Cottage Gardens The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge

The Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show

is the most prestigious flower show on the planet.

Chelsea is the best place in the world.

It's that one time and that one place where everything coincides.

The best plants, the best designers, the best landscapers,

the best of materials.

Everything is there, just for that one very special week in May

that is the Chelsea Flower Show.

Every year the best designers spend hundreds of thousands of pounds

creating gardens in the hope of gaining global recognition.

Thank you!

Now, for the first time, the RHS is offering one talented amateur designer

the chance to launch a brand-new career by building a garden on Main Avenue.

Hundreds applied for the biggest prize in gardening

and six passionate designers were chosen.

Now they will have to prove they can cut it with the best of the best.

Once you get through those Chelsea gates,

you're in with the big boys and there isn't any space for mistakes.

They'll be advised by Joe Swift,

one of the country's leading designers.

That is bad.

They're going to mark you down for that.

They'll have to master different garden styles as they design...

I need it smaller, that's the main thing.

Construct...

You've got to be so careful in case it snaps.

And plant...

They're just monsters but they're going in!

..to impress Chelsea Flower Show judge, James Alexander-Sinclair,

and Gold Medal-winning designer, Ann-Marie Powell.

Every time I try and think about it, my mind just starts racing.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Chelsea is only a short step away now.

Welcome to RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate.

We're on the hunt for an amateur gardener who can cut it with

the best of the best.

Someone good enough to design a show garden

for Main Avenue of the Chelsea Flower Show.

Selected from across the country, these six passionate amateurs

have all shown they have potential to be great designers.

Over the coming weeks their plant knowledge, design skills

and creativity will be tested as they make show gardens across the country.

For me, this means an opportunity of a lifetime,

without a shadow of a doubt. That's not overplaying it.

There is so much going through my head at the minute,

it's hard to find a place to start.

I'm nervous, but I'm excited, as well.

This is where it all begins.

Over the next four days, our designers are going to turn

these plots into fantastic gardens.

Well, hopefully.

-How do we know which one it is?

-Apparently, they've got labels on.

Where are we based?

Rob... Steph, that's yours.

I'm in the middle.

The thing is, is that 3 x 4?

-They look small!

-It does.

The designers' first challenge is to create a show garden

in the cottage garden style.

This is the moment of truth.

I just want to mark it out with sand.

They will have to work within the constraints of budget,

time and plot size - just like a designer at Chelsea.

This time they have a 4 x 3-metre plot.

They've spent the last few weeks juggling their daily lives

whilst designing and planning their gardens.

Cottage gardens like these at Sissinghurst Castle are

perhaps the easiest of garden styles to create.

The focus is mainly on the plants, allowing

the judges to test the designers' plant choice and planting skills.

The cottage garden is essentially a romantic view

of an agrarian lifestyle.

Plants that are really easy to grow, that will self-seed around,

that you can take cuttings from and pass to your neighbours,

so anyone can create it.

Now, the style is very informal, plants aren't designed together

and there's very little structure.

It's an eruption of colour through spring and summer.

So this is a classic cottage garden, really, isn't it?

Yeah, it is, but the whole idea of the cottage garden is the way

that people in cities imagine that people in the country lived.

Easy-to-grow plants.

And also useful plants, plants that could be used for scent

for medicine or something like that.

And also herbs and edibles can be combined, as well.

Also any features in the garden would be really easy to make.

Home-spun from materials you can get your hands on,

like this wicker edging, this bench and this nice backdrop, too.

You can take it and twist it and turn it and put it into any

context that you actually want which is really what we're looking for.

It's different twists on the same idea.

English, but maybe not essentially English.

The designers have just four days to complete their gardens.

Experienced contractors are on hand to help with hard landscaping.

So, basically, you can see it's on a... Rather a slope.

I'm needing it levelled.

It will make my overall design a lot stronger.

-Rather than sinking that to there, maybe sink that halfway.

-Halfway.

-And then bring that up halfway.

-That sounds better.

-That might be an easier solution.

-That sounds doable!

At 23, Steph is the youngest designer in the competition.

She works part-time in a supermarket in Cambridgeshire.

As a teenager, she fell in love with gardening.

She now has her own allotment and spends all her free time there.

I'm ambitious to do something a bit different and, I suppose,

for me that's garden design.

I think that's what I know what I want to do.

Working here gets me by.

It tides me over so I can buy seeds and pots.

I suppose, when I'm inside I just want to be a garden designer

and be outside. That would be my dream job.

I think about that a lot when I'm here.

In between shifts at the supermarket,

Steph has worked on her cottage garden design.

For her brief she's keeping it simple and traditional,

building a central brick path, framed by a wooden trellis.

She's relying on vibrant, densely packed planting

to impress the judges.

I put a lot of pressure on myself.

I want to do the best

and I want to be quick and efficient,

so it's all done to perfection.

Judging just how good their efforts are,

and deciding which designer goes to Chelsea

are James Alexander-Sinclair and Ann-Marie Powell.

As a judge, I'm looking for really strong design, for tight

construction and, of course, really, really good horticultural knowledge.

In order to get that whole package right,

they have to concentrate on the details.

James is a prominent member of the RHS Council

and has judged the Chelsea Flower Show since 2008.

-Thank you very much.

-Congratulations.

Ann-Marie is a Chelsea Gold Medal-winning designer

with over 15 years' experience.

I'm looking for somebody who can create a garden with great theatre

and atmosphere. I want to be wowed by their creativity and imagination.

The judges will be awarding a Gold to the designer who delivers

to their brief, has a strong design, great horticultural knowledge

and gives their garden a sense of theatre.

Gold Medal-winning designer Joe Swift, is on hand to advise.

If you're worried about anything, if you think, "Am I doing it right?

-"Am I not doing it right to", ask me first. I'm here to help.

-Yeah.

OK, cool.

I was terrified when I saw the plot because I thought it looked tiny,

much tinier than the kitchen floor where I marked it all out.

I thought at home they were kitchen units

and it just doesn't look the same.

I'm pleased with it now I've got it marked out.

-Sean, sorry to interrupt you.

-Hello.

-Hi.

What's your day job at the moment?

-My day job is a nurse.

-Oh!

I'm an occupational health advisor. I work in a factory environment

supporting people to maintain their health in an industrial environment.

Sean grew up in Northumberland, in a mining community,

and has always wanted to be a garden designer.

I've had a fantastic career so far as a nurse.

It's been very good to me and I've enjoyed that caring element

and that nurturing element of people

but to go on to be a garden designer, how many people get

two bites of the cherry and actually love what they're doing.

That's, you know, real special stuff.

What really inspired you to get involved in garden design?

It's really what I wanted to do when I was 17

but my life took a different path.

To get this prize would be wonderful for you?

I can't imagine what that would be like.

Sean's brief for his cottage garden is to

create a coal miner's garden that's past its best.

He's going to hand craft a willow structure along with a rustic bench

but he's taking a risk by using plants in muted colours

and that have gone to seed.

It's a life-changing experience and opportunity to be at Chelsea

and to experience that from a designer's point of view,

would just be amazing for one of us.

First, they must mark out and level the plots

before starting on the hard landscaping and structures.

At the moment, I'm attempting... I use the word "attempting,"

as you can see with this aborted one

to assemble my gabion baskets.

It looks like I've got a little bit of an issue

because it looks like a couple are the wrong size.

So I'm going to have to work around that

but we'll find a way one way or another.

Gillian is a former Army officer from the Cotswolds,

but has worked all over the world for the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

A year ago she had an epiphany, so changed career

and pursued her passion for gardening.

When I left the Civil Service at the back end of last year

I was applying for jobs in consultancy

in my old law-enforcement-type field and really was putting

in poor applications for jobs because I didn't really want them.

It was over a conversation with my father that he said,

"Why don't you go and do something you really want to do?

"Go and retrain into gardening, be a professional gardener and look at garden design."

I took his advice and that's what I've done.

For Gillian's brief, she has gone for a bold

interpretation of the theme by designing a Turkish cottage garden.

She's using large metal gabion baskets to form an arch

at the back and is planning to use flowers

to create a Turkish carpet effect with her planting.

I believe your garden has been inspired by your travels

-and living abroad, has it?

-That's correct, yes. This is what I call

my interpretation of a cottage garden in Turkey.

-Do they have cottage gardens in Turkey?

-No, they don't.

A lot of the rural areas, they just tend to, where

they would want to sit, they would always use Turkish carpets.

-That's part of my planting scheme.

-Outside?

-Absolutely.

-So, that is a direct inspiration for you?

-Yeah, very much so.

-How about colour?

-Bright colours.

-Clashing.

-All clashing.

-This is a risk, I completely concur.

-I think we applaud your courage.

-Thank you.

-We look forward to seeing it.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank

-you.

-See you later.

-Will do, bye-bye.

I think the judges are slightly bemused, potentially,

about my design because I think I'm slightly going out on an edge.

But I'm still confident, if it all comes together the way

I see it in my head,

it will have the impact I want.

Fingers crossed!

With the initial groundwork and marking out under way,

the designers must now select their plants

from one of the country's largest wholesale nurseries.

One of the key judging criteria is horticulture.

The designers have to know which plants will work together.

They should choose plants which will bring a sense of theatre

to their designs and have the ability to change their planting

plan according to what's available.

This is where our designers are coming to choose their plants

-and, lucky them, I'd say.

-It's a huge site, isn't it?

I mean, there's tonnes of things to choose from.

There are certain plants that we would expect to see, perhaps,

-in a cottage garden.

-At this time of year, definitely.

Look at those roses, they're fantastic.

They'd look really good. I'd like to see some...

-That salvia is fantastic.

-Yeah.

Achilleas - lots of joyful jewel-like colours,

-playfully moulding together in an array of gorgeousness.

-Get you!

The other thing just to be serious about this at the same time,

is it's not just about colour, it's also about horticulture.

They have to think about that.

They have to make sure that the plants they choose will actually grow

with the ones they're putting them next-door to.

We don't want damp plants next to dry plants, or anything like that.

It's a mixture of horticulture and artistry

and weaving and tapestry.

Atmosphere, that's what they're after.

-We want to see lots of atmosphere.

-Impressive.

I have never been in a nursery quite the size of this before, no.

It's rather fabulous, really.

There's too much choice!

I've got my work cut out, I think, this afternoon.

Panic!

Jo from West Yorkshire is a partner in a law firm

and the mother of twins.

That would keep most people busy,

but Jo wants to take her love of gardening to the next level

and has completed a course in practical horticulture.

One of my dreams was to have children and to raise a family

and now that I have successfully done that,

I'm in the process of doing that,

I think I'm ready to meet new challenges and, yes,

horticulture is my next big hurdle.

Jo's designed her garden to reflect her Italian and English heritage.

Central to her design is a hand-crafted willow arch

surrounded by fruit trees, vegetables, step-over apple trees

and flowering plants - all of which fit with the cottage garden theme.

Jo's planting plan included Italian vegetables,

but they are out of stock.

She needs to think again.

I don't think I realised just how little there was

until I actually arrived.

And, erm...

Yeah, I'm just a bit stressed right now.

Sean's been gardening since childhood.

He knows what he wants

and how to adapt his plan according to availability.

I'm definitely having those and I'm definitely having these.

Rob is from Wiltshire.

He studied botany and works in the plant research industry -

knowledge that can help him adapt his planting plan.

Yes, I'm just at the minute looking for a substitute for a plant

that will grow under the silver birch tree that has white flowers

but, you can see, there's not many white flowers around.

I'm thinking of maybe changing and using something

with silver foliage or,

instead of using a perennial, going for a shrub instead

and using something like a hydrangea or

a row of hydrangeas behind which will give that, that same kind

of white froth but using a shrub instead of a lighter, airier feeling.

I'm just having a last-minute run-around to see

if I can find anything else before I make that decision.

This is my most nightmare shopping trip ever, period.

It's put me off shopping, believe it or not.

I think I'm going with the hydrangeas. I've made the decision.

I think that's the best choice.

Jo has found some replacements.

They're not vegetables but they are very on-theme.

Absolutely stunning. I'll have another one of those, please.

I'm conscious that I haven't seen everybody else's plants.

Everybody's got very pretty stuff and mine's a lot of foliage

and I'm aware that the judges might be critical that some of it

looks like it's gone over a little bit

but that's kind of in keeping with the whole theme of the garden.

So, erm, a difficult call, really.

It'll either pay off or it won't.

Sean is taking a big risk.

Plants in show gardens are usually in peak condition

and not past their best.

He's not the only one worrying about what makes a winning garden.

If there's holes in the planting beds,

will be murdered by the judges.

It's got to be rammed in otherwise it won't look right.

That's what we're going for.

If we've got too many, it doesn't matter.

Better to be over than under.

A show garden needs to be in full bloom

and look well established on the day of judging.

It is an instant garden.

Each of the designers has spent a £1,000 at the nursery.

They'll find out if they have enough plants and time to plant them,

once they finish landscaping back at Harlow Carr.

How was your shopping trip?

I managed to find some sorrel, that looks like beetroot.

We'll see.

So have you got a change of plan?

Have you got a change of plan towards the back and will carry on with the ornamentals?

-Yeah. I've gone for a lot more herbs.

-OK.

Just two hours left of the first day and the

designers need to finish their hard landscaping to stay on time.

Tossing the caber.

Paul's love of gardening stems from growing up in the countryside in Surrey.

After giving up his high-flying City job two years ago,

he now wants to be a garden designer.

We need to make a few adjustments to get them to the right height.

We're getting there.

His design is influenced by New England in America.

He's using large wooden posts to create his structure

and to give the garden theatre.

This competition means so much to me.

I spent the last couple of years training to become

a garden designer.

This really is a competition with a prize

that is the creme de la creme in garden design

to design and build it at Chelsea.

This means everything.

If I go through, and if I'm successful and win,

I just, you know, I couldn't be in a better place.

It's the best opportunity ever.

All the designers have to include a structure within their gardens

that gives height.

Paul's large posts are casting a shadow of doubt

over the other designers.

Structurally, Paul has created these ginormous towers

which look so impressive, even from a distance.

As you walk towards, it really stands out.

So, erm, I thinking maybe I need to go a bit higher!

Rob is using bug hotels on posts to bring height to his garden

and to help fill it with wildlife.

He wants his design to reflect his own move

from the city to the countryside.

Right, everybody, time is up today.

Look forward to tomorrow.

So, end of day one, what do you think?

-I'm quite excited, aren't you?

-I'm really excited.

And they've really cracked on.

Has anybody really come to the forefront yet?

That's pretty obvious, isn't it? I mean, look, Paul.

They're looking at each others because they haven't seen each other's drawings.

Now, seeing what everybody else is doing, "Am I ambitious enough?"

I think they're starting to question whether their own garden

is going to be good enough to get them through this round.

They should all be thinking that.

They should be worrying what the other people do because this is

a competition and someone is going home and none of them want to go.

It's day two and the designers

need to complete the structural elements of their designs

as the flowers and shrubs arrive tomorrow.

The schedule's looking great, I think that I'm...

You know, the weather's holding up, got to get this gravel

onto this path and then, just start to think about the planting.

Yes, I'm happy enough with the way the time's going.

I put a lot of work in yesterday,

I felt like I'd really grafted and got the bones of the design in,

so today, I just want to continue that and kind of get a bit closer to the goal.

But, yeah, I'm enjoying the process, it's great. So, I'm trying

not to be too intimidated by what other people are doing.

BIRDSONG

My schedule? I guess for the amount of hours, I'm on track...

so far.

I'm going to get these posts painted.

Once they've had a second coat,

start laying the path and the gravel once these are done properly.

-This is coming on. Are you a bit more upbeat today, Jo?

-Yeah.

-You seem to be.

-Now I can see something going in the ground.

-Yeah, it's looking great.

-I'm happy. I love my willow.

-Have you done a course in willow?

-Yeah, I made some little animals.

-JO LAUGHS

-Right. OK.

-I made a little hare and I made a little angel. Just like me.

-It is so nice to see someone just using a craft though.

-Yeah.

-Actually, it's going to give your garden such identity, different from anybody else's.

-It is.

Not just a square piece of timber being put in the ground,

-you're creating something.

-Yeah.

-It's wonderful.

I'm significantly happier with how it's looking.

I've got my gabions set, I've got my two towers set,

I've got my platform set.

Top bit to go on. And after that, it's the fun bit, which is plants.

Yeah!

All the designers are working hard to keep on schedule,

but the pressure is nothing compared to what the winner

will experience if they build a garden at Chelsea.

As Ann-Marie knows only too well.

I think Chelsea is absolutely the hardest thing that I've ever done.

You're up against other designers

and you're constantly looking at each other's plots.

Everybody involved in your plot is at the pinnacle of their careers

and as the designer, you're in charge.

You need to make sure that you know exactly what you're doing.

Steph is the youngest designer on site,

she's never run a team before and her lack of experience is showing.

As a designer, you don't have to be able to build,

but you have to be able to instruct other people to do it.

So, if you get that path down...

But it's quite important to me, to be a designer, that I have

-knowledge of what they're doing.

-No, totally, absolutely.

You have knowledge, you know, but at the same time,

he's going to be able to lay that path a lot quicker than you.

-Yeah, I know.

-Listen, I started off as a landscaper, I'm now a designer,

but I don't build any more.

Because I'm a designer, I get other people to build for me,

so I use their skills and I delegate to them. Yeah?

-OK.

-And that's what it's all about.

While Steph is struggling with her construction,

Sean is already thinking about the finishing details.

It's getting there. This structure's just about complete.

I'm just hiding these cable ties with this nice green twine.

And...ready for the items to go in here

and to finish the whole thing off. It kind of reminds me,

in the '70s, people used to have those things on the wall,

I think they were called a whatnot,

and people used to collect thimbles, spoons and things in them.

And I'm thinking my struggle will be

to kind of leave some of these tins as an empty space,

as part of the design, cos my temptation will be

to fill them with lots of knick-knacks, which is not the idea.

So, I have to be restrained tomorrow

when I'm completing this part of the design.

The trees arrive and with them, a new problem for Jo.

Oh, no, I didn't say it was small. I never lied.

Steph has taken Joe's advice and has started to delegate.

This one needs finishing and that one. And then...the trellis.

Oh, that looks lovely. That's the correct perspective, actually, as you had it. It's beautiful.

I love that, but can I try it there as well, please?

Sorry. Yeah, yeah.

STEPH LAUGHS

-Does it weigh a lot?

-Not too much.

-No, not at all.

-My God!

I'm amazed it fits!

Blimey!

Nearly the end of day two. Do you think anyone's falling behind?

Yeah, I think that Jo is kind of falling behind.

-But her structure's nearly done!

-Yeah, but I think she's got

an awful lot of work to do with her planting

to get it up to speed with the rest of the gardeners.

-Steph?

-I'm worried about Steph. Are you worried about Steph?

-No, I'm not worried about her.

-You were never worried about Steph!

Her paving isn't finished, her pergola isn't finished.

She is getting all the help she needs. She's good,

she was directing her build, she knows what she's doing,

-she's getting all the input she needs.

-She is learning to delegate.

The most exciting thing about today, we had naked gardens yesterday,

suddenly some trees appeared, some plants appear.

Jo's had her whopping great olive tree arrive.

Two days of hard graft

and nearly all the structures and landscaping are complete.

Tomorrow, the plants arrive

and with them the designers' gardens will either flourish or fail.

It's the third day on site.

Time for planting.

It's crucial to get this right. Too many? Too few?

They must be the right height, colours and texture.

The judges will be scrutinising every decision the designers make.

In. Now, this is where you kind of go,

"I hope I got it right first time."

Yeah, that's fine, cos I'll backfill.

I love it. I think I've fallen in love with it already.

Perfect. Oh, God! It's too small!

I'm joking.

Yeah, that is a beautiful cercis, isn't it?

It is. It's a beautiful colour and I was seduced by it

-at the garden centre.

-That's where you saw it?

Yeah, I walked past it twice and I said, "I've got to have that."

Well, that's it. Is it a cottage-garden plant, really?

Erm...probably not and I'm going to be criticised,

but I need to be able to justify it. The colour

goes with the scheme, the branches echo the shape of the arch.

I don't think I could walk past that without buying it either. It's a lovely plant.

Yesterday, we were looking at what was a building site

and today, we are looking at a series of developing gardens.

Sean's cercis is, I think, the best tree on site.

I completely agree with you. It's really rather beautiful.

It's a really great proportion,

it's got a wonderful break to the stems, the right size.

There is a bit of dead, but I was delighted to see

he was getting his secateurs in and taking away all of that, which is good.

Sean is the king of the detail.

He is, but in the detail, I have also noticed

he's got these quite etiolated,

slightly over, candelabra verbascums,

which look like they've been perhaps a bit too close together

at the nursery. I would never have selected them.

No, he said he was going to put in some things that had gone slightly

over the top, seed heads and things.

-He's doing what he said he was going to do.

-I don't think they'll work,

simply because of the height if nothing else.

But, you know, we'll see.

Paul, his garden is really starting to look like a Cape Cod garden,

an American cottage garden, which is fab.

So, he's really considered the whole design

-right from the start through to the planting. It's cohesive.

-Yeah.

Gillian, I really like the vines.

She's got the vines going around her...her Stonehenge arch.

I think that works quite well.

And her garden, which yesterday was looking very sort of sterile,

now she's putting plants in.

I absolutely love Gill's garden in one sense,

because it just makes me smile.

Every time I think about it, it makes me smile,

but I think the planting is rather muddled and a bit of a jumble.

I mean, she's just chosen, "I love that! I love that!"

And I think her scheme is kind of a bit all over the place.

When I look it now, I'm thinking, "Have I gone too crazy

"in terms of plant selection, too much variety?"

Erm...but then, I think...no.

My argument in my own head, which is the only one that works,

is that cottage-garden planting can be a bit random and mad and crazy.

So, as long as the overall effect works, I should... I might be OK.

But I've not done it like this before ever in my entire life,

so you know what, this is my first!

So, what the heck!

The judges aren't only looking at plant choices.

They also want to see good horticulture,

an understanding of how plants work together.

One of my concerns about your garden is,

-how do plants grow naturally?

-Yeah.

-You know, you've got a tree, you've got how many shrubs...

-Yeah.

-..in one square metre?

-Yeah, absolutely.

It looks absolutely crammed. They're not going to survive.

You know, these judges, it's all,

"Horticulture, horticulture, horticulture." You're a botanist.

-Yeah.

-Just one main plant under-planted

-with another block of something else, done.

-OK.

Do use your botany and think about

-how these plants are going to really grow.

-OK, thank you.

Tomorrow is judging day.

Good planting could make the difference

between winning Gold and going home.

It's a time-consuming process and Steph hasn't even started.

-How's it going, Steph?

-The guys are just showing me how to...

Lay a block? Why? Why? Steph, this is planting day.

You've got two landscapers watching you lay a block.

You've got to let them lay the blocks

and you've got to start thinking about the plants.

-You know, it's nearly 11 o'clock.

-Yeah, I know.

-You've got to get these plants going in. You've got to think about...

-OK.

-You've really got to get a move on.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

You're running out of time.

-Hi there, Jo.

-Hello.

We've been having a look at your Italian cottage-garden planting,

and you've got a good mix of herbaceous, herbs, edibles.

What's the thinking?

Well, I originally did want more edibles in my garden,

but they just weren't available, so I had to think,

"Well, what else reminds me of a typical Italian cottage garden?"

And the herbs are a big element of it.

And it smells wonderful in this corner of the garden.

-English and Italian.

-Are you happy with your step-overs?

-Because if I'm stepping over...

-LAUGHTER

-It's, yeah... So, yes.

-They're not tremendously wonderful, are they?

They're a little bit...probably a little bit high at present.

But they're not...they're not as I expected them.

I think they're hop-overs rather than step-overs.

-Hop.

-Yeah, I don't know if that's quite a hop though, is it, James?

-It's not a very elegant hop.

-Yes.

-OK.

Can you turn it?

-More.

-Steph has finally begun her planting.

Keep going.

Keep going.

But even that's a slow process.

-No, go back.

-Sorry.

Yeah, that's better.

None of the designers have ever bought this many plants before

and some are only now coming to grips

with how long it takes to plant a show garden.

We've still got two hours today, Gillian, and three hours tomorrow,

so we've still got five hours.

So, that's like 20 plants an hour, we could get 100 plants in.

I understand your calculations,

but reverse it back from where we started and average out,

we'll never get there cos the maths just don't add up.

-We'll work faster, then.

-OK.

-LAUGHTER

I'm going to try various trees around the place, as well.

Where's my quince tree?

Jo managed to find alternative plants at the nursery,

but now she can't decide where she places her new choices.

Oh, I just can't decide where.

I don't want it to look too busy in the corner.

-I just don't like that quince.

-JO LAUGHS

Nothing personal, I just don't like it.

Decision made. In with the herbs, out with the flowers.

Just there...

BIRDSONG

-These pots?

-Yeah.

-Is that it, finished?

-Yeah, the pots are finished, I hope.

Obviously, I've got to just tidy away the little soil and...

-I've got a tip for you. With some of your pebbles...

-Yeah?

Pass over a handful... Right, OK.

-Now this, you're just mulching the pot, OK?

-Uh-huh.

Yeah, all the way round. You do it all the way round.

It's a nice decorative finish,

but also, yeah, with something like citrus,

-you're locking the moisture into the plant, yeah?

-Yeah.

You're suppressing any weeds and you're keeping the heat off the roots of the plant, as well.

So it's good horticulture, and it looks good and ties harmoniously

-into the rest of your garden.

-Thank you. Yeah, I'll follow that.

-Steph.

-Hiya!

-You have got a job on your hands with those ivies, haven't you?

-Yes.

I wanted clematis "Cezanne",

but they were about this big, the clematis that they had...

The ivy will be fine, you've just got to make it look natural.

And that's going to take time.

-Isn't it?

-Everything is going to take time.

-The clematis or this?

Oh, no, it's all going to take time. And what about the rest of it?

Cos the colour is beginning to come into this garden,

-this garden is no longer exclusively brown...

-No.

-..which must be a nice feeling for you?

-It is, yes.

Colour is really important.

I think, for me, it doesn't need to be perfect, it needs to be bold,

but the plants individually need to be looked after. For me,

a cottage garden is overflowing,

it's feeling encased in the warmth.

The sunny rudbeckia just making you want to smile.

That's the whole point of a cottage garden for me.

We don't want to see any earth.

You won't see any earth the amount of plants I've got!

LAUGHTER

We shall see. We look forward to it.

-Thank you, Steph.

-Bye-bye.

-Thank you.

The designers have to create

the right visual effect with their plants.

Cottage show gardens have to look well established and full.

Jo's decision to remove the flowers has left her with lots of bare soil.

I wonder if I could use Joe Swift's trick for the whole of my garden?

-Just cover it in pebbles.

-Sorry?

-Could I use Joe Swift's trick

for the whole of my garden and cover the whole thing in pebbles?

I might have to, I've run out of plants.

One piece of advice, is your crocosmia,

they're running all the way through, they're going to drift through?

Great colour, really good plant,

but because they're all the same size pots,

they're incredibly uniform, OK?

Now, a cottage garden has got to have that feeling as if it's self-seeded,

the plants have just sort of popped up here and there, right?

So, pass one over.

OK. Now, you're just plonking these in all the same size, right?

Take one out of the pot, you've got loads of them.

-Split it?

-Split it. Yeah?

Split it into half.

OK? Split into one. Yeah?

Just start dropping them in wherever you need them.

-And then it will just feel...more natural.

-More natural.

-Like it's been there for a while.

-Rather than boom, boom, boom,

-it's going to give a nice flow to the garden.

-Uh-huh.

-OK?

BIRDSONG

End of day three. We now have six gardens with plants.

-But how do you think they're getting on?

-I think that Jo...

I was excited this morning, but the more her plants have gone in,

there's loads of gaps and her liatris isn't straight.

-But it's a sweet plot.

-What, you mean, the execution of her planting,

-you're worried about?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And some of the plants look lovely,

but they're in straight lines if you look at them from the side.

I think she's panicked slightly about the whole thing

and she's let the panic take over what she's doing.

So, as a result, she's sort of lacking attention

and she's panicking and thinking, "Oh, I've got to get that one in!"

Without standing back enough and looking at what she's doing.

Although it looks quite cottagey, it's not coming together.

-She's still got time to pull it back.

-What about Paul?

Paul with his huge white structure.

Now, when you get some plants in there,

-it gives a very different feel, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it does.

And he's sort of lost his way, personally,

at the moment, with the planting, because what it looks like

he's done is he's lost his confidence a little,

so he's injected colour and you've got orange and pinks going in.

And, to me, the garden doesn't need it.

I think, it's a confidence thing, he's over-compensating.

I'd like to see those plants ousted to be quite honest,

the colourful stuff, too bright.

Oh, you're mean, Ann-Marie. OK, now, Sean's garden.

He's very confident. You know,

he seems very in control, very calm,

he seems to know actually what he's doing.

-Are there any problems there, at all?

-Yes.

I think there are, cos looking at his brief,

he's got this lovely story of the coal miner coming back from the pit

and go into this thing, and the garden is supposed to be

slightly shabby and slightly overgrown.

In the middle of it, is this beautifully clipped topiary.

This is not the idea of a garden that is going over.

But aren't you just nit-picking now?

No, I'm not nit-picking, I think it's quite important.

This is one of the things that he said in his brief is important,

I don't think it's quite what he said it's going to be.

Got to stick to your brief or you'll get deducted points,

there's no doubt about that.

Now, Steph. OK, she's been struggling, yeah, time-wise,

but now she's excited, her plants are in there,

she's got some mad colours. Do they work?

Yes, I think that they really do.

There's a mixture of colour and shape and form

that's what we're looking for in a cottage garden.

The planting is looking good, it's looking strong.

But it is very simple,

it's a path surrounded by a kaleidoscope of plants,

which look excellent at the moment, but she still got a lot to do

in her hard landscaping. Her trellis isn't finished.

I do worry about her finishing.

I want to finish, I really want her to finish,

-but I'm not sure she will be able to.

-She HAS to finish.

It's the last day of the competition.

The fledgling designers have spent three days

toiling to create their gardens,

but it's these last few hours of finishing

that can make all the difference.

They will be judged on four criteria.

Design, horticulture, sense of theatre

and have they met their brief.

That is, have they achieved what they set out to do?

Rob is the only designer to create a water feature.

It's to attract wildlife, but water can be problematic.

I've been scrubbing everything, each rock and each bit of gravel so that it's got no mud on it,

cos if that gets into the water, it'll make the water cloudy.

-Jo, you're right up against it now.

-Yeah, I know.

Do you want to ask me anything?

Yeah, I'd like to ask you whether it's a good idea

to put bark chip around the edges?

What on the planting?

Yeah, around the bases of the planting to hide a few rough edges?

-Yeah, to hide a few roots?

-Yeah.

-Something like this here?

-Yeah, like that sort of thing.

-I mean, that is...is bad.

-I know.

That... They're going to mark you down for that,

so you've got to disguise it somehow. There's quite a lot of 'em showing.

-I would focus on that.

-Yeah. Thank you.

The gaps and bare earth are a problem

and Jo needs to find a solution.

But at least she's close to finishing her garden.

-Steph, Steph, Steph!

-Hello.

-Not long.

-No.

Is your trellis done, yeah?

If your trellis isn't done, it doesn't look good.

I know. I'm just trying to... I hate it.

I'm not happy, but I'd rather have the overall effect,

so at least they have an idea of what I'm trying to portray.

Yeah, totally. Listen, if you get your trellis done,

you've got a couple of plants to go in here, right?

-Bosh them in. You really are into boshing stage.

-Yeah, I am.

If you get these plants in, get them tied in, get the paving done

and then start titivating. Yeah?

I won't have time to titivate, not to my level anyway.

-Slap it on, just start slapping it on.

-Thank you.

-OK.

"Titivating" means taking care of the fine details -

making sure everything is as good as it can be.

The judges will be looking at every detail

and a simple mistake could cost them the chance to go to Chelsea.

OK, everybody. A mad horticultural half-hour.

That's all you've got left, half an hour.

Oh, my God. I'm feeling really nervous

because I've just seen a lot of other new areas

that need covering up with soil so I'm going to do that.

I don't know what the judges are going to be doing, I don't know

if they're going to be crouching down and peering among the bushes.

I'm just trying to make everything look as pristine as I possibly can.

As the pressure mounts, mistakes start to happen.

What I've managed to do,

I've managed to snip off one of the few flowers

so I'm just going to stick it there and hopefully

they won't touch it and they'll think it's still planted.

Which looks ridiculous, I know, but...

Don't fiddle, girl, don't fiddle.

(Stop, stop, stop it...)

As an occupational therapist,

Sean knows how to deal with stress.

Now, on your brief, you said you were going to have

plenty of time for yoga in your garden before judging.

How's the plan?

Um, I've got about 20 minutes so, yeah,

I'll get myself on that seat for two minutes.

-Do a bit of sun salutation?

-Yeah.

-Oh, that's good.

Maybe the tree would be more appropriate in a garden.

Well, come on, you've got to get on with the yoga, you know,

-if you've got it on your brief, you've got to do it.

-Thank you.

Oh, don't worry, I've got it.

Tools down. Time is up.

Leave your beautiful creations behind and leave site, please.

We've done it!

It's alive!

LAUGHTER

I feel like I'm probably going to be out of the competition

which is a shame because I think my garden has a lot of potential.

But I didn't have enough time and we all have the same time at the

end of the day and, you know, I'm going to beat myself up about it.

I know what needs changing and what's not right

so I can understand if the judges say, "You're going home."

I'm just wondering if I've done enough.

There's some beautiful gardens there and mine's looking a bit small.

There's so many big structures around, I'm worried mine

looks a bit dwarfed in comparison.

'I'm amazed that I've managed to create something that looks

'beautiful out of a bare patch of earth.'

Just to get the opportunity to do that again

and get more critique and more feedback will be great.

For me, it's an opportunity of a lifetime,

without a shadow of a doubt, that's not overplaying it.

This time last year, I was still a civil servant, employed.

So, less than a year later, to be sitting in Harlow Carr,

having built a garden, it's just incredible.

It's time for judging.

Weeks of designing and planning, followed by four back-breaking days,

have led to this point.

Now, Ann-Marie and James will cast their expert eyes

over the gardens and pass their verdict.

Paul pushed the boundaries of the cottage garden style

with a New England-inspired garden dominated by his large structures.

He's planted blue and white agapanthus,

pheasant's tail grass and wisteria

but have they softened the effect of his white posts

and bought the garden into scale?

I think what's interesting about it is it's not a pastiche, is it?

You know, there's New England cottage garden

and it's got this sort of essence of it.

It's got the white picket fence but without the pickets

and then these structures that...

I was very worried about the scale of them.

I think they are slightly too large still. But ambitious, aren't they?

He's taken it to a new level.

He's designed a garden that works for him

and I think that's wonderful to see, especially in the first round.

You know, it's really hard, finishing,

and then just being taken away,

I kinda want to stay with it and just have an hour or so with me

-and my baby.

-Yeah, it is your baby.

-Yeah, it really feels like that.

But your baby's being judged.

I think the juxtaposition of the shapes down here works well,

but the colour, I think it might be a bit too vibrant.

But if we look at our brief and things like that,

how do you think he's interpreted the story

because I think he's done a wonderful job, actually?

-It's undoubtedly theatrical.

-Oh! Theatre, wonderful.

But I have a real problem just here in that this is really, really tight.

-Yep.

-I mean, the idea was that it's a quiet room,

it's somewhere where you're supposed to come and sit

and there's no room for two people in there.

Sean's brief was to create a coal miner's cottage garden.

He's chosen plants from a muted colour palette -

nepeta and heuchera...

phlox...

and blue sea holly.

But he has taken a risk

and used some plants that are past their best -

mint and verbascum that have gone to seed

along with allium seed heads.

They fit in with his brief, but is it a detail too far?

I'm standing in a coal miner's cottage garden.

I have no doubt about that.

I feel very, very sure that his narrative is absolutely spot on.

I'm surprised at how eloquent it is, actually.

No, I absolutely agree with you. I think it's a lovely story.

How does it feel now that the judges are on your garden?

I mean, you handed it over in a way.

I just hope they like it and I hope they can see

the level of detail that I've tried to put in there, really.

Theatre is absolutely top notch in this garden, I have to say.

I do think that he could relax maybe a little bit, do you think,

-with the planting?

-I have a slight problem with his planting,

it has to be said, and it's basically the fact that, in his brief,

he said that the coal miner was basically too busy to do much

gardening and you arrive at the place and it's pretty much perfect.

It's almost too perfect and he also said that it was a garden

that was just past its best,

that was just going over the top and going to seed -

I don't see that here, I see perfection.

I have to disagree, James, on that score.

I mean look, look what I'm standing in front of.

You've got all of this verbascum which is completely over.

I know, but that's all.

No, no, there's some seed heads down here, as well,

-so there are little touches here and there.

-Hang on.

-Those are seed heads that are arranged, they're not natural.

-Mm-hm.

But look at all of the attention to detail, I think that's a good thing.

Look, we've even got eggs in the bird's nests.

That's dressing, that's set dressing and that's theatre.

Which is part of theatre and it's part of Chelsea.

I think we've agreed that the theatre is sensational.

Steph kept her design simple

and wanted to create a higgledy-piggledy garden

filled with a huge variety of plants.

It is a riot of colour.

She's stuffed it full of typical cottage garden flowers -

yellow rudbeckia, orange crocosmia,

hot-pink salvia, achillea,

agastache...

verbena bonariensis

and echinacea.

Bad time management plagued Steph throughout the build,

but did she leave enough time to plant it properly?

I think this area is really well placed,

I think she's considered the plant associations.

They're considered.

Not quite so sure if it echoes on this side.

I think that was because all the way through, she was pushing,

she was pushing, she was rushing and I think that this bit was done first

when she thought she had lots of time and this bit was done in a hurry.

I was always worried about her time and she hasn't finished.

But the design is very safe, isn't it?

I mean, there's nothing particularly difficult

and yet she was still racing along.

It's a path and a couple of beds, basically,

so it's not a sophisticated design but it's effective design.

You should be really, really proud of yourself.

You've worked so hard and you've created a lovely garden.

And it's a cottage garden you've created, don't you think?

Yeah, I'd like to think that it's relatively cottage-style but,

-yeah, I can see loads wrong with it.

-Just really unfinished.

This side again, which you said was the better side,

it falls over the paving rather nicely. Here, it's all,

"Oh, quick. Bang, bang, bang, sweep it."

We don't want to any earth at the edge, do we?

We want to see plants in the cottage garden,

we want them to be tickling our ankles.

Jo wanted her garden to be a mixture of edibles and flowering plants.

But she struggled at the nursery and had to adapt her planting plan.

In the end, she used achillea, honeysuckle and roses

and combined them with some edibles -

an orange tree and lots of herbs.

But has she used enough of the right plants

to create a sense of theatre?

This is England into Italy.

-And does it feel very cottagey?

-Yes, it does.

I think, all the way along, it's been cottagey,

and that's mostly because of this,

because of this rather wonderful thing that Jo actually made.

It's a home-spun structure

and that's what you want to see in a cottage garden.

-That looks kind of squeezy to me.

-It's very tight, it's very tight.

I mean, it's a lovely structure but it's very difficult to walk through.

I was worried it wouldn't be tall enough.

You can't get willow any taller than that.

When we're looking at theatre,

It's not one of the gardens that you walk into and you go...

-HE GASPS

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, God, I can't bear it. I'm not looking.

You can't look? You don't have to.

I'm not looking. I'm not looking.

There's an awful lot of earth visible.

I mean, it'd be nice if it had that mulch,

maybe the gravel could have come through.

Maybe she could have just had more plants.

So, what about the plant choice?

SHE EXHALES

I think the plants are a bit disparate.

I mean, they're not grouped.

We don't have any height so you don't have

that kind of jolly joviality that you expect in a cottage garden.

I like these herbs though, I think that works really rather neatly.

-Yeah.

-That rose there upon that tripod is

a very pretty little touch.

-I think it's a gorgeous rose.

-Yeah, really beautiful.

Rob wanted his garden

to reflect his move from the city to the countryside.

He used his background as a botanist to pack his garden

with plants that will attract wildlife.

White hydrangeas and campanula...

verbascum, purple scabious,

nepeta and French lavender.

But has his love of plants made him cram in too many

and forget his horticulture?

I'll go in.

I'd like to stay outside because I want to look at this border

because I thought that they were really beautifully full,

but I think he might have overstuffed them.

But with some great plants, actually,

and it's really alive with flower, isn't it?

But the theatre though, James, what do you think?

I want to get in there.

Come from the entrance here, I'll go out this way.

Are you worried about the height?

Yeah, if you look at the other gardens, the structures are much

taller than mine so that was one of my other worries, as well.

You know that one of the things we were concerned about before

was whether there was going to be enough height and scale in that corner.

-Fabulous, fabulous.

-And that has lifted it right up.

You've got homes for bugs, for birds, all of the material is

really working hard attracting insects in there.

I'm going to include the lawn on the planting

and there were two things about the lawn.

Firstly, I do think it's too small.

Secondly, I'm very worried about the way that the plants fall onto

-the lawn the way that they do.

-You'd mow the flowers off, wouldn't you,

actually, when you were cutting the grass.

-How you would mow it, I do not know.

-No, I agree.

-Eh, pond?

He's the only contributor who has actually used any water in any of

his gardens and for your first shot, I think that's quite ambitious.

I'm enjoying that. You need water if you're going to have wildlife

and he's thought about the garden,

as far as that's concerned, on every single level as far as I can see.

Gillian took a gamble with her vision of a Turkish cottage garden.

She wanted to create a Turkish carpet with flowers

and used pink echinacea and orange rudbeckia,

salvia seed heads,

Japanese anemone,

agastache,

purple verbena and dahlias.

It's an explosion of colour but has her planting delivered her brief?

The planting, there are a lot of mistakes and problems.

It's a jumble.

It's a carpet, it's supposed to be a carpet which I was expecting

something sort of neater and tighter and in fact, what it is, it's...

OK, I'm going to be brutally honest at this point,

and I have a fearful worry that this garden is basically a mess.

What are you worried about?

The finish. I'm not the most neat and tidy person in the entire world.

-You're looking nice and neat and tidy now.

-No, I'm filthy-dirty.

If we think about her brief, it's a Turkish cottage garden

and that's a risk and a mess just to begin with so has she done it?

-Has she created a Turkish cottage garden?

-Well, do you know?

I have to say that this does remind me of a carpet

and it's bizarre and I can't believe it myself.

But these are kind of the threads, we've got the jewel-like colours,

we've got the edging and it's joyful.

She's loved it, she's done it with passion.

You have very lumpy carpets, Ann-Marie. SHE CHUCKLES

But it's an inspiration.

It's not a literal translation, it's an inspiration.

So, one of the things that I do really like about this garden

is she has set her brief, she's gone at it, it looks a bit untidy,

but there is a story and it's a very clear narrative.

The other thing I like about it is theatre.

It undoubtedly has lots and lots of that. It has a wonderful entrance.

You come in and you've got this big...

HE SIGHS I'm not quite sure what it's for

but this big sort of triumphal arch with sandbags at the bottom of it,

and I love, actually, the buckets hanging off it.

I think that's extraordinarily theatrical and it's an innovative use

of plants and it's the sort of thing that you would see

maybe in a Turkish house with things hanging off in tins.

But then if you sort of take a step back and look at it

sort of scientifically, it's still a mess.

Horticulturally, there are, as you pointed out,

a lot of things that I would worry about.

-This is a tough one, you know.

-It is, they're all tough.

Let's judge.

Having scrutinised all six gardens,

the judges now have to decide who gets Judges' Gold

and whose dream of designing a garden at Chelsea ends here.

To know, that in a very short of time, I could be sent home is...

Yeah, it's not a nice feeling.

It would mean the world to me to get through to the next round.

Going home would be really, really upsetting.

I want to definitely carry on. I do not want to go home, absolutely.

-OK. Thank you.

-Mm.

Thank you all for coming. It's been a wonderful few days.

We hope you've all enjoyed it and learned a lot.

The judges have decided...

that Sean...

-..you have won the Judges' Gold Medal award. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Congratulations.

-Congratulations.

Sean took a risk and it paid off.

He delivered on his brief and design.

His plant choice and attention to detail impressed the judges

who felt his plot really did evoke a coal miner's garden.

I feel absolutely amazing to have had that

recognition from the judges who are at the top of their game, that they

singled my garden out to receive a little bit of extra praise

so, yeah, I'm ecstatic, I'm gobsmacked.

It's a fantastic feeling.

As you all know, one of you will be leaving us today.

The judges have decided...

the person...

who will not be going to Chelsea...

-..is Jo.

-OK.

-Thank you so much, Jo.

-No, that's all right.

-We hope you enjoyed it and keep designing gardens.

-Thank you.

Well done.

Jo created a cottage garden,

but her planting and plant choice let her down.

There was very little height and there was too much bare soil.

The judges decided it lacked the theatre that a show garden needs.

Ahh, I'm really disappointed. I'm just feeling tired.

It's been really hard work.

I am very much looking forward to seeing my kids

and to actually have some time off to sleep.

It'll be really nice so, yeah, I'm looking forward to that.

I definitely thought I was going home.

I think I escaped that by the skin of my teeth so very relieved.

Next time, the designers tackle formal gardens...

The structures are one thing but if the planting's not right, forget it.

..get to grips with topiary...

It's just so big!

..but for one designer, it's the end of the road.

The person that will not be going to Chelsea...