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  • 6/9/2025
Garden Rescue 2025 episode 10
Transcript
00:00for nearly a decade the garden rescue team have made dreams come true for
00:08hundreds of garden owners across the UK open your eyes oh wow it's absolutely
00:23stunning thank you so much thank you very much no matter the challenge it's
00:28just coming down a little harder the rain if this weather keeps on as it is we're
00:32not going to have any to see and no matter the garden I tell you what Flo it's a
00:38little bit smaller than I thought we've got the job done that's brilliant but the
00:42one question I always get asked is what happens to the gardens after we leave well
00:50now Wow away it's my turn to be amazed that's grown into a bar I'm going back
01:00been a long time to my favorite garden rescues five years including some of our
01:12very first to find out what happened we should have called it the day next you
01:20think after we packed up our spades I'm very excited to see the garden it has
01:25gone huge we've picked the perfect day to show you around the Sun is shining the
01:31gardens looking beautiful it's fabulous this time I check in on an English
01:42cottage garden that was given a Turkish twist it's strange with it but you did a
01:47grand job I hear if a Moroccan wildlife garden is still in good shape when they
01:52first did it was actually really neat and tidy and that was all kind of all the
01:55plants were quite small but over the years everything's just grown and I'm blown away
02:00by the progress of some jungle planting oh my wow away it looks fantastic well
02:10garden rescue we've been asked to bring the feel of far-off climbs to many a flat
02:14uninspiring garden we'd really love to garden to have a pop of color something
02:19tropical something to remind us of home in Aylesbury three years ago we were asked
02:27to bring a bit of a med to a particularly lackluster space hi I'm Kevin and I'm
02:33Elaine and we've got a serious problem with our garden it's just water wall slabs
02:38there's no character now Kevin and Elaine lived in Turkey for several years and
02:45wanted to bring that Mediterranean vibe to the garden but at the same time they
02:50wanted old English country garden as well what a combo oh this is a picture of Elaine and I diving we
02:58used to dive all the time because I'm an instructor and at 10 years out in Turkey
03:03diving and it's also how we first met what we really like the gardens they were unique
03:09really different areas for sitting and for eating and colorful yeah yeah yeah really really
03:15colorful I've always wanted a proper cottage garden so we can attract the birds in planning
03:22on getting a couple of push bikes so we want some we just the store a couple of bikes and maybe a bag
03:26of coal for the barbecue this is our barbecue area and as you can see it's a bit messy and these are our
03:31two precious roses which we bought after Kevin's dad died so they've got to go in a place where they
03:38can be viewed all the time yeah they're very special it was Lee who would be joining me in
03:44creating and pitching designs that combined English country cottage vibes with Turkish colors so I want
03:52to put in lots of roses clematis jasmine it's gonna be really colorful yeah isn't it plus water features and
04:01storage for the bikes they plan to purchase the first part of the garden is going to be this raised
04:06water feature here Wow you've got a storage unit here that will house two bikes and a barbecue but
04:13when you look out through the garden it's really well hidden you wouldn't even realize that is a
04:17storage space would you know they were both worthy designs but Kevin and Elaine went with
04:23Charlie so I sent the landscapers in and they got straight to work carefully transplanting Kevin and
04:32Elaine special roses there we go we can get over the building now clearing out the old shed my design
04:40included new storage combined with seating at the back of the garden forgot these patterns going across
04:46to make the roof extra strong because Charlie's gonna plant a green roof on top of here well Gruff and
04:52Kyle built up a bed for the water feature at the front of the garden get a fleece under the liner I
04:58think at the liner in and then that's then the pods ready definitely looks like things are going
05:02together I asked Lee to create a living roof for the bike shed can someone get me a ladder to get down
05:09I got straight into the planting bringing a wildlife area next to the bike shed the reason I'm planting a
05:18hawthorn is one it won't get too big but also it has flowers in the spring which is great for the bees and
05:26butterflies I also curated the rose board at the front really need to take them back by third
05:34and brought planting to the water feature I've gone for water mint mmm yum yum yum and also bog bean
05:45then you need to have a water lily in the pond to give you surface coverage and you're aiming for about
05:53half the surface to be covered with leaves eventually a special cooking zone was created by the landscaping
06:01team so Kevin and Elaine could dine al fresco does it fit Gruff oh it's like I measured it
06:13and once all the finishing touches were in place I was excited to reveal all to Kevin and Elaine
06:23do you want to open your eyes wow oh what had been a dated dull garden brilliant was now a colorful
06:35peaceful and practical fusion of English country garden with that Turkish touch lots of color yes you're
06:45all right Kevin I'm never speechless oh it's awesome looks totally speechless I'm not surprised this garden it's
06:53such a transformation come and check out your barbecue station great yeah perfect oh put trays on there you've got
07:01space under here I know you were keen to have some water in the garden so this is a wildlife pond planted up with
07:09everything that you need in there to balance the pond but being raised up you can sit on the edge dangle
07:15your fingers in there oh it's wonderful might even dangle the feet the feet when it's really hot yeah
07:21well dad's roses are right here but look at the roof of your bike shed oh it's absolutely full of color
07:31look wonderful just that is beautiful enough space yeah absolutely this is nice little cozy spot yeah
07:39this is perfect and I can come out here with me coffee in the morning thank you so much my marriage
07:46of Turkish colors and textures with English cottage garden planting made quite an impact three years ago it
07:54always makes me emotional when I think about the first time I looked at it I actually cried the first
07:58time I looked at it you're right Kevin I'm never speechless but are they still in love with their
08:04Mediterranean inspired water and feature filled garden I'm very excited to see the garden because
08:15it was quite a combination you wanted Mediterranean and cottage that's right yeah a bit strange with it
08:20but you did a grand job I've got to say go on then show us around in just over three years the
08:27planting I position to encourage birds and bees has blossomed the climbers are fully covered
08:35and shrubbery and trees like the hawthorn matured beautifully the shrubbery has really gone berserk
08:45and look at our tree I know that's looking gorgeous we get quite a few birds in now which is great we're
08:52getting chaffing shoes we're getting the tits coming in we get we get the hordes of teenagers
08:57because star they come in gangs of 20 wreck the place and then go off somewhere else that's great
09:02that you're getting starlings in because I know starlings have been under a bit of pressure I don't get
09:06many stars you know we get them all through the summer I put in about five or six of these fat balls every
09:12every two or three days because they come in and scoff and then our living roof oh yes on top of the bike shed
09:20so everything's doing really well the team works so hard in creating the bike shed and seating area at
09:27the back of the garden Lee's living roof is looking wonderful on top but are they making use of the
09:35space inside so do you use the bike shed for bikes or do you use it for all building that bike shed was
09:44very complicated but it's great we use it as a garden storage area so we've got barbecue charcoal
09:51and chairs and stuff like that under there so it works really well one of the prettiest garden storage
09:56sheds going I think it is it is definitely it's really handy it works really well I have to say
10:01that looks like a real sun trap at that it is it is we have to work quite regularly because like today
10:07there's sun on it from morning till night I'm intrigued about the pond oh right oh right
10:12oh look at the water lily it's doing well the wooden frame seat and pond that was fresh and empty
10:20for a few young water plants has weathered wonderfully and it seems there have been a
10:26few additions we've never put anything in it at all and it goes cloudy for a bit and then it goes
10:31really crystal clear the fish have been breeding like rabbits so we have to give them away every
10:36year yeah yeah yeah can you see them the second year we had about 25 yeah we're getting dragonflies
10:47coming in there eggs and down sandal flies and everything they're coming in they came almost
10:51instantly fantastic we we we had to take your little bowl out the little bowl the water fish it was lovely except we've got
11:00big pigeons here and they come in every time I got in from work he's upside down in the pond because they
11:05stood on me to try and drink so we bought a little watering can to make keep a water feature oh okay we've put the bowl up on the living roof as a bird bath oh fantastic oh well that's all right then Kevin and Elaine have undoubtedly
11:20put the work in making this garden their own they've obviously been proud custodians of that
11:28colorful rose border too we got this area here Charlie this bit here yeah now whenever it rains it floods
11:36completely so we've had to replace a couple of plants obviously got so wet but we don't know what we can do with it to
11:43maybe drain it a bit more but it's very clay we've done a lot out to make your life easier you're better
11:49off probably going with the soil so if it's quite damp all the time there's lots of gorgeous plants you
11:55could put in there so so bog plants just scream out for that because then they won't be in full sun there
12:02they'll have the dampness of the soil so i mean for something a bit different you can have room which is
12:07like an ornamental rhubarb you could put arum lilies with the big white trumpets astilbys would do well
12:16there so astilbys come in white pinks dark reds and you get some with a dark reddy green foliage as well
12:23so that would be happy there and that flowers during the summer right okay their enthusiasm for this space
12:29is addictive three years on the bar and barbecue area we created for entertaining and unwinding
12:37i'm sure is still put to good use does the bar get used then all the time last night where am i going
12:43to put my beer when i'm cooking i've got to put it somewhere that was the whole idea i have to say
12:51because the garden's not that big when we have people round we actually put a lot of food on here
12:56on the bar so then you can help yourself go back for more when you when you want more you know so
13:00it works really well it's really good well well done to you guys the garden looks fabulous i'm glad
13:06you're using it all the time i'm so pleased with it thank you so much it's absolutely brilliant i mean
13:12we're so so pleased with it we get flowers in january and then we get flowers right the way through
13:19until october time but then the tree at the back the leaves go red and that gives us colors bright
13:24orange berries on it so we've got color right the way through to january when they fall off and then
13:29we've got the flowers starting again so there's color all the time all the way through the garden
13:34it's so nice so thank you charlie thank you so much thank you very much
13:40well the garden looked amazing i have to say it's fantastic to see how the gardens matured but for me
13:48the great thing is is how people actually use the garden and enjoy it and get so much out of it and
13:56the wonderful wildlife what a fantastic garden my next garden was about bringing a bit of the tropics
14:04to the southwest of england i'm back in cheltenham where it's been five years since pete and samantha
14:10wanted us to change their new build garden into a jungle oasis with a little help from harry and
14:18david we took on what i have to say was one of our more ambitious garden rescues so i can't wait to see
14:25it the garden was a real blank canvas just bland isn't it very bland no no living element there at all
14:33other than grass we're really looking forward to charlie coming back to see how it's flourished
14:38a lot's changed in five years hasn't it let's hope she likes it five years ago peter and samantha
14:44were newlyweds and had recently moved to a new build in cheltenham the garden's a really weird
14:50shape i think because of that reason we struggle with what to do with it the couple had quite an
14:55ambitious plan for this strangely shaped garden what's the theme well they go holiday a lot yeah it
15:01was our trip to balney that was a great trip wasn't it we're really keen to bring that baloney's theme
15:05into the garden and to have some real kind of vibrant colors as well as that sort of overgrown
15:10deep green looking maybe a little bit of a trick in water to add a bit of tranquility into the
15:15environment oh so they like that baloney's vibe so lots of sort of jungly luscious green plants
15:23so what's the budget for this one five thousand five hundred that's very nice
15:29the budget was healthy but there wasn't much to bounce off when myself david and harry went to
15:35survey peter and samantha's site look at that oh it's quite large isn't it oh wow yeah and it's
15:42definitely an odd shape definitely hasn't seen any plants for a long time yeah but someone's
15:47definitely a keen gardener look at all those seedlings
15:50we'd have to be clever to create an impression of paradise in samantha and peter's garden
16:03so we know that you wanted to have quite a fun jungle atmosphere within the garden so we wanted
16:09to really fill the garden with plants and the plants within here are going to have a nice kind of um
16:14luscious feeling to him oh wow crammed with plants i've literally basically almost filled the garden
16:24with plants so we've got a seating area out here this is going to be the jungle area surrounding the
16:31conservatory we'd all worked hard to create the perfect tropical getaway for samantha and peter
16:37but they could only choose one hello so it was an incredibly difficult decision actually there was
16:43parts from both of them that we absolutely loved and yeah it was really difficult kind of weighing
16:47up which one um but we have we have made a decision so and here we go yeah well done chas and so the
16:57team of landscapers set to work on my design oh look someone's done the work for us lot
17:03cutting turf and lifting patio so lee could get to work on raised decking at the entrance to the garden
17:09and andy laid tiles for a curvy boardwalk between zones i like it i like it and he was also tasked
17:19with creating a seating area from cotsford stone my design included a shallow water feature surrounded
17:26by planting in the center of the garden so while i got to grips with the pond lining you're good at
17:33folding sheets are you no no i can see that right it should just unfold that's the one definitely got
17:42enough liner i think i gave harry and david the job of digging for what was going to be some serious
17:49planting nice and slowly gents oh yeah baby tree ferns banana plants bamboo my
18:02plan was to pack the front of the garden with subtropical plants we got frondy ones then we got
18:09big broad leaves like this fig so that combination of lots of different shapes planted closely together
18:18makes it feel very thick and jungly well in the center of the garden i was keen to bring some prairie
18:25style planting and grasses for contrast right let's get our bananas in where are we going sorry
18:33just literally like the other side of the magnolia once gravel had been added between paths and
18:39borders the team worked hard getting all the finishing touches in place
18:46it's looking good we could finally bring peter and samantha out to show them the garden
18:53do you want to open your eyes wow oh wow oh wow what a transformation that's incredible enough jungle
19:06plants for you yeah that's amazing thank you incredible what had been an awkward strangely
19:13shaped and bland patch was now a balinese inspired haven with rustic decking surrounded by vast jungle
19:22planting a curved walkway leading to a tranquil water feature and seating area and colorful plants and
19:29flowers everywhere so the tree ferns are just beautiful amazing yeah so that's your jungle
19:37yeah with lots of plants can you see yourself lounging on that oh definitely so the water feature
19:47very simple no maintenance other than putting a treatment in that keeps it basically clear
19:52peter and samantha were thrilled with the results i think just the how jungly it feels when you walk
20:00out it just hits you wham and i it felt like we were back in bali and then you walk through there's
20:06just so many different things to look at and we've got a wonderful place to come and come relax in the
20:10evening after work and actually be a place where you'd actually want to come out and be thinking oh i
20:14really hope the sun's out because i want to be out here it's been five years since we transformed
20:27samantha and peter's space now i'm back to see if their own piece of paradise is still thriving
20:35well look at this when we did the garden this was meadow that was just going over but now it's
20:40well i would call it prairie perennials well if the back garden's as good as this we're in for a
20:46corker hello how are you guys hello we're good thanks look at this front garden it's amazing must be
21:00great for the bees and the butterflies it is yeah it is yeah buzzing alive isn't it and makes your garden
21:07stand out from all the others which i'm hoping the jungle is gonna stand out from all the others
21:18five years ago peter and samantha were nervous before the grand reveal now i'm the one feeling
21:24some anticipation wow oh my wow are we blooming it it's great isn't it flippity flip and all of the
21:34above it looks fantastic samantha and peter's jungle is looking magnificent original trees and plants are
21:43thriving more than i ever thought they would the fig tree is in great shape the tree ferns have really
21:50filled out and those banana plants have grown to say the least look at them they must be 20 feet high
21:59they're tall they're tall 18 foot and the span of them and the paulonia yeah we we cut its head off
22:07about march time yeah and then it shot up about two and a half three meters just in this season in one
22:12season that growth that looks fantastic and the pots are colored i don't think we put those in did we
22:20the rudbeckias you left a couple of new zealand flax thornium but they got quite large so a bit too
22:26jungly you were getting back into the tree we literally were here so um dug them out oh okay
22:34Rebecca yeah and maintenance wise has it been okay yeah it's not too bad in the winter it looks pretty much
22:40derelict it looks very much barren and we cut everything back and then from about march time
22:44we just watch it erupt throughout the season yeah they do just spring to life hold on now that's
22:50definitely new mud kitchen who uses that then yeah so since you last came we have two additions to the
22:57family two boys and they love being out here making mud pies finding bugs they love it so you've been
23:05very busy in the last five years i'm amazed that you can keep it under control the garden if you've
23:11got two children of those age groups well they're sort of retained to the area over there oh i want to
23:19explore wow look at this the jungle goes on the scaffold board deckingly built has weathered beautifully
23:28but it really is the jungle planting that has developed so wonderfully in the surrounding borders
23:34peter and samantha have been working hard with our original planting and new additions
23:40and it's not the same canna uh probably not the same canna um but some have died off but what i do
23:45is um i leave them in the ground now mulch over the top and grow some from seed each year yeah because
23:50being here you're in cheltenham it's a protected area so you've got housing all around you've now got
23:56these bigger trees so just by mulching over them the the canna indica is probably the easiest one to keep and
24:02i think it looks fantastic with those pops of color against the foliage wow you've done oh and look
24:08there's so many wonderful things selvia everywhere you look i mean it is a thick jungle of plants and
24:15the you can miss with the pineapple flowers i'm loving it i'm loving it
24:23and i can hear the gentle sound of water running which is lovely off into the jungle yo i bet the kids
24:32absolutely love this explorers the curved boardwalk andy laid now has colorful prairie planting creeping
24:41over creating a magical tropical walkway towards the water feature that's still flowing look i forgot how
24:51many plants we actually crammed in here so you've got your eliagnus there and lots of echinacea and
24:59magnolias all over the place so do they flower they do and they're beautiful in the spring time yes
25:05now something's not looking overly happy down there yeah that is or was a eucalyptus tree we didn't plant
25:13any eucalyptus no we had a mimosa didn't we that's right it was beautiful and then was it last year
25:20the year before that really hard frost and it just died i think it was that combination of warm wet
25:25winter and then the real cold so we had the mimosa went and then managed to find a eucalyptus online
25:33for free so perhaps that's something we should sort out later on yeah so and then you come around here
25:40so we've got another zone oh it's great isn't it it's the sunny area and it's still so different to
25:47that and i mean here you wouldn't even know really that there's another seating area there no it's great
25:57grasses plants and flowers have grown wonderfully around the water feature creating even more sense
26:04of space between there and the seating that was built from cotswold stone
26:09you've got all the jungle around but you come to this like open sort of sunny oasis in the middle of
26:18the garden it's fabulous it's definitely garden two halves you know that end is dense and it's it's
26:24shady and in the heat of the summer you can rest in the shade but you come out here and it's just that
26:29burning oasis and herbaceous border here a bit of prairie style as well it's very much different from the
26:34jungle that's the thing a lot of people think if you put lots of plants in the garden it will make
26:38it feel small but in actual fact it makes it feel bigger bigger because you're looking around so much
26:45whereas if you've just got lawn and one or two plants you see it all so it looks empty whereas
26:51you've got these different zones so pete did you know a lot about gardening before we did the garden or
26:58have you just sort of learnt it ad hoc uh didn't really know much at all but but you gave us this
27:04garden so i was like well we need to maintain this we asked for high maintenance so i was willing to
27:08sort of learn um in my day job i i teach at uni and i teach anatomy that's just learning a whole bunch
27:14of different bones but instead they're just plant names so you know it's quite easy for me to retain
27:18that and i enjoy retaining that and learning it how to sort of propagate and divide these plants
27:22that's fantastic and have you got any plans for changing the garden it's constantly changing
27:28every year like everything just gets so much bigger that we have to divide the irises over
27:33by the back of the waterfall are new for the last two three years i'm looking at them now thinking
27:37we're going to have to dig them up probably and divide again be nice to take some cuttings from
27:41the eliagnis to maybe make more of a hedge around the back right okay very easy to take cut into the
27:47eliagnis and it's great that you you do that side of things that you know another interest to it but i
27:53i think we've got a little project here you and me and i can make the teeth sounds good to me
28:00peter and samantha have done such an amazing job maintaining their jungle but there's no doubt the
28:05eucalyptus in the corner needs replacing oh and here we go wow it's tall about three meters yeah so why
28:15did you go for the eucalyptus we always wanted the eucalyptus as a replacement tree because we had this in the
28:20winning bouquet oh okay so memories and the scent on it is gorgeous isn't it yeah it's a wonderful
28:26center just reminds us about a great day when we got married this one takes about 10 to 20 years to
28:32get to full size and full size is anything from four meters to eight meters now i would have thought
28:39you don't want it much taller than four meters no so now that i know you're good at gardening
28:45it's you're gonna do formative pruning on it so first things first we need to get that eucalyptus
28:50out i'm hoping that's going to come out really easily fantastic well it's tied in with a bit of
28:55physiotape and uh and a picture it turns out that the current eucalyptus that andy got for free online
29:02is very wobbly indeed um you can see why it's died you can also see that it was probably a bit pot bound
29:10because it's sort of gone round and there's really no roots on it at all no so that's gone that's gone
29:18right we'll get that out of the way i'll get the steak out my replacement has potential to grow to
29:23eight meters tall but peter's keen to keep it a bit more manageable for now at least it came off in me
29:30hand governor blimey i was gonna use that this is eucalyptus gunnii azura okay and yes you got the scent
29:40and the foliage but for me what i love is the trunk the bark is absolutely gorgeous
29:48do we reckon the trunk about a meter or a meter and a half maybe a meter and a half meter and a half
29:55so this year what we're going to do is clear those those branches so sam's going to have some nice bits
30:01of eucalyptus to put in some arranged flower arrangements perfect so you dig the hole i'll
30:08clear the stems off okay so we're going to plant at the same sort of depth look you'll be able to go in
30:15with a beautiful bouquet very much now before we plant it i'm going to take out the top okay
30:21and you may over time have to take out you know if you find one of the branches starts becoming a
30:29leader again you'll need to take that out okay right now the next thing we do before we plant it
30:36is give it a good water and because it's a new specimen in the garden you are going to have to
30:42water it to start with and next summer if we get a really dry patch you might need to water it
30:48and then the next thing it's going to take that off and see what the roots are doing
30:53because we don't want it going round and round in circles
30:57okay i'm just looking at that's good back through the hole backfill the hole here we go
31:03and then get your boot in on the plimps soles plimps soles now if you're in a really windy position
31:10yes you would probably need to stake it but you want to stake it down low so there's a bit of wave but
31:16here because we've reduced the height and it's also protected by this eliagnus the wind won't really
31:23catch it and then the last thing to do is to give it a good water
31:29well there you go i know it doesn't look much now but you think once you've chosen your main stems
31:35yep then it will branch and branch and then you'll be able to pull out it every so often back and you'll
31:41get the gorgeous trunk here so that'll be a focal point and you'll get a bit of height that will
31:46hide the neighbors without it getting huge and falling over and taking out all your jungle thanks
31:51so much for that i really appreciate it it's taken less than an hour to swap out the one tree in this
31:57garden that was waning and add more nostalgia with a thriving eucalyptus that was part of samantha's bouquet
32:04just five years ago this garden can only continue to mean more to the growing family but it turns out
32:11samantha's kept my original design as a reminder of where it all began carly look what i found oh my word
32:19you still kept it then indeed things did change i mean i got more plants than i was expecting
32:26so the lawn has reduced so that's amazing and haven't you got a little present for somebody
32:33here you are so there you go there you go i have to say guys the garden looks absolutely fabulous i mean
32:41i i did like my design and i was so pleased that you chose mine but what you've done with the plants
32:46it just looks stunning thank you so much for the design and for giving us inspiration you know so yeah
32:51we're really thankful and yeah we've really enjoyed the garden and look get sit in the sun now i'm off
32:58samantha and peter's garden went from awkward new build to balinese inspired jungle their hard work
33:05and enthusiasm for maintaining means it will come to flourish for many more years to come when you've
33:13got such a blank canvas you don't have the vision to think what the garden would look like and just the
33:17way it weaves around different rooms different paths we were just sort of mesmerized by it for a long time
33:28over the years we've designed lots of gardens that encourage bugs birds and other back garden wildlife
33:36right i'm going to create a bug hotel underneath the seat yeah got it got it there we go a bee hotel fit
33:43for a queen bee here in beeston my final garden was created with wildlife and wanderlust in mind
33:52four years ago harry david and i were contacted by vanessa and her sons max and dexter uh we need your
33:59help we need you to come and rescue our garden the family was frustrated by their gardens lack of life
34:05so quite like the wildness quite like to keep something which will bring um birds and bugs and
34:13stuff in but as you can see it's a bit chaotic it needs a bit of taming doesn't it want to look for
34:18grasshoppers and they want to recycle and upcycle but a little twist she really wants to feel like she's
34:27on holiday i had a really great holiday in morocco a few years ago and really like the colors there the
34:31atmosphere and that kind of holiday feel so we'd really really like to be able to recreate something
34:36that felt a little bit like that i also like having friends around so i'd really like to have a space
34:41where we can have a couple of drinks and have some fun together without all just sitting around in a
34:46circle in camping chairs with a 5 000 pound budget harry david and i set to work bringing morocco and
34:53wildlife to bristol shrub area either side easy to maintain lots of color and of course great for
35:03the birds the birds love shrubs because they can bounce through them birds and the bees would
35:07definitely like that if we think of morocco we think of kind of arid dry landscapes plants that are
35:13sparse they're self-seeding they're growing up through the gravel things that are going to really
35:17kick up a gorgeous bit of aroma oh they look like they've captured the moroccan feel really well
35:23but vanessa max and dexter could choose only one i want that one and they went for
35:31the rich brothers so the landscape is set to work clearing digging out concrete and creating a new
35:38patio for vanessa and friends to unwind at the entrance to the garden it's this beautiful sandstone
35:45paving nice gray color harry got very crafty creating a moroccan seating area from old pallets
35:53before it was just a couple of pallets and some some wood but i think by putting the frame around the
35:58outside it has a little bit of a moroccan touch i concentrated on encouraging bugs birds and beasts
36:05with a unique bug hotel at the center of the garden we've got different bits of timber so you're going
36:11to get these little gaps and great places for the bugs the moss basically is just another different medium
36:21for insects and things to overwintering and with that my unusual bug hotel was finished
36:32david and the landscapers focused all their efforts on bringing a moroccan feel
36:37with a bird hut come reading nook it's going to be trick ski
36:47hey there they are there's our window oh that's pretty cool
36:52the boys brought more north african fields with a sandy gravel pathway packed out with planting
37:01but there's quite a lot of big trees i don't think the garden's big enough but the wildlife i love it
37:10now when you're choosing a featured tree for your garden you need to take a bit of time about it you
37:14you know one tree can give you loads of different attributes and that's why we've chosen this cornice
37:20controversa known as the giant dogwood the shape and the structure of it will create a wonderfully
37:27cozy area down there where harry's constructing his moroccan bench
37:33once all the main structures and planting was in place it was time to show vanessa
37:38i think it's quite terrifying so yeah open your eyes i'm scared
37:50harry and david had taken vanessa's scary sea of concrete and given her a slice of morocco
37:59oh my goodness wow it's incredible it's like an entirely different place yeah it's a good thing
38:06it does such a good job it's no wonder you win awards for this sort of thing is it nice not to
38:10see concrete fantastic that it's gone well i know that you love morocco so we wanted to give you a
38:15kind of aromatic kind of gravel path great the idea was to kind of plant it up with plants that have a
38:21kind of nice silvery foliage to them some sense and kind of aroma through the salvias but it's about
38:27making it look quite informal and uh everything will grow up and it'll become hopefully a really
38:32beautiful little journey to the back area and then that leads you down to the moroccan zone to have
38:37a little wander through great transports you yeah yeah yeah yeah thank you very much i mean this
38:43garden's full of places to sit one patio two patios moroccan bench chaise lounge and the lovely little
38:53bird watching area yeah you've done a fantastic job it really is good i need to get the kids come and see
38:59it now yeah i'm sure they'll be very excited the once concrete strewn garden was now full of life
39:07with planting and structures that created perfect moroccan vibes
39:14what do you think boys good they've done a really really outstanding job got rid of all of the concrete
39:22filled it with flowers and it's got a really great holiday vibe so good work everyone
39:30four years on vanessa's garden that was full of potential
39:34has now fully grown and matured into the perfect sub-saharan sanctuary
39:41since it's been transformed it just adds so much kind of enjoyment to us as a family to the house you
39:48know it's hard to think of ever moving from here now to be honest because it is just such a nice
39:52space this garden went from awkward and gray to a suburban retreat perfect for sharing with friends and
39:59family
40:02vanessa's friend rose has come to admire the progress of this gorgeous space
40:08so when they first came one of the main things that they did was plant this tree before they came
40:13i said i really wanted to have something to be looking out when i was doing the washing up and
40:17the jobs so they planted this tree how big was it when they put it in i think it was round about
40:21half the size that it is now so yeah yeah yeah it's really grown up and i get to look out and
40:26see the birds while i'm doing my washing up oh that's lovely yeah really nice my favorite part
40:31of the garden is probably this part of the garden when you come out of the house you immediately
40:35get a sense of all the plants and the tree which has got massive since it was planted
40:39but also it's just a really nice space to relax i've got the sofa out here vanessa's maintained
40:44the rich brothers original creations and her love for gardening has grown along the way harry's
40:51moroccan sofa has been commandeered as the perfect potting station and she's been sure to conserve the
40:58pathway and plants this path's nice isn't it yeah i redid it recently actually because it kind of just
41:04some of the stones are just kind of i think just worn away from just kind of wear and tear really
41:09so yeah i redid the path moved a ton of stone over here good work yeah and also did just put
41:14a few more plants in where things have been eaten by the slugs and stuff like that so yeah i kind of
41:18revamped this area the boys put in some pockets of planting so i've tried to maintain pockets of
41:24planting to me the garden is kind of almost in two halves it has got a real moroccan feel at this end
41:31and the kind of path and the bench and the what we call the moroccan bus stop but at the very end of
41:37the garden it's very very wild there's trees the pond is out there we get loads of bees and butterflies
41:43i'm pleased to see my bug hotel is firmly established
41:50get any bugs you can see wood lice and stuff like that in there earwig so yeah
41:54it does attract lots of bugs vanessa has added new color to the moroccan shelter david and the team
42:00works so hard on and it's now enveloped in planting making the perfect wild escape it was going to be
42:08um a bird hide in the original design okay do you remember yeah um but i said i didn't think we'd get
42:13much use out of a bird hide so they kind of converted it into something a little bit more usable so yeah
42:19my friend jezz has nicknamed it the moroccan bus stop when they first did it was actually really neat
42:23and tidy and it was all kind of all the plants were quite small but over the years everything's just
42:27grown it's become really lush the trees are massive now the plants have all established themselves so
42:32it just attracts like more and more wildlife and it's just a really nice place to sit down
42:37with a cup of tea and or a glass of wine and just chill out after a busy day this garden really shines
42:44brightest in good company the renovated patio at the entrance to the garden is the perfect spot for
42:50relaxing with friends it's just coming to its own now it's so lush yeah it's so full now it's nice
42:57space to have a little barbecue isn't it you can chuck the kids down the bottom and we can see up at the
43:01top cheers girls cheers cheers because i'm so happy with how the garden's turned out i've put myself forward
43:12to be part of an open garden event it's been great to see the gardens we built looking better than ever
43:19but the joy for me is discovering how elaine and kevin peter and samantha and vanessa have grown to love
43:27them
43:57You