When we started in Nottingham for Episode 2 we had no idea that we would be experiencing all four season in one day.
I can honestly say this job was the first time I got snowed on and sunburned in the same day!
This is our director Jules talking with Simon the cameraman and Darren our producer and shooter. They are trying here to get to grips with how much work we had to get done in this garden in such a short amount of time, and against such extreme weather conditions. As you can see, all the kagools are out in readiness for the onslaught.
Here is the Frosts team huddled under the gazebo, taking a break from the rain which was pelting it down. As you can see, everybody was covered in mud, and there was a brutal amount of work to do as we tried to keep ourselves and all of the wood and equipment as dry as we could on this very difficult shoot.
Katie here is doing some of her presenting. She is wrapped up in her thick coat and her boots as she looks at what she can create in this garden.
Next we see the beginning of the building of the summer house, which was a pretty massive construction. Katie is chatting to Jules and our other director, Natalie, with some of the camera crew as we got ready to shoot.
We’ve had wind, we’ve had rain, and now you see we have some sun.
At lunch time I’m always banging on that we never get any seats, and we end up sitting on the curb while we eat. As you can see here, Katie and Frances have had a better idea, and commandeered the two mini diggers as there dining area.
Myself? I found a nice neighbour’s wall and sat on that.
Here you can see the ‘plan chat’.
At the beginning of each project Alan and the girls and myself get together and look at the plans for what we are going to be doing.
After getting a shot of us all together, here you can see the camera takes my place at the table to get the point of view of what I am seeing as we look over the plans.
This is Kevin, a diva for these blogs, in his thick fleece, desperately trying to keep warm with the use of a bowl of porridge.
Nice one, Kev.
I love this beautiful wooden summerhouse for the kids that Katie was working on. It was in the style of an old wagon, and I thought the white and red colours worked great. You can see Frances here working hard to get the final paint job done on it.
This is Kevin, the digger driver, along with our producer, Jim.
Jim is in charge of most of the production on site, and is effectively our boss on location. He’s always good when it comes to flat-pack – here he is opening his first instructions, and he’s not looking happy!
Next shot is of Amy getting a taste of her own medicine.
Amy is the make-up artist on the shoot and she does a fantastic job, dabbing me with a little cement behind my ears, a little bit of peat under my fingernails, and a bit of compost above my eye. Here, though, it’s Matt that is giving her a bit of touch-up with some fence stain!
You’ve been framed!
Tam and Sam here having a laugh with one of the framers and giving it all the smiles. You can see our producer, Colin, on the right looking serious in the midst of the silliness.
While we’re talking about Colin, he always does a bit of graft himself. Here he is doing a superb job in helping Katie out with a willow weave round the back.
I loved the willow weave – it’s so creative and so natural, it just looked great in the garden.
You wouldn’t recognise him, but this is Guy loitering around the portaloos. He’s holding some sort of flat-pack item and doing his famous E.T. impersonation as he tries to keep warm.
But as you can see here, the sun would come back out and suddenly we’d be boiling again!
Tam shows that he knows how to use his head as he helps Matt fix up the posts at the bottom of the garden.
Here you can see Frances filming, and you can also see the evidence that she has been leaning against her handiwork…
It really was absolutely freezing.
This is Stormbringer, a.k.a. Lloyd, one of our sound guys, and he is so cold that he is trying get warmth from a light bulb.
Good luck with that, Lloyd.
Here, finally, is a little selfie I took while we all sheltered inside the summer house, waiting for the snow to stop falling and trying to keep a brave face against such adverse weather.
It was a marvellous shoot for a very deserving family. I hope they enjoy the garden as much as we enjoyed making it, because even with all of the terrible weather we still had a fantastic time creating it together.
Come back next week for more behind-the-scenes fun with Love Your Garden: Episode 3!
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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