Monty starts by telling us he has been to gardens all over the world and been a gardener and made gardens his whole life. Gardening is his life just like he needs air to breath.
Now its the turn of Great Britain for Monty to explore and to explore why gardening and gardens are so popular here.
From large gardens where you can do anything you want to them or small gardens where you can imagine and create in too.
We all love a garden and they can be made just about anywhere.
Is this to do with being British, where we live or just that as a nation, we love gardens and gardening.
Monty has spent a year travelling and filming as many gardens as he could, new gardens for him, gardens with climate problems and of course the British eccentric gardens!
His quest was to find out what really is a British Garden or does it not exist?
Presenter
Special Guests
Will Soos and Sue Pomeroy
Edith Barnes
School Children of Kinnesswood Primary
Ewen Donaldson
Nigel Neil
Lizz Spence
Hana Tadafe-Swinscoe
George Gilliland
Robert and Anna Dalrymple
Duchess Jane Northumberland
Gardens visited
Monty Don begins his tour in North West Scotland and Monty being half Scottish enjoys visiting here as he feels at home.
The West Coast of Scotland is actually kept warm by the Gulf Stream so coastal gardens can have a bigger range of plants.
One of the best gardens for this is Inverewe created by Osgood Mackenzie in 2,000 acres in 1862 after inheriting the land and it started as just rock.
It was created using soil from the seashore and a boundary of trees saplings and just left to grow into a vast woodland.
These trees took 20 years to establish but made the site very protected from the harsh winds and the warm Gulf stream he could use plants from throughout the World.
This environment is also ideal for the notorious Scottish Midge and Monty don's his protective net etc.
Around every corner is a surprise like a row of New Zealand Tree Ferns and along the sea front is the Walled Garden.
This was originally all beach and he added a large wall to separate it and it was heard work clearing all the shoreline of rocks.
The Walled Garden produces loads of Organic Fruit and Vegetables to supply the onsite restaurant. There is also a South Africana Garden
The next garden is to the North on the banks of Loch Broom, 2 Durnamuck and is home to professional gardeners Will Soos and Sue Pomeroy and they have built the house and garden from scratch.
The garden fits in well with its lochside and hillside surroundings but being a North facing garden it is very windy.
The couple told Monty there are a lot of easier places to make a garden and a lot of the plants came from South Africa that had the same climate as their garden.
They work with the weather especially the wind with the use of grasses and flowering plants.
Scotland has over 1,000 castles and Monty is visiting Drummond Castle in Perthshire to see how they are now looked after.
The ruins date back to the 15th Century and remodelled ion 1830s and this is when the formal gardens were created.
The 9 acre Parterre is an amazing example of Victorian design with Italian inspiration on a scale not seen before due to the ability to cultivate their own imported plants.
Originally there was a huge team of Gardeners but some of the formal gardens have been replaced with grass.
Queen Victoria visited the garden in 1842 and planted a copper beech tree that is still going strong!
Hedge cutting and topiary trimming takes the current Gardening Team 56 months to complete annually and Monty has never seen such large topiary.
Edith Barnes is the Head Gardener and grew up here as her father was Head Keeper and first started work here as a teenager.
Edith says you can hear visitors go 'wow' when they get their first view of the gardens from the terrace.
Monty questions whether the garden should be left as a monument to Victorian design or in the future should it evolve?
Benarty is the story of a sleeping giant that lies on the shores of Loch Leven and Monty is visiting a small village of Kinnesswood.
Inspired by 'Best Kept village' competitions everyone started taking pride in their own gardens as well as shared public spaces.
Gardening classes are held at the Village school run by volunteers and today they are harvesting Potatoes, Carrots and Tomatoes.
Next stop Glasgow to visit Glasgow Botanic Gardens to visit what Monty says is the best glasshouse world wide.
It is called The Kibble Palace and in the past has been restored by taking it apart and sending it to Sheffield!
Built by John Kibble on 1865 originally at Loch Long before donating it to the Botanic Gardens and a dome was added.
The Tree Ferns arrived in 1881 and now form the national collection,
Monty met Ewen Donaldson who was the Botanic Manager for 40 years and was in charge 20 years ago when it was restored.
They removed all the plants and originally there was the pond in the centre that had a musician pit in the middle.
The restoration saw all the wood replaced with steel and also 13,000 panes of glass as well as a repaint.
Monty heads back North to visit a Royal residence Birkhall near Ballater which is the private garden of the King and Queen.
It was bought by Prince Albert in 1849 as it is next door to Balmoral and the garden is through a ling thatched gateway and is linked to the house by a gazebo which is a memorial to the late Queen Mother.
The garden by the house is very informal and is at its best in the Summer when the Royal family are in residence.
The late Queen Mother when it was her garden created most of todays features but the King is now adding his own features like a seat for Queen Camilla Birthday surrounded by Scarlet Tropaeolum and Yew hedge.
The garden full of Royal history and in the 1950s Queen Victoria and Florence Nightingale sat under a tree in the garden discussing the Nursing needs of the country.
A thatched Wendy House is in the garden from the 1030s for the late Queen Elizabeth and sister Princess Margaret it is still in use today by the royal children.
The King has added lots of new hedges and topiary and an organic vegetable and fruit garden to supply the house and lots of pollinators.
A restored wire bridge over the river Muick takes you to a 2 acre arboretum planted to commemorate the birth of Prince George.
Monty says this is not only a perfectly maintained garden but its also a personal garden of the King and Queen and their Scottish home.
Edinburgh has always been a green city and his first stop is a garden at the bottom of Arthur's seat.
60 years ago local GP's Nancy and Andrew Neil created a garden now known as Dr Neil's Garden at a Kirk on the bank of Loch Duddingston.
Started in 1963 when their son Nigel Neil was still small and Monty met with him in the garden and discussed how they found the time and they used to garden by torch light.
They started at the top and then towards the Loch and patients donated plants and helped out.
Not travelling far but very next door is Jock Tamson's Gairden a community garden, owned by the church and only 6 years ago was an overgrown space.
It is 4 acres and divided into plots, producing vegetables and fruit for residents and food banks and the 40 volunteers are managed by Lizz Spence, Team Leader.
The Garden name comes from a saying and means we are all his children, so its for everyone.
Monty speaks to volunteer Hana Tadafe-Swinscoe for a few years and she comes to be outside and do something good for the community.
Local groups also use the site like some Beekeepers, Students doing research as well as local artists.
Everyone is out enjoying themselves and the Garden is open to everyone whether gardeners or not as you can learn as you go along.
Monty off to visit another Community Garden which is right in the centre and 200 years old and bought by the locals to ensure there was a green plot for them to enjoy with all the new development going on.
There is limited access to the garden on Regent Terrace but Monty been able to visit it at the back of the house is a narrow garden that rises up leading to the door of the communal garden.
The 12 acre private space gives the residents an amazing space right in the centre of the city!
Next a modern garden or is it a work of art, its the famous Little Sparta but its not everyone's idea of a garden or art?
It was the home of poet Ian Hamilton Finlay and wife Sue from 1966 and the 7 acre plot was a wedding present from the parents.
They both worked on the garden but quickly turned into a gallery containing 270 of Ian's artwork.
Monty met with the Head Gardener and Curator George Gilliland and he told him how people come to see how the art and garden interact and they have various themes, some not so obvious.
Ian Hamilton Finlay obsessions with his art subjects is very evident and at the same time very puzzling and Monty looking at steeping stones engraved with types of fishing boats.
This is ties into the garden with the sound of the wind in the trees and the dappling light through them looking like the sea.
Ian suffered from agoraphobia and at the boundary there are an art work of stones most associated with the garden.
The grass paths are marked out by strips of long grass that Monty likes and can see the creator personality in the garden including the hedged in path called Huff Lane, after Ian grumpy side.
Monty glad he finally visited after 25 years of wanting to and this Art Garden is a challenge for some people but he likes a garden that makes you think and explore.
Monty travels to Dumfries and Galloway to visit Crawick Multiverse and underneath the hills are the coal mines but Charles Jencks has developed this landscape to make this land art / garden.
The area contains not only art but also science all set in a dramatic landscape and Charles Jencks was just given the brief to regenerate the area to act a symbol for the loss of the mining industry for the local community.
He created a long Avenue the whole way from North to south using stone to mark out the path then 2 hills one being the Milky Way and the other Andromeda.
He then created a void by digging out the soil and used the soil for a Belvedere which means beautiful view and everywhere is covered in wild flowers.
There is also a Multiverse mound but Monty thought it looked like a 'Walnut Whip' rather than another universe!
Monty is not inspired by this Art work and Garden.
just off the old Edinburgh road and Broadwoodside is the most modern garden made in this century and is sheltered by its courtyard setting and warm enough for a Parrot!
In 1997 the buildings surrounding the courtyard were just ruins then Robert and Anna Dalrymple renovated them all and finally completed in 2000 ready to start on the landscaping.
Monty met with the couple and after years looking at house plans they had already decided on the garden and that it would be symmetrical and creating lots of garden rooms.
You start in the courtyard which has a chess board pattern.
Guy Donaldson works in the garden full time and has worked him from its very beginning.
The garden has a very simple design and uses the right plant in the right place and plant patterns are then repeated.
Finally with not much of the programme left Monty gets to Northumberland!
Monty arrives at Chillingham Castle and the castle and garden have both been restored and the original gardens were designed in 1828 Royal Architect Sir Jeffry Wyatville.
It is now owned by Sir Humphry Wakefield who bought it in 1982 he actually bought the 300 acres of land but the castle ruins came free with them!
The original family left in 1931 and nothing had been done since to the garden and it had all grown wild.
He used photographs from the 1880 to make sure he was following the design.
Monty has never been before but the long west wall border is very familiar to Bramdean House in Hampshire owned by Sir Humphry Brother which he went to and filmed 35 years ago and Sir Humphrey actually transplanted the border to here.
Monty loves this garden and it shows the British love for history and our passion for nurturing our gardens
For Monty final garden he picks the very popular Alnwick Castle with its breath taking Grand Cascade which is at the very centre of the garden.
This garden was planned in 1997 by the Duchess of Northumberland and was first open to the public in 2002.
It was designed for the public to come and enjoy and it has over 350,000 visitors a year but its not all positive from some of the gardening community.
Monty met with the Duchess Jane Northumberland thinks its not popular with all as most people would not want such a garden with children in the water feature and they have a loneliness drop in centre.
There is garden snobbery and not everyone should be welcome to such a grand location but the Duchess wants everyone to be welcomed into her garden.
A Belgian Landscape Architect Jacques Wirtz designed the garden and she loved his gardens and design.
The huge Hornbeam hedge is in fact hollow and makes a beautiful sheltered Arbour walkway through the garden and the idea comes from a garden in Holland at Het Loo Palace.
There are windows and benches to enjoy the shade and Hedges are a defining feature in this garden.
There are formal hedges as well as areas like the Bamboo Labyrinth and it really encloses you in the maze and is unique.
Monty ends the programme talking about his journey so far from Inverewe right down Scotland back into England to end in garden for the people.
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