Great British Garden Revival

In the opening episode Monty Don is on the campaign trail for wild flowers. 98% of wild flower meadows have been lost since the first part of the twentieth century – a shocking statistic – which he believes all gardeners can do something about. On his revival he tries his hand at making hay the old fashioned way in a Coronation Meadow, visits the largest biodiversity hotspot in the world - Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank and shows us how to grow wild flowers, even if we don’t have a garden. Also in tonight’s show, Joe Swift is determined to return our front gardens to their former glory. He bases his campaign at the award-winning Rockcliffe Avenue in Whitley Bay and shares his tips on how to transform front gardens in a few simple steps; he discovers that greener streets reduce pollution and hits the road to get the message across in his Great British Plant Giveaway. Please note, this version may differ slightly from the UKTX version.

In tonight’s show Rachel De Thame sharpens her shears to champion topiary – the great tradition of trimming and shaping plants. In her revival she charts the rise and fall of topiary from Elizabethan times to the present day; she meets a topiary obsessed woman in Kent who has transformed her entire garden using amazing topiary creations and we witness the hedge handiwork of a man in North London who is causing a buzz in the local neighbourhood with his living sculptures. Throughout the show, Rachel shows us that with a little know how and confidence we can all share in the sense of fun that topiary can bring to our gardens. Also in tonight’s show James Wong is up on the roof for his revival. He uncovers the hidden horticultural past of the capital’s rooftops; visits a woman who has moved her entire garden to her rooftop apartment and heads to Birmingham’s new city centre library with an innovative rooftop addition. James shares his tips and shows us that when it comes to roof gardens, containers are king and reveals the best plants that are ideally suited to a rooftop garden. Please note, this version may differ slightly from the UKTX version.

Tonight’s experts inspiring us to save the nation’s gardening heritage are Carol Klein and Tom Hart Dyke. As a passionate plantswoman Carol wants us all to embrace one of the most iconic and quintessentially British styles of gardening – the cottage garden. She shares her years of experience and give us her ultimate guide to the best cottage garden plants, along with money saving tips on how to grow our favourite plants from scratch. On her revival she heads to the Lake District and the home of Beatrix Potter and a cottage garden which features in some of the most famous children’s books ever written. She also encourages the people of Nantwich to get gardening in the Great British Seed Swap. Also in tonight’s show, as a plant hunter Tom Hart Dyke wants us all to fall back in love with the house plant. He has a chilling encounter with an orchid he last saw when he was kidnapped in Columbia 13 years ago; he discovers that house plants can have a positive impact on our well-being and productivity at work and throughout the show gives us his tips on how to care for house plants and grow our own from cuttings. Please note, this version may differ slightly from the UKTX version.

Britain’s top television gardening talent inspire us to the save the nation’s rich gardening heritage. In tonight’s show Rachel De Thame investigates the decline of Britain’s cut flower industry. At New Covent Garden she discovers that 90% of our cut flowers are imported; she meets a man who has dedicated his life to growing sweet peas and joins a florist who uses some surprising flowers in the wedding bouquets she creates. Throughout the show from her base at the cutting garden of Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire, Rachel gives us her tips on how to grow, cut and arrange flowers. Also in tonight’s show, Joe Swift wants us all to get planting trees in our gardens. On his revival he visits the magnificent elm trees of Brighton, which didn’t fall victim to the devastating Dutch elm disease as it ravaged Britain in the 1970s and he marvels at the national collection of birch trees in Devon, the lifelong work of one man. Based at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Joe shows us some of his favourite trees for small gardens and also gives us his top tips on how to plant and prune trees. Please note, this version may differ slightly from the UKTX version.

In tonight’s show plantswoman Carol Klein shares her infectious passion for a style of gardening that she thinks is in much need of a revival – the rock garden. She tracks the history from its pinnacle during the Victorian era; visits a community in Bolton who have pulled back their local rockery from neglect and drops in on an old friend in the Midlands, to find out more about this much maligned gardening style. From her base at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, Carol demonstrates tried and tested techniques for growing success, as she shows us how to plant up a trough with some of her treasured rock garden favourites and gives advice on the best alpine bulbs for containers.Also in tonight’s show Toby Buckland is on the campaign trail for herb gardens. On his revival, he discovers how useful herbs have been throughout history, he learns that there was no such thing as a weed in Tudor times; meets a woman whose garden is overflowing with herbs we’ve forgotten and a botanist who grows plants to capitalise on their unique fragrances and essential oils. Toby shows us how to get the very best from fresh herbs: harvesting seeds, how to grow and care for them, whether you have a garden or not and how to make the most of herbs by storing them in clever and unusual ways. Please note, this version may differ slightly from the UKTX version.

In tonight’s show Diarmuid Gavin wants us to use glasshouses to restore a sense of adventure, flair and excitement to our gardens. On his campaign, he visits Wentworth Castle in Barnsley to help out with the final stages of the restoration of its elaborate Victorian glasshouse. He give us his guide to greenhouse buying and meets up with passionate allotmenteers in Nottingham, who have gone one better and designed and built their own remarkable greenhouses using recycled materials. Diarmuid gives us his top greenhouse growing tips; he gets to grips with hothouse flowers and explores the wealth of temperate and tropical flora on display at the National Botanic Gardens in Wales.Also tonight, Matt James thinks that shrubs have been overlooked and ignored for too long. He wants gardeners to rediscover and appreciate the importance of this amazing group of plants. On his journey he visits a garden in Norfolk where shrubs are the stars of the show and inspires a group of young gardeners at Flatford Mill in Suffolk, to plant shrubs in their gardens to encourage wildlife. Matt gives us his beginner’s guide to shrubs with the focus on colour, flower power and fragrance and he shares his top pruning tips, to help keep shrubs looking at their best year after year. Please note, this version may differ slightly from the UKTX version.