ALAN T KNOWS A GOOD GARDEN WHEN HE SEES ONE.

I see what you mean DD. What a fabulous place. I like the effect of the mirror, but its all so beautiful isnt it. Like how the greenhouse is tucked in the corner, the lawns are immaculate and the planting superb. Lovely blog.

Thanks Cinders, and the cake was good too lol

Thanks for showing this DD, it's a beautiful garden, everything is perfect, lawn like a bowling green, lovely selection of plants...in fact, it's just like yours!! ;0)

Loved it DD...Thank you

wow, my goodness. Especially love the summerhouse. How cool would that be as a retreat on a hot day.
thanks for the lovely blog.

Aim to please Weeding ...hope all is well with you and the little weeds?
Your welcome Mot. Libet you are too kind....blush blush, or more hot flush lol

What a gorgeous garden - a real Wow! Thanks Dotty, and yes, the new series on Fridays sounds a must-watch.

Don't want to be a nuisance but do you think the frothy white flowers in photo No.8 was a rose? I've been hunting for something frothy and white . . .

It's a little paradise on earth! This is probably what we should call a garden. It makes mine look a simple backyard.

Can you imagine what it would cost to plant up a garden like that......and the hours spent to keep it like that?
Plus he/she can bake a nice cake!!!

That is beautiful Dotty, I love the mirror and the pond.

Lol!! That was funny! Ditto! Yet another 'tropical moment' Phew!!

Wow, I could definitely live with this garden! Can't wait for the programme to start this Friday.
Thanks for sharing your lovely photos Dottydaisy2. :-))

Oh, I love too :)))))

Viewed these pics twice and can find nothing to complain about ... it's fabulous ... looking forward to seeing the TV prog. too. Thanks for posting this blog, Dd. : o ))

That's my kind of garden too! That greenhouse looks to be the same as mine, painted green. I love the Cercis and the pond and that beautiful silver leaved pyrus? tree. Wonderful garden isn't it, excellent attention to detail. I wondered how they found the Gardens for AT's new prog. Did they use all NGS gardens do you know?

Great blog, Dd! Some wonderful planting , and such a lovely garden! I am looking forward to our Mr A.Ts new series too..

Looks a lovely garden... love the summer house... looking forward to seeing it on the programme......

wow angela ................ thats gawjuss carnt wait for the new show to start either ............. how fantastic you got to see it yourself , love the sumerhouse x

oh thanks for posting that blog, the garden looks beautiful with some ideas I want to steal / borrow..

was only saying to mike that i want the mans face with the trough under neath ............ where my tap is lol , and i allso wondered how did they find the gardens ????

wow! thats incredible! its like another world ~ a world of beauty and plants. thank you for putting it on here

Lovely tended Garden, the only thing that spoilt it for me, is the Water feature, with its manky green water, and the dirty overall look.!!

What wonderful mature planting. I always think that I have too many flowers when I see how lovely the leaf colours are. Great pics Dd, I'm so looking forward to the new program. Crissue, I suppose that water is always this colour unless chemicals are used...maybe the birds use it. I wouldn't say no to it in my garden lol:-)

Oh Dotty, thank you so much for this blog. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the beautiful garden and what planting and plants, absolutely amazing, in fact, its left me quite depressed, in a nice way. They seem to have all my favourites.
Dotty: Any idea what the plant is in pic no.3, behind the topless statue, lol.

Well I knew you would love it, I was stunned when I entered the garden, because the front is not very inspiring at all, but through the gate and it's WOW, now to answer questions firstly Sheila it is rose and the white ones were Seagull and Iceberg (because I asked lol)
Regarding how the gardens were picked I was on another gardening site and you could enter your garden if you thought it was unusual, interesting, etc or you had a tale to tell!!
Dawn looking back at the pictures it does look like a Melianthus to me, but will check because we will be going back and taking our daughter and SIL (keen gardeners) later on to have a better look, went with friends but they are not as mad about gardening as OH and myself, so had to get a move on lol
So pleased you all enjoyed it, will be visiting a lot of NGS gardens, Hampshire has so many, so I will keep you all posted.

Thanks Dotty, I'll google that.
Look at the Darmera pelata too, absolutely stunning, I can only dream mine will be that big one day, sigh.

Im back ..... Does look like Melianthus,very nice but research says for milder climates, nevermind.

Now THAT is a real garden !
I would love to have walked around there Dd, it's wonderful :-))

on the tralier for t.marsh ....... its the garden you went round d.d carnt wait to watch , ,,,,,,

Absolutely stunning added to favourites so I can keep going back to have another look.
Dawn I grow melianthus major and have found it no problem if you cut back very hard late autumn and give it a very deep mulch. However having said that It got overlooked this winter and did not survive (first time in about six years) have just replaced it with a new plant from cotswold garden flowers they were not ready when we went but she let me buy it has a tiny plug no more than 3inches. Hope this is helpful to you.

I've done the same Stroller, re faves !

Many thanks Dotty, for naming the roses. :)

Thanks Stroller, our conditions must be geographically similar, that's good to know. Sorry yours perished this year, what a shame but at least you have something new now.

Crissue, I suppose that water is always this colour unless chemicals are used...maybe the birds use it. I wouldn't say no to it in my garden lol:-)

Hi Bornagain...no need for green water, it's continuously recycling, change the water, clean the surround with a bit of elbow grease, and no need for chemicals..A small job considering the amount of money that's obviously been poured into this project... :o))

Hi Crissue, last year I bought a bird bath fountain called the Kensington Bubbler (Henri studio) and as it's all in one piece, there is no way to empty it. I wouldn't have bought it had I known. The result is, birds including wood pigeons drink there and do what they do and the water is perpetually green. Every so often I flood it to get it as clean as possible, to help prevent disease spread in my bird population. I can't do it too often as it's such a waste of water. I imagine this has the same sort of problem. Now...if you are offering lol:-)))

Dawn we grow the Melianthus have done for many years, also grew it in the Midlands, but we do mulch it heavily now, because of the bad winters.
Please you liked it Louise and Stroller,I am looking forward to visiting it again in July.
Dawn once those Darmera take off there is no stopping them, ours had trebled this year in size.
Sheila your welcome.
Cristina I saw the trailer and recognized the pond and bridge I would love that in our garden.....

All I can say is ...WOW.... I would die for a garden like that and the knowledge of all the plants to go with it!!

Thanks Dotty, maybe the Melianthus is worth a try then, thank you. I have a few Darmera, I hope they go mad, are yours in a damp area? A couple of mine are but another 3 are on the bank of the pond but quite high up the bank.
All set for 8.00pm, recorder set too. I saw this garden on the trailer too, hopefully the garden will be featured tonight :0

yes dawn its def going to be on 2 nite ............. showed abit more and interview with the oweners earlier today !!
happy watching lol , i am in my bed chilling , oh making me a cupper ........... haven lol

Good for you Cris, you relax and enjoy it.
Oh yes, this lovely garden is on tonight, I feel like I've been there already thanks to Dotty.
Isnt the garden amazing!!!!

Oh, just realised this is the one on tv I just watched - isn't it amazing! Thank you for this DD - it's so much better being able to see it on here, as well, you have given all the detail, now I can see it again and again. Thank you.

Was great, wasnt it Sticki. What a fab garden.

Just beautiful, so perfect, she made me smile when she said she sold the microwave to buy the acer, good swap I thought.

Lol Sticki, I would sell anything in exchange for an Acer, well almost, lol. Those flat stones by the pond were much better, with the small stones behind, I thought that bit was a bit staged but I like Alan Titchmarsh, I feel he's a proper gardener, loved it and looking forward to the next episodes.

Well, I watched the prog. and was very disappointed with it. Apart from Mr.T. suggesting planting Hostas & Ferns in groups of three, and using the same brick edging for continuity in the garden, I didn't feel new gardeners would learn much at all! The pics on this blog are far superior to the programme. What was that 'Catatorium' feature all about too ? Sorry, not impressed with the first episode . . . .

I liked it better than monty who seemed to be digging the compost yet again. Monet's garden was lovely but too many people!
I like Alan titchmarsh tho, he is a real 'people' person, which comes over well, monty is not and doesn't pretend to be.

I liked the programme and look forward to the rest. But I can see what Shirley Tulip means, I think the cats and bees were a mistake in a 1/2 hour prog which this garden could have easily filled all by itself.

It was lovely to feel "privileged" thanks to Dotty, that we'd already seen the garden. But I agree with you, Shirley . . . mildly interesting, but a bit forced. I'll be watching next time though - just because it's so interesting to see private gardens!

lol dawn ..............yes enjoyed watching , through it should have been an hr long ..................... so disappointed wen it wasn't urggg, 4 get the cats lol whats that got to do with ur garden and how to get the look , and the cooking lol ................ bees yes , liked that as you need them in a garden !!!
sheila bubi love to see gardens to , but i think she did not really need to sell a microwave to get an acer ................... she didn't look poor really !!! did she .............. and as 4 building the summer house ... are they builders and thatchers !! ............ i loved it , but joe average cant thatch a roof .
will watch next week as any gardens are interesting

i was only half watching ~ as normal ~ spent more time on here!!

lol sticki get over to i player now !!! hehe

Good point, Drc . . cats, bees, cooking were unncessary extras . . let's just have half-an-hour having an in-depth tour of the garden. (Perhaps Dotty would be kind enough to visit ALL the gardens featured, so that we can see them properly, lol!)

now that is an excellent idea sheila ~ our own wandering reporter, for an in-depth look.

I've just caught up with Dd's blog, and I did watch AT's programme. Thanks for posting this - it gives a really good insight into the garden. OH's first comment was that it wasn't exactly a 'small' garden. Well - how big was it in reality, Dd?

By the way, I enjoyed the programme, but agree about the bits that should have been left out - the bees and the ice cream. AT could have shown us and named some plants in that time.

and she dident look as tho she had to sell the m.wave either lol ...................

no i thought that too cristina but perhaps looks are deceiving??

I did enjoy it, but it was soooo contrived and a little disappointing. Maybe it's me, I expect too much from a gardening program. Maybe stick to GOY...but I'll watch next week as naturally I love to see other peoples gardens and always want ideas. I don't believe she needed to sell her microwave either Cris;-))

loved the prog but not long enough, i adore looking at other gardens, people have such fantastic ideas loved the wildlife house underneath the bench!!!!my next project!!!

I watched the programme too and thought the garden looked even better in real life then in the photos and that was saying somthing because your photos were brilliant Dd.

I really love this garden and wish it was mine !!!

well we can all wish lou .............. will still watch next week

Brilliant blog, beautiful garden! I watched the programme and as you say when they opened that gate i was saying 'oh wow' thats gorgeous, lucky you for seeing the real thing!!

I fell in love with her garden the moment I saw it DD; but I don't think this is a small garden. It looks huge to me!! You've been there so how big would you say it is DD?
Her use of plants is amazing and the pond is to die for. Wish I could pick her garden up and bring it to London ha ha

I think the whole point was that it wasn't huge, Great. There were many very clever visual tricks - disappearing grass paths, etc, beautifully portrayed by Daisy.

I agree I would have much preferred more of Alan identifying plants and associations - honey icecream? Forget it!!!

I did think the 'rocks' around the pond were put there deliverately for filming, made me laugh!

Louise and so do I, it is lovely and the design is so clever, because it was on a very difficult plot, the owner
has used every bit of space to add interest.
Great it is a small garden not as small as ours, but, an odd shape, but the design makes it look larger.
Daylily we will be going back again in July, will spend an hour this time taking it all in.
Regarding selling the microwave please remember this garden must be 20 years old and to buy a tree ferns years ago cost the earth, I should know because we could never afford to buy one, so she most probably did sell her microwave (because they also cost a fortune) and looking at the tree fern it is a very old one.
Millie I agree they never make these gardening programs long enough do they?
Spritz you could not put a measurement to it as it was an awkward shape, bigger than ours, yes but still small, I agree with the naming of plants, does annoy me that this is not done.
Sheila and Stiki I would love nothing better than visiting gardens and photographing them for you all, should have been visiting one this afternoon but it has not stopped raining Hurrah at last!! so we will go tomorrow instead.

Wagger you were right about the bricks around the edge, the owner admitted Alan needed a project and they hadn't got one as the garden was finished, so that was stage managed so obvious lol

i saw this program dotty and lkoved this garden to, sorry late :o) anything with alan in is worth watching i say hahah

i like him too sanbaz ~ worth listening to him on desert island discs.

:o))) i have to really concentrate or i end up watching him more than the gardens lol, i must try listening to that to sticki.

you will be ok with this ~ you cant see him!!!! :-))

Paradise on earth. That sums it up!

I'm with you one this one Bornagain, soooo contrived. Let's see what next week brings. As for little Alan, does he want to be a gardener, a chatshow host, an interviewer (Charles/Philip), classical music presenter, etc. etc. Jack of all trades springs to mind.

I am with San and Stickti on this one I like Alan and whatever he does he does it professionally, and he has a sense of humour and I for one shall be glued to my seat next Friday lol

well looks like we all going to be glued to the tell next week then lol ............... interesting coments tho d.d

i saw him once at a concert, he was doing the introducing bit ~ he did it so well, i just think he likes people and he makes things entertaining and interesting for the likes of me!!!

I do like him as he has a very natural charm and puts people at ease..and he's from Yorkshire :-)
Glad to hear you're a radio 4 fan too Sticki..I have it on most of the time:-)

do you ever find that they repeat stuff a bit too much?? i would have it on more if they didnt do that.

They repeat more now than ever:-(

its a real shame cos they do such good stuff; i wouldnt mind them putting on old things but its when they do 2 or 3 repeats within the week that i get frustrated, they dont need to do that any more cos everyone can catch up via internet.

We went to "An evening with Alan" a few years ago ... he was incredibly natural with no airs or graces at all. One lady in the audience said she'd read all of his books ... to which he replied "I'll pay you later for saying that!". I really enjoyed the evening . . .

i think BA explained it well ~ he has natural charm ~ i like no airs or graces ~ cant be doing with that sort of thing. i like the natural.

Not so natural that he doesn't dye his hair though. I know that because he was in front of me in a queque - and being taller than him I could see that the roots needed touching up.

Meow Ginellie.........I still like him dyed hair or not lol

Saucer of milk over in the corner ... lol!

:*) Shirley.......

Just telling it as it is. I dye my hair - don't you?

Dotty, when you go back next month, will you do another blog PLEASE. It is such a beautiful garden.

Regarding the boundary fencing, do they have leylandii (contolled) all the way around?

I was just jesting with you, Ginellie, no offence meant whatsoever. I may partake of a little help to disguise the 'salt & pepper' colour hair ... lol! : o )

Well Shirley t, today I realised that my hair matched my handbag - and mustard is not a great colour for most people - so by this afternoon I was sort of bark coloured. A great improvement.

LOL Ginellie! What with my salt & pepper and your mustard, we could be a condiment set . . .

Love it Shirley. Not sure what the Leylandii bit referred to in Dawnsaunt's comment but have to say that when I was standing behind Alan in 'that queue' I just had to ask him a question. Having just moved into this house with a garden completely overlooked I wondered what screening I could use. 'Excuse me, could I ask you a question'. 'Go on then' he said. 'OK, Leylandii - ever, or never'?. 'NEVER' was the reply. He then kindly went on to give me various alternatives, several of which I used with great results. Thank you little Alan.

Dawn I will take a closer look, but there was a hedge privet I think? and yes I will put on another blog if you wont be bored with all my pics, have been to visit another of Alans gardens (not for Love your garden) also visited by the late but lovely Geoff Hamiliton, after the weekend I will put the pics on......

I wish Alan would go to a real Gardeners garden, one they haven't had money to throw at...it might be twenty years old, but those type of greenhouses for a start are an arm and a leg..and summer house with thatch, ker ching..Let's see the gardeners that do build their own ponds, and lay paths, and trawl reclaim yards for materials and items of interest... When Alan bought his house on the I.O.W. his programme went step by step through his planting of shrubs & trees, etc etc, and maintained interest all the way through...That looked too staged...and probably have maintenance gardeners keeping it pristine....

Looking forward to your next blogs Dotty x

Yes me too Dawnsaunt, I look forward to more pics Dd, never boring, and the next garden visit by A T too. I just love the idea of visiting others gardens, and since I can't get to the NGS yellow book gardens anymore This is the next best thing. I think it would be a great idea if there was a program just showing us all the yellow book gardens....only problem is...I can't buy any of the lovely plants they nearly always have for sale:-)))

i actually agree with crissue ............. a.t says that they built there summer house themselves out of reclaimed stuff ................... no way , as you say .. how many people can thatch lol ........... paid someone to do i thin k . am not saying the gardens not nice , i thought it was gawjus .................. but as you say its def had loads of money throne at it ,,,,,,,,,, we do use and make do with a lot of reclaimed stuff ............. and every thing is reused in our garden . in fact you be amazed wot we have used to make things lol .................
but i do get a lot of inspiration from these programs !!!
any way am looking 4 ward to more blogs d.d ... so we can all have a banter and a frendly debate lol
bring it on dotty .;0)))

I feel I must take issue on your comments about the garden above, we spoke to Jill and Michael (the owners) for some time, they did build the the pond the bridge the jetty, Jill laid some of the paths herself, and she had been up since 5 am when we visited, so no gardeners employed there, I do not know about the thatching but Michael did build the summerhouse from reclaimed material, Jill is the gardener and is very much a hands on one too, and over 20 years one greenhouse is not an extravagance, this is a real garden lovingly built by the owners over a long period of time, by a very talented couple, living in a very ordinary bungalow with an extraordinary garden..........I am sorry but I felt this needed to be said!!

Hi DD...W'ere all entitled to an opinion...we can't all like the same things...I think it looks too staged, and tbh I've seen GOYers gardens that are more than worthy of being featured on AT's programme...also...If she's got no outside help, then I would imagine she's probably out there at 5am every morning...lol...

Did you see last nights program Dd? It was a fantastic formal garden in Swansea, all tended by one man! I loved it although not the type I would want (garden not man lol) but the cloud pruning I would love, I've never seen cloud pruning like this before, so I'm tempted to have a go on something:-)

Crissue I agree we cannot like the same things, but it was the comments regarding loads of money spent on it, it certainly was not that type of garden, it was all about the clever use of planting and colour, foliage, the whole design was excellent and certainly a pleasure for OH and myself to see, if it came over as being stage managed then that was the fault of the program, small gardens rely heavily on features, just look at Mossys and his wonderful garden....Jill is an obsessive gardener like me, I spend at least two hours a day and sometimes more to keep the garden up to scratch.....

BA have not seen it yet, we were out last night so will watch it later, look forward to seeing the cloud pruning, did you see my baby cloud pruning lol thanks for letting me know BA....

quiet agree with you saying its the programs fault bt the staging .......... d.d . wen they came here to do the add 4 cuprinal , they were here all day 4 a 5 sec ... photo !!
they had arc lights in the garden .......... xtra plants 4 more colour ect .............. was unbeleavable wot they do , they tuk over the house !!! . so carnt imagin wot went on to do a half hr program .
but thats wot makes this site interesting isent it !!! that we can all say our little bit !! and no one condems you 4 it .............. it lovely that some one like d.d can go see and give you a more down to earth a/c .
i am allso in the garden every day , dead heading , moveing stuff etc ............. .
looking 4 ward to catching up on last nites , as was out at puddleducks garden ................... ;0)))

There has only been 3 programmes, but so far this one is by far my favourite, sorry but last nights did not do it for me atall, i loved this one and its the one i couldnt record because my Sky box had broken, tried to watch it again on iplayer and the quality was rubbish! :^(

Three????? have I missed one?????:-(((( I would have this garden like a shot too:-) Dd I will look for your baby cloud pruning:-)

Yes, Bornagain, there was this one first, then the cottage garden last week and this week the Topiary garden :^))

i watched lastnights and even though alot of work had gone into it, im not to keen on the formal look and far to much green and not enough bright colours for me, but still enoughed watching Allan ummmm :o))

Have been out in the garden all day, and out again tonight, so still have not watched the latest AT, will try and see it tomorrow night when everyone has gone home.......

You must have had better weather than us Dd:-) I wonder what I was doing last week to miss one:-(

What a beautiful garden! Love that water feature!

Me too Pixi, in fact loved the whole garden, looking forward to seeing it again.

Agreeing with Sanbaz re the last AT prog - I watched it because I wanted to give AT another chance (he's not my fave, but never mind that).
It was very thought provoking and of its type a wonderful garden, but lacking in colour and we kept thinking, yes Alan, any flower would probably look "stunning" or "sing out" in front of a drab grey wall.

However, the gardener was bursting with pride and having a ball which is lovely to see isn't it, amongst all the garbage often screened at primetime on TV.

Also agree that the cloud pruning was v groovy.

I liked the first garden programme, apart from the pond alteration. So I didn't watch the next one/ones?. I enjoyed the one at Swansea, as it was such a quirky garden. It just shows how individual we gardeners are in terms of what we put into our gardens in the way of time, plants, physical effort and ourselves too. I was so pleased when all the decking programmes finally petered out. I am not a complete fan of AT.

yes, RIP decking!
Noticed at the end of the Swansea one that he was still using a "Titchmarsh blue" bench to sit on though. lol

Sorry to reply so late but I've only just found you blog, DD! Playing "catch up" today! LOL! :-))

I watched the first programme on iPlayer as I've little time to watch TV! I liked it but it was far too short at only about 20 minutes! I haven't seen the other two, yet! I've not even seen GW with Monty in a couple of weeks!

I found your blog very interesting DD as well as reading through all the comments (Phew!) & I loved the photos you posted! I was confused while reading your blog because some parts looked familiar while others didn't!

Looking forward to seeing a new blog on this garden.

I'm quite partial to Titchmarsh blue, blue pots and the like Weeding, I got blue bits before AT. All that measuring sawing and banging, cleaning and fettling decking. Our cheeky foxes would be underneath in 2 shakes of a brush. Cubbing away like mad, and wrecking my flowerbeds.

I find it very interesting the way these colours come and go, I suppose it's a kind of fashion in gardens. Looking at the poshest show gardens on TV you see so much shiny steel or black, but I don't see them in "real" gardens now. The blue is friendlier.

The colour for fencing I really dislike is that bright brown shade, never out of fashion. We used what I call 'welly green' on our back fence, behind the camellias, and on a sunny day the fence just blends/vanishes. The bluey green is lovely on trellis extensions, but we don't have any. I would not like a whole fence in AT blue.....too much....but a touch here and there. The creosote days are gone. Its lovely that we can have a splash of colour or make something vanish with a pot of wood preservative.

I've got two new orangey brown ones....lovely:-(

I've got a bit of blue Bornagain...then never painted on our side.... tut tut. Welly green at the back behind a lot of vegetation. Then a hideous concrete panel wall with a metal notice that forbids interfering with said wall. Both our wooden boundaries are sprayed on the other sides your lovely brown.

Well DD, here I am again digging up your blogs for inspiration, going to find your Open Garden ones next. This is another super garden, isnt it and very appropriate as dated 5th June.

Hello Dawn, you're a devil for punishment!! We will be going to this garden again in a couple of weeks....this is an NGS garden......not sure I put many photos of our open days on.....

I am, arent I. I've just been looking through my fav blogs and no, I cannot see your garden. Soooo looking forward to seeing a blog on your NGS garden day and this one too :-)

I still have this on my Sky planner, my favourite :-))

Hi Daylily, its great to look back for ideas, thanks DD for sharing x

Dawn we haven't got an open day this year, we are just doing private bookings, you have seen most of our garden in my pictures, but I will make the effort to take some decent photos for you.......it's half the size of Jill and Michaels, (the above garden) more the size of Roy's, but not as well put together lol

Angela, Im sure your gorgeous garden is just as good as Roy's. I guess private bookings are better. Yes please, more photos would be appreciated to see the flow of each area of your garden. x

Right will try and put together a blog, will wait until all the roses are out though!!

Thank you x. Its hard to believe you did this blog 5 years ago!

It doesn't seem so long ago. I hope their garden is still as pretty. Ours has had a jolly good watering from a prolonged thundery downpour.

The rain is missing us Dorjac, I wait all year for some warm weather but after not too long I'm wanting rain.

We shall be visiting this garden in a couple of weeks time, so I shall let you know...
It has been so hot today, had to water the garden, we could do with some rain.
We have our first visitors on Friday all the way from Norway!! it's bound to rain then isn't it? we are keeping our fingers crossed.......at least most of the roses will be out!!

let us know how Friday went. It was torrential rain here on Friday afternoon so hope you escaped it. Yay, roses out :-)

Oh yes, let me know how the garden looks in a couple of weeks time.

Dorjac we visit this garden at the beginning of July, so I will take my camera...
Dawn it went really well the people from Norway were lovely all 30 of them!! and the weather was perfect, we were so lucky...

That's great Dd, 30 wow!

A good little earner for the NGS......