Great British Garden Revival

Wild Flowers – Monty Don In his revival campaign, Monty Don finds out that you really do reap what you sow. Since the first half of the 20th century, 98 per cent of wild flower meadows in Britain have been lost - a statistic that which Monty finds shocking. He passionately believes that it’s not too late to do something about this and gardeners all over the UK can grow our beautiful native wild flowers. Front Gardens – Joe Swift In the past, our front gardens were highly valued and we used them to show off our gardening prowess, but sadly over time, front gardens have been paved over for parking and turned into a no-man’s land between the street and front door. Joe Swift is determined that we return our front gardens to their former glory.

Topiary – Rachel De Thame Today, topiary is mostly seen as the preserve of stately homes and formal gardens, out of reach from the rest of us. Rachel de Thame however, thinks that it’s time that this great tradition of trimming and shaping plants returns to all our gardens. Roof Gardens – James Wong James Wong is up on the roof for his revival. Roof Gardens were at their height in the first half of the 20th century but they fell from grace and he now believes the time has come to return them to their rightful place, in a celebration of our gardening heritage.

Cottage Gardens – Carol Klein As a passionate plantswoman, Carol Klein wants us all to embrace one of the most iconic and quintessentially British styles of gardening in her revival – the cottage garden. House Plants – Tom Hart Dyke Plant hunter and gardener Tom Hart Dyke is championing house plants in his revival. House plants were once revered by the Victorians but now they are much maligned, seen as dull and boring, something you would associate with being forgotten on a windowsill or gathering dust on your granny’s sideboard. As a plant hunter, Tom wants us all to fall back in love with the house plant, and hosts his campaign from the Glasshouse at RHS Garden Wisley.

Cut Flowers – Rachel De Thame In her revival, Rachel de Thame investigates the decline of Britain’s cut-flower industry. On her campaign she visits New Covent Garden and discovers that 90 per cent of our cut flowers are imported. She also meets a man in Cumbria who has dedicated his life to growing sweet peas. Cut flowers are big business and £120 million a year is forked out on wedding flowers. This is something close to Rachel’s heart, as she recently arranged the flowers for her daughter’s wedding and showcased the flowers she is passionate about bringing back into all our homes. Trees – Joe Swift Today only 2 per cent of Britain is covered in ancient woodland and, in our gardens, we’ve fallen out of love with trees, which is why they are the focus of Joe Swift’s revival. He loves them and as a garden designer, trees are the first things he considers when laying out a garden.

Rock Gardens – Carol Klein Carol Klein shares her infectious passion for a style of gardening that is in much need of a revival. Rock gardens were at the pinnacle of Victorian garden fashion. Carol opens up the horticultural display cabinet to the finest remaining examples across the country. Herb Gardens – Toby Buckland Toby Buckland loves plants that you can grow and actually use. Throughout history, herbs have been used in medicine, to stimulate the senses and, of course, as a flavouring in food - but he thinks there’s a danger that our knowledge and understanding of these plants is being lost. Tucked away on the banks of the Thames, The Chelsea Physic Garden is the base for Toby’s Herb Garden Revival.

Glasshouses – Diarmuid Gavin In our own homes we’ve lost sight of the potential for growing under glass. In this episode, Chelsea gold-medal-winning designer Diarmuid Gavin wants us to use glasshouses to restore a sense of adventure, flair and excitement to our gardens. The base for his revival is the Great Glasshouse of the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire. Shrubs – Matt James Matt James believes that shrubs deliver by the bucket load. Fantastic for privacy and screening, backdrops, focal points, fragrance, flower and foliage, they have been overlooked and ignored for too long but that is about to change. Matt thinks they can give a garden so much and in his revival he wants people to rediscover and appreciate the importance of this amazing group of plants.

Rachel de Thame shares her love of old roses. In her revival, she meets a nurseryman in Oxford involved in the restoration and conservation of old rose gardens, takes to the streets of Solihull with her pop-up rose garden and visits the most famous rose nursery in the UK. Joe Swift wants to dispel some of the myths which have grown up around climbers and creepers and shows us that, with the right selection and a little bit of maintenance, they will suit any style of garden. On his revival, he meets a university research team investigating the effects that climbing plants can have on our buildings, sizes up the longest wisteria in the country and finds out that climbing plants can also be productive on a visit to a cooperative vineyard in London.

Carol Klein reveals that she is daft about daffodils. On her revival she uncovers the history of the UK daffodil industry on a visit to Cornwall's Tamar Valley, takes to the streets of Falmouth and paints the town yellow, and meets a specialist bulb merchant in Somerset. Chris Beardshaw is on the blossom campaign trail. On his revival he visits a man in the Scottish Borders who has restored a walled garden and created a living library of heritage fruit trees; takes to his bike on the blossom trail in Worcestershire; and meets a woman in Edinburgh who has been campaigning to save the flowering cherry trees on her street from the chop.

James Wong wants to revive a plant which has fallen deeply out of garden fashion - the rhododendron. On his revival he visits the Lost Gardens of Heligan to see species of rhododendron which have been saved from the edge of extinction; he meets a scientist who is bringing Victorian species back from the dead; and attempts to win over the people of Truro with dwarf varieties suitable for any garden. Christine Walkden wants to revive a garage forecourt favourite - the carnation. On her revival she visits a specialist nursery who have been growing carnations for over 100 years; she heads to Gravetye Manor, the former home of the esteemed botanist, gardener and champion of naturalistic planting - William Robinson; and hits the streets in an attempt to bring back a forgotten tradition, the gentleman's buttonhole.

Toby Buckland wants to bring back scent to our gardens, visiting a scented garden at Kenilworth Castle which was originally created to win the heart of a queen. He holds the country's first ever scented flower competition and gets behind the science of scent when he meets a chemist and perfumer in the Cotswolds. Tom Hart Dyke wants to convince us all to grow tulips. He visits Spalding, which used to be the heart of tulip growing in the UK. He discovers the turbulent history of the broken tulip which four hundred years ago brought an economy to its knees, and lends a hand to one of Britain's last large-scale commercial tulip growers in Norfolk.

Diarmuid Gavin wants us to rekindle our love for lavender. On his revival he learns about its popularity and decline, when he visits what was once one of the major lavender growing regions in the UK. Alys Fowler wants to bring back an important part of our gardening heritage - the knot garden. On her revival she visits Hampton Court Palace to learn about one of the earliest knot gardens created, she helps out with a knot garden community restoration project in the Midlands and meets a man whose knot garden has turned into a real labour of love.

Rachel de Thame thinks that irises aren't getting the attention they deserve. On her revival she uncovers one woman's mission to save a unique collection of heritage irises and she gets creative with floral art using irises for inspiration. Toby Buckland reveals there is so much more to grass than meets the eye. On his revival he discovers the Victorians' passion for ornamental grasses with a visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew; he attempts to rebrand grasses to deal with their complicated, tongue-twisting Latin names, which often put gardeners off; and he meets a modern-day plant hunter who travels the world in search of unusual and exotic grasses.