Episode 9 The Instant Gardener

Beautiful gardens are one of Britain's most glorious sights,

but if your green space is more mess than majestic,

making it over can be a daunting prospect,

especially if you're short on time and money.

Well, the Instant Gardener is here.

Ta-da!

Danny Clarke is an expert at transforming gardens.

These are really bringing a smile to my face.

Each time, our gardening guru will be showing you

how to create gorgeous garden makeovers.

Doesn't that look great?

Each transformation will be packed with brilliant ideas

to help you get to grips with your own outdoor space.

Just continually deadhead

and you will keep getting that plant to flower.

He'll be turning garden junk...

Oh, look at that!

..into garden jewels.

It's going to be used as a planter

and I think this is going to look absolutely terrific.

'And showing you how to spend a small budget wisely...'

-That's why Danny makes me bring a list.

-OK.

'..be it on shrubs or salvage.'

Would you like that in your garden?

And, because Danny is the Instant Gardener,

everything you see will happen in a single day.

Oh, thank you so much.

-Oh, wow!

-That's unbelievable!

Today we are a stone's throw from the south coast,

just outside Fareham in Hampshire.

With nearly 2,000 hours of sunshine a year,

this part of the UK boasts some of the best weather in Britain,

perfect for making the most of its green spaces.

We are here to meet a couple who just haven't had the time

to make the most of that little patch of green

and they are in need of some instant attention.

Hello! You must be Hayley.

-Yes.

-Dave.

-Hi.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Let's have a look at this garden, then.

Hayley and Dave moved here four years ago,

shortly after experiencing a huge change in their lives.

Dave, a former captain in the Army,

was injured while serving in Afghanistan

and became a double amputee, losing both his lower legs.

Far from daunted, Dave began a PhD in biomedical engineering

and is now a successful para-athlete,

with his sights set on the Paralympics in Rio.

Alongside all of that,

they have also been renovating their home

for one-year-old daughter Emily,

so they've had no time to create the relaxing outdoor space

they desperately need.

That's where our Danny comes in.

He's keen to have a sneak peek at their back garden,

so, a few days earlier,

he drove to Fareham to see what he'll be up against.

I'm here today to get

a sneak preview of David and Hayley's garden,

just to get the old grey matter going.

Right, the first thing I notice here is this beautiful camellia

on the side, absolutely gorgeous.

Now, this looks like a very nice space.

It's secluded, which is very good.

The basics for the garden are here, so a typical patio.

It's quite slippery. There's definitely a build-up of algae here.

It's very weedy, so I'd say this patio definitely needs

a good tidy up.

Now, there's quite a bit of lawn here, but it's very shapeless

and, you know, it's raining today, and it's very sort of boggy.

You know, my heels are, like, digging into the lawn here.

And the garden runs away downwards, towards this side fence.

There's a pine in the middle over there.

It gives a bit of height to the garden

and is a very nice feature.

At the back, I can see a shed and a greenhouse.

Now, this garden, it does have its merits,

but also, you know, it's pretty boring, it's pretty standard.

We just need to take it to the gym, we just need to get it fit.

Build its muscles up again, and it's going to look absolutely fab.

Danny will definitely be flexing his own muscles

to get the garden into shape

and today he's come back to Fareham to get some input

from Hayley and Dave about exactly what they need.

Danny, Hayley.

-Dave, Hayley.

-Hi.

-Hello, Hayley.

-Hi.

-Hi, Dave, how's it going?

-Yeah, it's going good.

-Good.

How long have you been in this house?

Four years this summer, yeah.

-Yeah, four years.

-And how much work have you done on it?

We have mostly worked on the inside, haven't we?

-Yes, done more or less everything inside.

-Yeah.

-Added an upstairs, ramps outside, lots of painting.

-Lots of painting.

Did you have to make a lot of changes to make it accessible?

Erm, not too many structural changes, cos when we came in,

it still had the wide corridors and wide doorways, but we had to put

a bathroom in, which I could access from a wheelchair,

and we put a ramp at the front, which we could come in.

We had to put low sill doors in and a low sill door at the back here

-and a ramp to get into the garden.

-How much have you done out here?

-Mowed the grass.

-Yeah.

-LAUGHTER

De-weeded the patio a couple of times,

but, as you can see, they're back.

We've had to cut a couple of trees down.

Erm, yeah, that's about it.

It's still kind of out of bounds to us at the minute, the garden.

Weeding it, seems like permanently de-weeding it.

Yes, it's a fight. An ongoing fight.

-How much time do you have because you have a little girl?

-We do.

-You're training for Rio.

-Yep.

-And studying.

-Yeah..

How much spare time do you have?

-Erm, we have about half a day a week.

-Yeah.

Which we've got at the minute, where I'm not training, not studying,

but that tends to then get taken up with, you know,

just seeing the girls and spending some time with them.

So it's just kind of being maintained really

in the state that it's in.

For the nation's Olympic hopes, please don't start trying.

Just sit down when you get in and relax.

What would you like from your garden?

I think we just want somewhere where we can be and enjoy as a family.

It is a nice space

and the whole reason we bought this particular house

was because of how private it was.

I guess it was a opportunity where I could just feel like

there wasn't anyone looking at me.

And I do walk around with shorts outside in the real world

and people do see and do look because it's interesting,

and I'm OK with that,

but when I come home, I just want to have my privacy.

So we've kind of got this private space, but we want to expand that

to the outside, I guess.

So, have an area that I can actually access with Emily

and we can just go and play and sit out in the sunshine

-and enjoy what this country offers.

-Yeah.

-I think that's what we looking for.

-Relaxing kind of family space.

-Yeah.

But at the minute I can't really get anywhere that easily.

-It's probably the problem, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-So your privacy's important?

-Yeah.

-That's why you've got the tall hedges around.

-Yeah.

-Fairly tall.

-You've maintained them quite well.

-So don't cut those down.

-I won't, I promise.

That's one thing I won't be doing today.

-Well, I'm going to leave Dave here with you to help out.

-OK.

We'll get out of their hair.

-You got a list for me?

-I've got a list for you.

This is just so he keeps me on track.

"Lots of pots that are round, not square."

Not square. Definitely round.

-OK.

-That's all I need to say.

OK. DANNY LAUGHS

Have a lovely day, don't work too hard.

He's an athlete, he's got training.

As long as he doesn't work me too hard.

You can work as hard as you like. Come on.

-See you.

-See you, bye.

'So, while I head off with Hayley to get some potty ideas and some pots,

'Danny is the man with a plan, right, Danny?'

This garden's quite drab, but I want to show how,

with the power of planting, you can lift a drab garden

and make it look exciting.

One of the first jobs is to tidy up the patio over there.

It needs a good jet wash and it needs de-weeding.

If you look at the patio from this angle,

it's a pretty ordinary shape, but I want to give it some definition

and the way I'm going to do that

is to build in a bed and I'm going to make it piano-shaped

and it's going to curve round, sweep round into the step

and then we're going to continue that round to the shed.

So, this path isn't really performing much of a function.

It's just some ply that's been laid down.

It's skinny, you know, you can't really walk along it

and we need to make this safe for Dave and Hayley.

He wants to be able to use his greenhouse and his shed,

so we'll make this path very accessible for him.

For me, a narrow path is an absolute no-no.

So, when it comes to the style of planting,

I want to kind of continue that curved theme going through,

so we're going to have ribbons of planting.

I'm going to use grasses. I think it will look really funky,

so lots of grasses, prairie planting,

a few trees to have some accent in the garden

and I think it's going to work great.

So Danny's plan is to revive this tired old garden

by making a curvaceous flowerbed

that sweeps round to meet a stylishly shaped path.

Once finished, the garden will have swathes

of exciting prairie planting.

Dave, obviously, his privacy is very important,

so we're going to continue that.

But he also wants a nice, relaxing oasis.

He wants to relax but we can't, so we better get cracking.

You're not wrong there.

That's a lot to do in one day,

but you're not on your own.

As ever, you can call on handyman AJ

and regular helpers, Luke and Amyrose,

as well as Dave and Hayley's sister, Lauren.

Now, the job that I'd like you to do, Lauren, if it's OK,

could you jet wash the patio?

-Yeah.

-But I will de-weed it first, OK?

-OK.

Dave, can you do the mowing?

-All over it.

-Brilliant.

But the first thing we need to do is to clear the patio,

-so shall we get going?

-OK. Let's go.

-Brilliant.

-Good.

Let's do it.

The first obstacle is that huge trampoline.

Dave, this is a bit of a monstrosity.

-It is awful.

-I'm not a great fan...

If it accidentally breaks in transit,

-then that would be awesome.

-LAUGHTER

-We've got your permission to move it, then?

-Definitely.

-All right.

With Dave happy to give that trampoline the bounce,

the team get on with dismantling the frame bit by bit.

Hold it!

Unfortunately, it's still too big to go through the side gate...

It don't fit.

..even with all the feet removed,

so Danny moves it to the bottom of the garden to deal with later.

Now all the junk has been ditched,

Dave's had a thought about how he can work more efficiently.

Danny, I've just got to go and change my legs over quick so...

-OK.

-I've got to go and put my short little legs on,

which are the ones I use for lifting and moving stuff around

so I get them on before I start mowing the lawn.

-No problem.

-And I'll accidentally get rid of that trampoline

-for you as well.

-Excellent, maybe you can run it over.

Yeah, maybe!

Why is it important for you to change to your shorter legs?

These full-size legs that I've got on at the minute

have got a knee joint in it which is just essentially

like a hydraulic hinge -

I don't actually have any control over it,

so bending and lifting things can be quite difficult,

so at least on the short legs, there's nothing to bend,

they are a lot more stable, plus there's a bit of a cost element,

so these legs, these prosthetic legs,

are quite hi-tech and are quite expensive, whereas the little legs,

it doesn't matter that much if they get a bit knocked about.

Yeah, all right, then, I'll let you get on.

-Happy days.

-We've got a lot to do.

-See you in a minute.

-Cheers.

Wearing his shorter, more practical legs,

Dave can now cut the trampoline down to size so it can finally be removed

from the back garden.

And with the lawn cleared, Dave can mow it,

using a ride-on mower that's been adapted

to operate with hand controls.

Meanwhile, with the patio swept,

Danny is tackling those weeds with a strimmer.

With the team beginning to make inroads into the job,

I'm taking Hayley to visit somewhere I think will fire her imagination.

Hambrooks Garden Centre has 16 different show gardens on display.

I'm hoping to show Hayley how her garden

can become an extension of the house,

bringing touches of indoor luxury to the outside.

OK, so, Hayley, this place has lots of outdoor rooms,

lots of different ideas.

-Yes.

-What do you think of this one, for instance?

This looks lovely. You've got a nice seating area.

It would be lovely for entertaining in the evenings.

-Oh, yes.

-If we got to that stage rather than having an early bedtime.

But when you stay up past 9pm, that would be perfect?

Yes, exactly, a couple of years' time!

Now, this garden has a very distinct seaside theme, doesn't it?

Yes, appropriate for us, being near the coast.

-I like these.

-Yeah.

I quite like this as well.

Do you like random, quirky bits like that?

Yes, a bit of an interactive garden.

A water feature.

-Yep.

-Some good plants for Emily to rub her hands over.

Yeah, touchy-feely ones.

They have packed a lot into this space.

-They have.

-They have kind of created three separate areas, haven't they?

A dining area, water feature,

and this nice little dedicated play area.

-Yes.

-I love these upright sleepers.

Yep, nice fenced-in area for a little play area for Emily.

Spoken like a true mum. Safe, enclosed area.

She can run around here all she wants.

Oh, I love this star shape, I think that's really different.

It makes what could be a normal bed really interesting, doesn't it?

A bit more exciting, and I really like the white picket fence as well,

-it's very cutesy.

-Is this kind of your style, do you think?

The cottagey...

Yes, I really like it, I think it looks really pretty

-and its homely, isn't it?

-Yeah.

While Hayley explores some new garden ideas,

there are changes taking place in her own garden.

Danny is starting on the new curved bed he's planning to put either side

of the steps. Creating new planting areas this way costs nothing,

and yet brings instant transformation.

Now, you may have to wish me luck here,

because it may take a couple of goes.

Using spray paint, Danny marks out the curves, judging with his eye.

With his new beds marked out,

Danny now needs to remove the unwanted turf.

So what I'm going to do, I'm using this half-moon edger, Dave,

and I want to go down as straight as possible.

-Yep.

-Follow the line around. So I can leave out with you?

-Yeah, all right.

-There you go, mate.

-Beautiful.

-Cheers.

But Dave's an old hand at this.

The last time I cut turf

was building bomb shelters on an exercise.

Lauren, however, is less of an old hand at pressure washing,

so AJ offers her a masterclass.

Lauren, come over here. This is your task.

Right then, you need to be about four inches away from there.

Keep it always going away from you,

otherwise your trainers are going to get wet.

But the whole idea of it

is obviously to get this sort of green mildew off

because when it is wet, it is very slippy.

-Perfect.

-Watch the power.

Feel the power of it. That's it. Oh, professional.

-Brilliant. I'll leave you to it.

-See you.

Power washers are a quick and easy way

to completely revive a dirty patio.

The high-pressure jet forces dust and grime from even the smallest

of crevasses to make the slabs look as good as new.

Looks really good, doesn't it? How's it going?

Yeah, it looks so much better.

I can't believe a bit of water...

Back at the show gardens,

Hayley and I are appreciating the benefits

of the outdoor room approach to garden design.

To learn more, we're meeting head designer Mike Hodges.

Hayley, this is Mike.

-Hi, Mike. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Our garden rooms expert.

What do you mean by a garden room?

Well, mostly nowadays,

most gardens are very small and people want to treat

an outdoor space just like they do inside.

I feel like you've got very distinct styles

in all of these different gardens.

What's the trick to making the most of a small garden?

Try and get the longest point of the garden, so try and pick a corner,

the sunniest corner to look back at the house,

that gives you a long view.

Try and put trellis in the foreground

or plants in the foreground, which again just makes the garden

look a lot deeper.

It's funny, cos you tend to look at your house and you think

of a style and you pick decoration and furniture to match that,

but you don't necessarily do that for your garden, do you?

-I don't.

-No, ours definitely doesn't match the house at the moment,

-that's for sure.

-What would you say your style is?

I think I try to go for more of a country theme,

but I've definitely got a few child accessories around the house now

as well to add in.

Can you have a stylish garden if you have a small child?

You certainly can, yes.

We do a lot of gardens with built-in storage like a big corner unit,

-made in decking.

-Let's go and have a look at that one, shall we?

-Yes, for sure.

-Because that one might be quite useful for you.

My word, Mike, this is nicer than most rooms in my house.

The kitchen is certainly nicer than my kitchen.

-It's amazing, isn't it?

-Yes, it's beautiful.

So, how difficult is it to create a garden

-for a family with different needs?

-Well, it's very good,

even in a small space we have a built-in seat

that the kids' toys can be put away when you're entertaining.

We have a water-safe fountain there for children.

We have a dining area and even a kitchen area for entertaining.

But if you put a kitchen outside,

isn't that going to ruin in the wind and rain?

No, the worktop's granite and there's granite on the floor as well

so it's perfectly OK.

All the sides are made out of decking boards

and it's all treated with an outdoor wood paint.

How easy is it to look after and maintain?

This garden is very low-maintenance,

with a granite floor, with all the borders planted

-with evergreen plants and herbs.

-No grass to cut.

Yes, no grass to cut, ideal.

-Mike, thank you so much for your advice.

-No problem.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Let's sit here all afternoon,

-it's brilliant, isn't it?

-Yeah.

When it comes to designing a garden, you need a mix of science and art.

Walls, raised beds,

pergolas and other hard landscaping features provide a permanent,

year-round structure.

Get those right and you can move your plants around to suit.

You don't want the whole garden to be visible from any or every spot.

Use bends in the paths,

large specimen plants and even mirrors

to block or trick the eye as you look around the garden.

And while no garden is complete without plants,

it's the other touches that give a garden that individual touch,

so keep an eye out for interesting ways to accessorise your garden.

Back at Hayley's own garden,

four hours have already been eaten up,

but it hardly looks any different, despite all the hard work.

Danny's plan is that the new flower bed will curve around the patio

and link it up with a new path

leading to the shed and the glasshouse.

It's a job for AJ and sounds straightforward,

but it's not going to be easy when the path is in front of a patio

that's being jet washed.

We're having problems.

It's just the water seeping through the patio,

finding its way down to its lowest point.

AJ's got a solution up his sleeve.

He's spotted a way of recycling a pile of old bricks and breeze blocks

he's seen outside the front of Dave and Hayley's house.

There's, like, half a house being broken down.

There is a fair bit of quite small bits of rubble

which I'm going to have to put down here as hard-core first,

just to give it a bit of strength,

then we can then start cementing and putting the slabs down.

But before he can do any of that,

AJ needs to put in some edging to retain the hard-core.

As you can see, we've got this metal edging -

put the spikes in and that will contain

whatever you are going to put inside for the path.

Although he's got the framework in place,

AJ is worried about using cement

when the path area is soaking wet.

-Danny, this is the problem we've got here now.

-A bit of a flood.

-Yep.

-How about if we were to start jet washing down the bottom?

We leave this bit alone for now and we can come back to this later?

To stop jet washing up here will stop adding water to this.

-Yeah.

-I'll just get this out here

and then I'll have to just sit and wait.

Waiting for the flooding to drain away does, however,

give AJ time to get on with another important job,

salvaging plenty of that unwanted rubble

at the front of Dave and Hayley's house.

It'll be ideal as a firm base for the new path.

Best of all, it won't cost a thing.

Hopefully Dave will be happy.

I'm doing him a favour, using some of this in his garden.

Just going to rake it over, just try and...

It's going to help soak up this water as well.

It's going to make it a lot easier once I've compacted it down

to start laying the slabs on top.

And to compact it down, AJ is going old school,

with something he's borrowed - a whole concrete breeze block.

As we haven't got a wacker plate...

..give this a bit of a whack down...

..just to try and compact it.

Compacting this hard-core down

will make it all nice and tight so it won't move.

It's made it also a little bit flatter,

so it's going to be easier to lay the slabs.

Put that back, he'll never know we've used it, will he?

Don't worry, AJ, I think Dave is far too busy working on the new border.

How are you getting on, Dave?

Yeah. Yeah,

so I've cut all around the edges and now I'm just digging the turf away

from the line and then we can strip the rest of it.

You're not working hard enough.

-Yeah, I don't think so.

-You're not breathing heavily enough.

-I know.

-Are you going to put your back into it?

I thought you had to get away.

Well, I have to train, but I think I've got time for five more minutes.

So, what are you training for, Dave?

Well, I'm hoping to get selected for Paralympics this summer,

so I sprint in the 100 and 200 metres,

although training is hard and there's no places given away,

so I feel like I'm right on the edge at the minute.

-OK.

-So, yes, working hard for this summer

-and trying to get across to Brazil.

-Right.

I'm just out of breath just thinking about it.

And what does your training entail?

The training for me in a normal week is five days' worth of training.

I do my track session in the morning and come back,

have some food and get my gym session done.

-Yeah.

-So just lots and lots of hard work.

And you can't really miss a training session, can you?

No, certainly not at this stage,

every session counts, it's important.

I better not keep you, then.

I don't want you to be late so maybe you should just go and I'll catch up

-with you later.

-All right, cheers, Danny.

-Cheers, bye.

-Bye.

As Dave leaves for his daily training,

I'm keen to find out more from Hayley

about his drive and determination.

The injuries Dave received while on active service in Afghanistan

led to the amputation of his right leg above the knee

and his left leg through the knee.

I want to find out what impact these traumatic events have had

on their lives.

So, Dave lost his legs in 2011,

and at that point you weren't married and you didn't have Emily.

Take me back to that time.

I mean, that must have been a heck of a phone call for you to get.

I got a visit from Dave's parents so...

..with the welfare officer and they came round to tell me the news.

Yeah, so we then sort of got on with the rest of the year,

he got on with getting better.

He was walking eight weeks after he got injured

and I carried on with my teacher training

and then, yes, he got more and more into sport,

he did some swims that summer

and then, ten months to the day after losing his legs,

he was then on his running blades and moving quickly again,

-which he likes doing.

-So he's a sprinter.

-Yes.

-He's had good success at the World Championships

and he's got an eye on Rio. How is that going?

He thinks training is going really well at the moment,

so it's all really positive.

That wasn't what he was expecting to do, was it?

He was quite a dedicated military career man.

Yes, he'd always had his eyes on being in the army,

and so a slight change of plan now -

he's out of the army and he's got a PhD going on,

so that's going to be sort of a future career,

looking at biomechanics of amputees

and sort of making life better for him

and other people in a similar situation.

I can't believe how busy he is, because...

-Yes.

-Because one of those things is a full-time job,

and then you add to that Emily as well.

I mean, he must be meeting himself coming backwards.

Yes, I think he likes pushing himself.

He's very driven, very determined.

He finds it difficult to say no to things

and he's got some awesome things on the go at the moment.

He enjoys doing it all,

he likes doing the things that make him happy

and running makes him happy. He's always liked running,

even before he got injured,

but now he can run 200 metres faster than most able-bodied people can.

How proud are you of him?

He's achieving a lot,

he's going after a lot in terms of the studies and the Olympics.

Oh, so proud, I kind of...

I want to make sure I kind of capture it all for Emily

so that she is aware of it when she's older as well,

cos he's doing so many things it's just unbelievable.

I don't know how he gets by on so little sleep.

He's getting up at 4am to go to London to do his PhD

and making sure that he can come back in time

to see Emily before she goes to bed

and things like that, so he's stretching himself to the limit.

What about you? You're supporting everyone!

Yes, but, I mean, that's...

That's kind of...

That's cool, that's me at the moment.

Well, you seem to have a smile on your face nonstop.

Yeah. There's lots to be proud of, isn't there?

I'm in awe.

-What a man.

-He's all right.

You're going to stick with him for a bit longer?

Yeah. He'll do, he'll do for now.

With Dave still away at training,

Danny and the team are also being put through their paces.

There are only three hours left to knock this garden into shape,

but the turf is still being lifted to make the new flowerbeds.

At least AJ is making good progress with the path.

-Hello, AJ.

-Hello, mate.

-How's it going?

It's looking good, it's looking good.

I'm just putting them down.

Just working it out first.

So are you happy with the gaps?

I like it, AJ, I think it looks great.

AJ, you're a genius.

We've done it again. But we haven't finished.

We haven't finished.

And while Lauren takes on a new job of turning over

the heavy clay soil in the new bed,

Danny has spotted another planting opportunity.

I like this pine tree.

I think it's great.

It's hiding that very unattractive shed,

so it actually performs a good function

but also it's giving a bit of height to the garden.

Now, the thing that I've noticed is that there is a bed under here,

an old bed that's overgrown.

There's a couple of primulas in there

and what I'd like to do is reinstate this bed

so what I need to do is to lift the crown of this tree.

The crown means all the branches and leaves from the bottom

to the top of a tree, so in order to raise the crown,

Danny needs to cut off all of the lower branches.

Expose this trunk here and that will give me room

to do some lovely planting in this bed.

I've got nice sharp loppers and all I need to do now

is chop away until my heart's content.

Raising the crown not only improves the look of a tree,

it also allows more light and air to get through

-to anything planted beneath it.

-The soil here is lovely.

Just look at this, it's all nice and crumbly.

This has been caused by leaf mould

from the leaves dropping from this pine.

So it's been nourishing the environment that it's growing in.

I've just discovered a wild primrose here.

This has probably self-seeded.

I'm just going to be careful and do some microsurgery around it.

Just pull the grass gently, so we want to expose that.

There we go.

To be fair,

we could do with some of this over the rest of the garden.

Don't worry, Danny, the garden looks like it's really starting

to come together.

Meanwhile, Hayley and I are back on the road,

ready to make our own contribution to the garden.

Danny's asked us to find round pots

to suit the curvy overall design he's after.

I guess we'd better have a look a-ROUND then.

Because Hayley liked some of the quirky items

she saw in the show gardens,

we've come to an antiques and salvage yard.

Old second-hand items can be fun to search for and offer your garden

unique touches that can't be found on the high street

or in conventional garden centres.

Plenty for us to look at in here.

Lots of bits and bobs.

-Shall we have an explore?

-Yeah.

-You go that way, I'll go that way.

-For sure.

-See you in a bit.

-See you in a minute.

Architectural salvage yards are a treasure trove of goods

to reclaim and re-purpose, right up the Instant Gardener's street.

And this one is on Hayley's doorstep,

chock-full of everything you can think of,

the wonderful and the wacky.

What do you think, then, Hayley?

Is there anything that has caught your eye

-or taken your fancy?

-There's lots of amazing bits and pieces,

but nothing that really fits the brief we were given.

If we were building a house, I think you could have a field day

in this busy little reclaim yard,

because there are loads of quirky things.

I mean, this, for instance,

if you were going to bury this in your garden,

-you could put little rockery plants in it, that would be cool.

-Mm-hm.

However we don't have a forklift truck that we can take home.

-I do know a man who might be able to help us out.

-Right.

Tom!

'And that man is the site owner, Tom Baker.'

We are in search of some round pots that would be suitable for a garden.

-Yep.

-Lead the way.

-OK.

You have got so much stuff here, where do you get it all?

Local demolition jobs.

We buy the materials and sell it on again.

I would imagine there is quite a big market for this sort of stuff.

Everybody loves something random and vintage like that,

for instance, the "Infants" sign.

Yeah, there is a home for everything.

Do you get a lot of people coming in here

just for unusual things to add to their home?

It's mainly extensions and grade two listed buildings,

conservation work we get involved in, so it's big jobs, small jobs.

We do all sorts, really.

You weren't wrong, you've got a lot of round pots.

-There you go.

-So these are all chimney pots?

Yeah, a lot of them don't go back as chimney pots,

they all go for flowerpots and garden features nowadays.

Hayley, have a ratch among those.

-Yeah, I will do.

-We OK to just go in and have a look around?

-No problem, knock yourself out.

-Thank you.

-All right, then.

We've got a stack of chimneys to look through,

but will any of them light Hayley's fire?

Meanwhile, back at the garden,

I'd like to light a bonfire under Danny

because he's only got two hours left to finish this transformation.

Luckily, Paralympic hopeful Dave is back to help out.

Hi, Danny, all right?

Yeah. How was the training?

-Yeah, it's good.

-Went well?

-Yeah.

-I hope you're not too worn out.

-I'll be all right.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah, yeah.

-OK, that's good.

-I need a job!

I just want to show you what AJ is working on,

just to make sure you're happy with it.

Yeah, yeah. Look at this.

-Wow.

-What do you reckon to it, do you like it?

Yeah, it's incredible.

-Did you start this yesterday or something?

-Ha-ha!

It's moved on quite quickly.

It's been pretty rapid.

-Will that suit you, do you think?

-Oh, yes, without a doubt.

What we're going to do is lay the path and you see the gaps there?

They're going to be filled with decorative stone.

-Wow.

-And then we're going to plant some aromatic plants into that.

-OK.

-So when you walk on it, it's going to release this lovely aroma,

this lovely smell. How cool is that?

So they're plants I can jump up and down on?

Yes, you can jump up and down on them.

You can abuse them and they'll be absolutely fine.

-They'll survive.

-Brilliant.

I think we better get moving,

because I would imagine Hayley isn't too far away

and we want to get this done before she gets back.

-Yeah.

-So I'm going to show you what we'll do next.

-Yep.

Right, so this is the next job.

So we're going to edge this in this aluminium lawn edging.

-Yes.

-You can use it for a multitude of things, like edging a path,

you can even have a mini raised bed with it and what's good about this,

it's bendy. What I'd do is just lay them out roughly.

-Yeah.

-Just get an idea of distances,

and what it does, it keeps the shape of the lawn.

-You see these grooves?

-Yep.

-They interlock into grooves on the other one.

-OK, brilliant.

There we go.

And what you do is you do it

low enough into the ground so your lawnmower,

when you're near the edge, your lawnmower goes over the top.

-OK.

-So it doesn't catch on the blades.

-Gotcha.

Now, I'm hoping that that

will fit in fairly snugly,

so that's where it's going to go,

but I need to dig a trench to fit this in.

-Yep.

-So that could be a job for you to do, perhaps.

-Yeah, I'll do that.

-Do you want to do a little trench?

-Yep.

I normally use the back of the spade to be honest, get a straight line,

just go down like that. About three inches.

-Gotcha.

-And just follow that line round.

-Happy days.

-OK.

-Yeah, brilliant.

With the trench dug and the edging hammered into position,

the beds are now ready for planting.

-Lovely.

-That's going to do it, isn't it?

-That's lovely.

Do you think Hayley will like it?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

hopefully she won't even notice the trampoline.

Hopefully she'll notice the trampoline has gone

long after we have gone.

Yeah, yeah, then I'll just have to deal with it on my own.

-You have to deal with it, yeah, that's fine with me.

-All right.

Deal.

Having cemented the slabs into place,

AJ now needs to make sure they are rock solid.

The cement hasn't quite gone completely

under the whole of the slab,

like some of the corners.

The best way for me to do this is to put a wedge in underneath,

so, otherwise, when you step on it, it will rock.

There we go.

At last it's planting time and Danny has opted for prairie planting,

using tall, elegant grasses and willowy perennials to give a soft

and natural look. But they also need a bit of structure

and he's chosen just the thing.

So these beauties can grow up to 30 feet,

and the beauty about these is that they will keep their shape,

but it's best to plant them in a sheltered position for two reasons.

They can be prone to being blown over

and they could be scorched by the wind.

Right, so I'm going to put these in position

and I'm using these as my accent plants.

These are going to lead your eye through the garden.

And for his under planting, Danny is going for grasses.

I love grasses.

Now, the theme of this garden is all about prairie planting.

Now, this is Stipa gigantea absolutely beautiful.

Now, this will grow quite tall.

It is deciduous, it means it will go brown in the winter but, you know,

I wouldn't cut it back, I'd leave it brown,

and as the new growth comes through in the spring,

then I would cut it back and you'll have nice, fresh, blades of grass.

Well, you've sold it to me, Danny.

You just need to get them planted now.

Meanwhile Hayley and I are still at the salvage yard

on the hunt for some round-shaped pots.

I kind of like these, but...

Yeah.

They are not round, technically, are they?

No, they're sort of trying to be at the top, aren't they?

But not quite succeeding.

What about that? Um, it's different, do you like it?

Again, be honest.

-Put it that way.

-Yeah, you could put it upside down, I guess.

She's not convinced. She's not convinced.

-It might be a bit wobbly.

-OK, veto that.

Yes or no? It's your garden.

I prefer the other two that were over there.

I think they look nicer.

Sounds good to me.

Hayley has her eye on some old chimney pots

that she thinks we could re-purpose as planters.

Is this the kind of thing you envisaged in your garden?

Yeah, I think it works.

I think this would work and actually some of the slabs

that we've got with the patio,

with the ramp that got put in out the back,

that they are a sort of mix of terracotta

with actually a kind of whiter kind of slab when it's cleaned, so...

-So these might...?

-Some of these would work.

-They're the right kind of colouring.

-OK, well, what about...

I guess the thing we have to be careful with -

you have a one-year-old.

Yes, so something that's sturdy.

She's not Superwoman, but she could knock that over.

-That's a nice shape.

-That would be quite cool

with things spilling out of it.

Yeah, could have some strawberry plants.

Yeah, strawberry plants trailing out of there.

Eventually, with Hayley deciding on a pair

of curvy cream-coloured chimney pots,

we head back to the house so she can look after one-year-old Emily

while I help Danny get the makeover finished.

Now, my idea of planting is to fill the bed out as much as possible.

I do not like to see any earth, because the way I see it,

the more plants you have, the less weeds you have.

This is called a verbena.

Just look at that. Look at that flower.

Now, this kind of glows in the evening sun.

It's got a translucent effect, so as the sun's going down,

these actually sing out at you.

And you know what great about these?

If you look very closely, most stems are round,

but this has got a lovely square stem.

Now, all you need to do is, later on in the year,

just cut these down and they will come back later on.

These do actually self-seed,

so in time they will run beautifully through this bed.

Danny, there's only an hour to go!

You're the one that needs to run through that bed,

preferably with a spade.

At least AJ is ready to add the final touches to his path.

Right, then, I've just finished spotting the slabs with the cement.

So now that's all done, now I've just got to put decorative stones

all around it. These don't help with the structure at all,

they're just decorative,

so you can choose any colour you like to go with the slab

that you bought and mix-and-match, you know,

the world is your oyster, it's your garden - have it how you want it.

-Danny!

-Oh, look at these!

Oh, I love it.

-Is that what you wanted?

-Well...

I left it up to you, but this is absolutely wonderful.

-It's round.

-Yes.

I saw some square ones that I liked. Hayley didn't like them.

-I'm glad.

-I've got another one.

And you know what I like about this as well?

That you've got two different heights,

two different sizes going on.

-So whose idea was that?

-Gold star for me, eh?

-Gold star for me.

-I know, I'm impressed.

-Where are they going to go?

-I'm not really sure at the moment,

but do you suggest? Maybe to frame the path, maybe to one side?

It's a bit obvious to put one on either side.

-Together.

-So let's put them together.

-That's it, watch your back.

-Here?

Yeah, just put it there.

I might just be inclined to stagger it a bit, what do you think?

Yeah, I like them.

-Yeah?

-Perfecto.

Before we deal with the chimney pots,

I've got some aromatic plants for the path.

OK, so, I have six lemon thymes,

which smell amazing and do you know what?

When Dave or Emily or Hayley step or brush past these,

they are going to give off a wonderful fragrance.

I'm sure Danny's got a grand plan, but you know what?

He's too busy, so I'll make my own plan.

These Mediterranean herbs grow well in poor soils,

so they'll survive quite happily planted in this gravel,

provided they get plenty of sun.

Danny has just the thing for the chimney pots.

Lavender.

It's very important you don't have lavender sitting in water.

You don't want your lavender being waterlogged,

otherwise the roots will rot away and it will die.

So what I'm going to do to assist in that - I'm going to add some grit

to this compost and that will aid in its drainage.

And, do you know what? I'm going to mix it in with my hands

because I love the feel of compost.

And then...

And the thing is, I've committed myself,

cos those pots have got no bottoms,

so now they're in position and the compost is going in,

they can't be moved.

Now, there's two different types of lavenders here -

there's the English Lavender and there's a French lavender.

Now, you don't want to be planting this lavender up north,

because it's not that hardy.

The English variety will survive anywhere in this country.

And planting lavender is very therapeutic.

I tell you what, this corner of the garden smells amazing.

So is it better in your view to grow lavender in a pot like we're doing,

because it is quite choosy about the soil?

In this case, because we've got clay,

-and it won't flourish in heavy clay...

-OK.

..it's best to put it in pots.

It's now a frantic dash to finish the planting.

Got to get it all done, quick, quick, quick!

Primulas in there.

And there are also some last-minute repairs to the patio.

How are you doing, Danny?

How long left now?

-Ten minutes.

-And just when we think we're nearly there...

You know that ou haven't swept properly there?

if I just lift this, will you...

Did you...?

SHE LAUGHS

-Did you do that on purpose?

-No. I thought I was going to lift it...

-Did you do that...?

-It wasn't me, it wasn't me!

Do you think it will be all right if I just do that?

With the day nearly done,

there's just time for a few finishing touches,

designed to encourage Dave to make a bit of time to take things easy.

Thank you, guys.

Excellente.

When Danny arrived this morning,

this was an overgrown and underused family garden

that completely lacked character.

But in the last few hours, it's been transformed

into an alluring and tranquil space,

filled with swaying grasses and enticing smells

of thyme and lavender.

The dirty, cluttered and weedy patio has been cleared and cleaned

so it's now a relaxing area for Hayley, Dave and baby Emily.

The dull and dreary lawn has been enhanced

by creating curvaceous new flower beds

filled with ribbons of giant feather grasses

and striking Italian trees.

The narrow path leading to the shed

and greenhouse has been widened into a striking hourglass shape

to make it safe and practical for Dave and Emily,

and the pine tree alongside the path

has been revived by raising its crown

to provide a delightful bed, full of primulas.

All in all it's a magnificent transformation

that fulfils Danny's plan to turn it into a relaxing oasis

for the whole family.

But now it's time for the grand unveiling.

What will Hayley think when she sees it for the first time,

and will she miss that huge trampoline?

Wow. Look, Emily! Look at your new garden!

Hi! Look, there's a bed!

A few changes, ladies.

The Christmas tree is still standing?

-Dadda...

-That's your dadda.

Thank you so much.

This looks amazing.

So a few changes down the left-hand side.

It just looks stunning.

Is it going to take a lot of work for them to look after?

No, very, very easy, very simple but in time...

-Is that what you want to hear?

-I like that.

..in time that bed will fill out.

Hayley, what do you think of the path and the tree?

-Yeah, this looks really good.

-You can walk across it.

-Shall we go for a walk?

-She's desperate to go, yeah!

Ready? Good girl.

Wow. Good girl.

Look at this.

This is a family garden.

The team have revived and boosted it

and they've given this family a space

in which they can relax and spend time together.

Gold medal for Danny and the team, I think.

And it was gold too for Dave,

who ran the best T42 200 metres time in the world this year

at the Invictus Games.

Join us again soon for another incredible outdoor transformation,

done in a single day by the Instant Gardener.