Behind The Scenes – Love Your Garden 2017: Episode 5 – Eastbourne

For this week’s episode we transformed the garden of a 93-year-old veteran from the Second World War, reviving the outdoor space he once shared with his late wife, Audrey. We wanted it to be a place full of happy memories for Jack, and to give him a lovely place to do his artwork by creating an outdoor studio.

It was great fun to shoot and the weather was glorious. And Jack was so inspirational that I went out and bought some watercolour paints afterwards! What an honour it was to do this for him.

Our series producer, Colin, seemed to think that Katie’s pond was a jacuzzi. He was also receiving a lot of comments about his lack of socks…

…so someone was sent to fetch him some. Along with a nice cup of tea of course.

Our producer Thea has been with us on every series and does a marvellous job of finding all of the products that we need for each show. As you can see, everyone was in a great mood on this shoot.

Everything is really getting going in the garden here. I love the bright colours that Katie used to stain the fence on this one. People often think a fence needs to be brown, but using a bright colour instead can make all the difference to a garden.

Our cameraman Darren here has been getting a shot of this lovely decking that we put in. It had anti-slip strips built into the planks to give Jack a sure footing.

Matt and Sam here have been getting stuck in digging holes to install our Cor-Ten steel edging, which worked really well. You can use it for retaining walls much as you use sleepers. You can also get aluminium edging that you can pin down, which creates a variety of shapes and is easier to bend than steel.

We always know something arty is about to happen when Frances gets her glasses on. She really is immensely talented and invariably produces something great.

We are seeing more and more exterior art, such as hand-painted walls and fences, on display in chic gardens at the RHS Chelsea and Hampton flower shows.

Here is Ash who was putting up the building from Malvern buildings.

Outdoor buildings are getting more and more popular in gardens across the UK. They are beginning to be seen, not just as storage for bikes and lawnmowers, but as beautiful outdoor offices or garden retreats.

Here’s a happy crew. Matt the soundman with Darren at the back, and Guy trying to look handsome at the front with Julia and Jackie.

Guy, nonchalantly kicking back, taking a few office calls whilst relaxing on digger.

Believe it or not, this is the only seat we have on Love Your Garden. We usually end up sitting on curbstones or whatever, but the digger is the only comfortable place.

This is me and Matt Damon on the set of the latest Bourne film…

..only joking. This is one of the carpenters from Frosts, but what a doppleganger!

Frances sitting in meditative repose with the lotus flowers she has made. I believe she’s supposed to look enlightened.

Here’s Katie filling up the pond. We had to move a tremendous amount of soil out of this garden, but new soil makes such a difference. So if you’re revamping your garden and you have a lot of clay or heavy soil, consider getting as much fresh soil down as you can. Your plants will thank you, and you will really reap the benefits.

And here is all of that fresh soil coming in. You can get it in tonne bags if you have a lot to do.

Ken is looking like a bit of mafia muscle here as he does the heavy lifting. Colin there is wrestling with the legendary ‘plan chat’ table which has been with us for years and years, and we use to discuss the garden plans with Alan for every episode, .

Jim here is getting a low shot of Katie as she talks about the plant choices. We had a lot of flowers going in to this one, and they are the heart of any garden.

This is what it’s like when filming; there’s usually more than one camera on you at any time.

You can see all of our fresh soil down in the background which looks so much healthier. And the garden already feels bright with those lovely colours we’ve used.

You really have to get down and dirty on this job as you can see here. Nothing comes assembled, just like this bench, and that’s what often pinches us on time in the end.

Frances here getting creative with a wonderful Monet style painting on the wall, to which she added a bridge from bits of wood she found around the skip, and painted them to give a 3D effect.

Alan wanted to add a health and safety notice to her bridge that said ‘UNSOUND STRUCTURE – KEEP OFF’

You can see what Frances thinks of that here.

Alan doing a bit of presenting here while the plants go in. We always feel better at that point, and everything starts to fall into place.

Colin and Guy having a good laugh as Amy gives me my very own ‘man-bun’. They just wish their hair was long enough for them to have one too.

This dismembered head is actually Sam, just giving Frances some advice on hanging the paintings.

I don’t know what Katie has seen here, but she’s not happy about it.

It was real pleasure creating this garden for Jack. The weather was gorgeous and it’s a beautiful part of the world down in Eastbourne.