back to the yard,
0:40:10 > 0:40:15past the potting shed and round the corner is the greenhouse for the Palace.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19It's 28 metres long and a really good example
0:40:19 > 0:40:23of an Edwardian - built in 1900 - lean-to greenhouse.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28It's got the painted timber and cast iron work and lovely mechanisms
0:40:28 > 0:40:31for opening the louvres in the window.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36And, in its own way, it's grand, but this is a 40-acre garden.
0:40:36 > 0:40:42You might think that they would need acres of greenhouses to service all their needs,
0:40:42 > 0:40:47but that's to miss the point of what this garden is. This is a town garden.
0:40:47 > 0:40:54And town gardens didn't have all the elements of gardens that you would get in the country.
0:40:54 > 0:41:00Very few had vegetable areas or greenhouses with peaches and apricots or grapes or what have you.
0:41:00 > 0:41:05The people that owned the houses in London would also have country houses
0:41:05 > 0:41:11and they would be brought up by train every morning - asparagus and peaches
0:41:11 > 0:41:15and flowers for the table, coming in from their country estates.
0:41:15 > 0:41:21Buckingham Palace is no different. To this day, if they want flowers and vegetables and fruit,
0:41:21 > 0:41:27it all comes from Windsor where its grown. So this greenhouse is a much more intimate affair.
0:41:27 > 0:41:33It's used for housing some tender plants, gifts that can't be put outside.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36And a little bit of propagation.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40But there are details that I love and you won't find anywhere else.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44For example, look at that. A pot, monogrammed ER.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46That's, of course, Elizabeth Regina.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51And it can do better than that. Some of the pots date back further.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55Now if I get down on my hands and knees,
0:41:55 > 0:42:00under here we've got the pots ready for use.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Crocks to get drainage from broken pots,
0:42:04 > 0:42:09stacked out in sizes. And we can see - here we are -
0:42:09 > 0:42:12ER, ER, ER on those pots.
0:42:12 > 0:42:18So those have obviously been made since the Queen came to the throne in 1952.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20But there are older pots as well.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25Here we have one at the back with what looks like GP,
0:42:25 > 0:42:29but in fact is GR. The bottom bit hasn't come out properly.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33That's either her father, George VI, or possibly George V.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37I suppose it could be George IV, but that's a bit unlikely.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41However, there is a pot here just on the side.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45And if you turn it round you can see...
0:42:47 > 0:42:50VR - Victoria Regina.
0:42:50 > 0:42:55Whilst this greenhouse isn't the biggest around, and the plants aren't special,
0:42:55 > 0:43:01what I love is the way that the history and succession from monarch to monarch
0:43:01 > 0:43:05is evident in even the tiniest details in this garden.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16Really beautiful and such a treat to visit the Queen's gardens.
0:43:16 > 0:43:22And with that we've reached the end of today's programme. Join us next time on the A to Z of TV Gardening.
0:43:22 > 0:43:23Goodbye!
0:43:39 > 0:43:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd