Tag: behind the scenes

Love Your Garden episode 7: Photos from behind the scenes

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Go behind the scenes of ITV Love Your Garden 2015! Here are all the photos of the team, showing how we create the gardens you see on TV.

1 This has got to be one of the most spectacular views that we’ve had working in a back garden. It’s always nice when you’re grafting and laying paving to come out and see that view. Unfortunately while we were filming the farmer decided to come and cut the field, making it challenging for the soundmen and for continuity. But what a view!

2 Here is a shot from the beginning of the makeover. Before everyone gets in, Frosts Landscapes come and prepare the garden. But trying to get everything level on this plot was a nightmare. It always starts with heavy machinery and here’s Matt on the digger.

3 You can’t tell from this photo, but it was pouring down with rain. It was before we had chance to put up the marquee so we’re all standing under the eaves of the house trying not to get wet.

4 Frances is taking a rest on our traditional garden seating that is reserved for Love Your Garden presenters: the kerb. We’re just about to get filming on the first day and we’re waiting for everything to arrive.

5 I’m carrying the wood into the garden here. We needed lots of planks to shore up the back of the garden and get it as level as possible. Now I’m looking at the picture I think it seems quite biblical, as if I’m holding a crucifix! I promise it wasn’t planned that way.

6 It was a sisterly episode this week. Here is Frances and her sister who came to help out with the show. It looks more like a pose from the Kray twins than the Tophill Two! But it was nice to see her again.

7 Katie gets given the front garden on this show and here she is marking out the space. All of us end up with boots that have white or yellow toes and people ask us: what’s that on your shoes? It’s when you mark out lines with these spray cans and always end up painting your own feet.

8 Look at these – actual seats! I don’t know where these came from! But Frances and I nabbed them sharpish to put our feet up and relax. It was a very hot day so we had a little chat during our tea break. Lovely.

9 This is a picture of Storm Bringer! Lloyd is our soundman and whichever episode he is working on, we always get rain. In this photo it is one of the hottest days of the year in July. Storm Bringer turns up and look those black clouds following him! Typical.

10 These are our caterers. They cook the food for us for breakfast and lunch. They do a great job and we all (especially me) love the food – it’s marvellous.

11 In fact, here is Katie getting caught stuffing her face! Look at what she is eating – bananas on toast! And there’s Tam acting as her bouncer while she tries to scoff it down. Nice try Katie, but I saw you.

12 Even more food-related photos now. Kevin is always trying to get on these blogs and here he is chowing down on a bacon sarnie. That’s going down a treat!

13 This is Andy, Alan’s driver. What a coincidence – the portaloos were called Andy’s loos. Yes, you can do your poos in Andy’s loos! He’s not impressed that they’ve copied his name.

14 This is a shot of producer-directors Natalie and Will. This is when we went out filming for the garden shading, looking for the right style to take back to the makeover. It was a boiling hot day and we needed some shade!

15 Here are Kevin and Marcus carrying a pallet. Kevin is quickly realising that it’s heavier than he thought. And no wonder – look at that cheeky monkey Thea in the middle! She’s our associate producer and she’s snuck into this pallet for a ride.

16 Poor Marcus. He went in there to try and fix part of the roof and can you believe it – some of the other Frosts Landscapes lads locked him in! What a cheek. Still, time for a photo before I let him out.

17 Here is Alan instructing everyone on where to be planting with the camera crew at the back. The garden is just starting to come together.

18 Here is a picture of the alleyway. This gives you an idea of the challenges I face as a landscaper. That is my barrow in the foreground and Marcus is just in front. We’re trying to wheel some compost into the garden but we can’t get in! Cameramen, soundmen and directors are all in the way. It’s a constant battle to navigate your wheelbarrow around the whole production crew.

19 This is a shot for the girls! It’s carpenter Sam. He’s licensed to thrill – or drill. He’d better get a move on and do some work instead of posing for the blogs all the time – he’s worse than Kev.

20 Frances and I are modelling some sunglasses for Macular Awareness Week with the Macular Society. It’s a great charity and we love to help raise awareness. Plus I love those glasses! I wish I could keep a pair.

21 Here is Matt helping put together the beautiful bird bath feature with the glass. It looked amazing when it was finished.

22 Hayley is here with Frances’ sister putting together the framework for the picture. That took us a long time. It was supposed to be a nice easy job but we ended up spending hours and hours on it. Even our director had to get down on her knees and get stuck in!

23 These are the singers rehearsing. They really looked the part when they were dressed up in their vintage clothes.

24 As soon as the girls had finished, the Frosts Landscapes lads thought they would have a go at some singing. They were trying to do some Arctic Monkeys numbers – well they certainly look like monkeys. Matt was definitely getting into it! Sam is rocking those glasses and Kevin is looking soulful.

25 Here is the finished garden. I loved this design – it had a lot of fluid movement. The paving was amazing and there were loads of features. It was also a pleasure to see the two lovely ladies enjoying their new garden.

26 This picture cracks me up. I love these two dog cushions. Little touches like this give a garden such a lot of personality. It was lovely to be part of this makeover.

Check out the before and after photos of the garden!

And get the vintage look with our plant list here!

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October 15, 2015
Love Your Garden series 4 episode 8: Behind the scenes photos

You’ve seen the show, now check out what happens behind the scenes!

(Missed it? Watch it on ITVPlayer now!)

I’m on my up to Wisbech in the car and I’m not sure which road to take. Then I see this sign, and I know I’m definitely going in the right direction.

Here is a picture of the hard landscapers on site. This is before the rest of the crew arrive, and we are getting the area ready. The problem is that there were a couple of horrendous thunderstorms earlier on in the week that seriously hampered clearance of the garden.

I’m looking at this realising that we are dramatically behind schedule. Just after this photo was taken, we discovered a load of underground drains that put us even further back. It was really stressful and very hard work.

Here we can see Natalie, one of our directors, using a cheeky finger to rewrite the sign longmarsh ltd to titchmarsh ltd. In the end she wiped it off – she didn’t want to get caught doing it. Too late!

With a camera that big, you can’t even see Katie’s head! Every time there’s a camera left out, she grabs it. I think deep down, she wants to be a camera operator. She would do a brilliant job, but she needs to build up her muscles first to lift cameras that size!

Here is a very sad picture. At the beginning of the series, Kevin had brought one of these expandable gazebos in his car boot. On the first episode when it rained, he said ‘don’t worry, I’ve got a gazebo in my car.’

He used it for every single episode, but on the last shoot there was a gust of wind – and it was wrecked! I’m sure he got his money’s worth out of it. Whether he gets the money back from production is another matter.

This is our immensely enthusiastic series producer Phil, getting stuck in. We had to tell him that you don’t in fact prune a fence panel. Stick to the hedge, Phil. But it’s all part of his training and I’m sure he will pick it up bit by bit.

I love this shot. While we were in the garden, we heard an ice cream van coming around the corner, so we commandeered it and used it for a set. Here is a great photo of myself, Katie and Frances queueing up for a sweet treat – make mine a 99!

This is the lollipop I ended up with. I chose it because I felt it looked a little bit like Alan Titchmarsh! It was half expecting it to tell us to get a move on. However, I was concerned that the nose looked like less like ice cream and more like a stray pea from the freezer. But we had a bit of fun with it and it went down a treat.

This is a lovely shot. In the foreground we have Shaun, who is one of the carpenters, and Thea who is managing all the product for this episode. To her left is Martyn, the lead carpenter. In the background is a couple of cheeky faces – Andy, Alan’s driver and researcher Helen.

Natalie, one of our directors, is an excellent cake maker. She made us this amazing creation with the four presenters on top. We were absolutely blown away by it – she did a brilliant job and it looked marvellous. And it tasted marvellous too.

In the evening we went to do a quiz. As you can see, Alan and Frances are really getting stuck in. Alan is a walking encyclopaedia – I’m telling you he knows everything! The moment the question was asked, he started scribbling answers down. You can see Kevin in the background there trying to sneakily listen in on some answers for his team.

Here you have Shaun and Martyn the carpenters. They have been wearing Frosts Landscapes uniforms, but just like Superman, they expose themselves as being from Mills Carpentry, Building and Maintenance! These two are a great team and have done a phenomenal amount of hard work in every episode.

This is a shot of me with the bowling guys at the Essex County Bowling Club. During the programme I had to bowl one ball on camera. I’d never done it before, and I couldn’t believe it – straight over by the jack! They reckon I didn’t do too bad a job. I’ve got to say, I think I’ll be taking it up in the near future. Thanks for the warm welcome at the club, guys.

Here I am with our director Alice, who had just bowled her own ball. It was miles out, and nearly knocked the ankles off a pensioner over the other side of the green! I was extremely embarrassed to be seen with her.

Here’s Katie having to get a load of paint off her coat. She got too close to that fence panel! As you can see, Amy the makeup artist is giving her a hand to clean herself up.

Here are all the Frosts Landscapes guys. Starting from the far left and going clockwise you have Matt, Martyn, Sam, Kevin, Dan, Jon and Shaun. They grafted phenomenally during the series, and they have a great sense of humour. They are really positive, professional people and it’s been a pleasure to work with them.

This is it – the group shot! We’re out the front of the garden, and some people have just got an ice cream. It was marvellous fun, and great to see everybody together. I think it really sums up the spirit of the whole show.

Would you believe it – the family also made a cake with us four presenters on it! We were overjoyed, having two great cakes on the same day. It’s another great triumph of cake design, so thank you very much. I love the bark chipping, and I’m even at the bottom laying down chocolate decking.

This is me doing the voiceover for this episode in the studio in London. Through the glass you can see our director Phil, and more importantly in the back is the main dubbing mixer, head of sound Kate. It’s always a pleasure working with the team at Director’s Cut that assist with the production of the whole series of Love Your Garden.

Here are more unsung heroes – these are the editors. These guys and girls are the people that put the programme together. They distill hundreds of hours of filming down into eight one-hour episodes. They have a great sense of humour. Here is Giles, Chris, Ann, Dave and Chris. It’s always a pleasure working with you, and I look forward to our next filming project.

This is the final shot that I think sums up everything about the last episode. All of us were completely tuckered out. Here is Sam, Lying on his back, head in his hand, so relieved that it’s all over. Yes Sam, you can finally go home!

Well, dear readers, I hope you’ve enjoyed all the blogs that we’ve put together for you. I’ve certainly enjoyed taking the photos for you. I hope you’ve had a chance to see the fun, energy and hard work that goes into making Love Your Garden, not just in the landscaping and planting but also in the production, sound and editing too. It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable experience and we look forward to next year! Thanks everyone.
August 12, 2014
Love Your Garden series 4 episode 7: Behind the scenes photos

You’ve seen the show, now check out what happens behind the scenes!

(Missed it? Watch it on ITVPlayer now!)

Here’s Frances with her sister Charlie. They do look very similar. When Alan was introduced to her, he said “I used to work with a Charlie!” I replied that it was very confusing, asking Frances to do something and finding out that I was actually talking to Charlie! They had a great day helping out together. In the background you can see bags and bags full of soil, and our catering van which is ready to dish out those bacon butties.

This is Max, who’s in charge of product sourcing on this episode. He’s standing proud with one of these cypresses. His job is to order all the plants, and he’s grinning with relief that something’s actually turned up on site on time! But that smile was soon wiped off his face when he realised he had to unload all those trees.

Here is Frances and Katie helping Max by getting the trees down and carrying them. Kevin is lending them a hand too. I got into trouble taking this photo for you, dear blog readers, because I ruined Steve’s camera shots. He is filming in the background and caught me on camera snapping away with my phone instead of helping. I was in a bit of trouble for that! The things I do for you.

That was a brilliant kids’ summer house. It was fully equipped – it even had a little phone on the wall! The things kids have nowadays. There was also a little cooker and sink for them to play with. It’s marvellous. I couldn’t wait to get in there and, er… make sure everything was working okay.

We had a big discussion over whether or not we should stain the wood, but in the end it was decided that we should. It took ages. And I mean ages. But it did look good, and I’m sure the kids will get loads of enjoyment out of it.

Kevin is always trying to get in on stuff, and here he is doing his best Usain Bolt impression. Frankly, it looks more like he’s trying to direct traffic! All he needs is a lollipop sign saying ‘Kids cross here’. Grant and Alice are having hysterics next to him, and Matt is in the background wondering what the heck is going on!

This is Eleanor and Amy. Eleanor is our production co-ordinator and she does things like our hotel bookings and Amy is the hair and makeup artist. The two of them apparently couldn’t resist getting hold of those trees and giving them a cuddle.

Here you can see the modern special effects for television. We were filming the chat that we do every episode to discuss the garden plan, but the sun was shining too brightly on the table. Fortunately, no expense was spared in finding a suitable solution, and a delightful cardboard box cover was brought in to add a touch of shade! Frances’ sister Charlie and series producer Phil were roped in as box-holders. I had to dash out to take that photo for you.

Here is series producer Phil disciplining Guy, our runner, who failed to bring a cup of coffee to our sound guy Matt in time. You can Matt there on the left, standing with his arms folded. He was waiting ages for that coffee. He is not impressed.

This is a typical scene of direction. I was just about the present a piece to camera about the agapanthus, and I asked where it should be planted. You can see the confusion of pointing arms. Which one should I follow?

I had to take this shot because it meant so much to me. Having dug into horrible, solid clay soils for ages, it was so nice to get to dig in decent soil. It was really easy because it had a high sand content. Alan found out in the end that sand was put in the soil because of the nearby railway line. Back when trains were coal-powered, the coal store would sometimes catch fire. The crew had to jettison the burning coal out of the train, so sand was added to the soil around the lines to make sure the fire didn’t spread. When people bought up the land around the old train lines, they ended up with more sand than they bargained for. Fascinating, eh?

Here is Katie just about to get her dinner. Jon and Shaun are in the background waiting impatiently for their turn. We always have good grub from the catering van – it keeps up going when we are doing these makeovers with impossible deadlines.

This is a cracking shot. I was asked to do some work inside the summer house, and I was really pleased because it was pouring down with rain outside. I took a photograph because I was inside, nice and dry, while poor Alan was out there getting soaked while the sodden crew are filming him. In the background you can see all the Frosts guys keeping dry under that gazebo. But I wasn’t laughing for long because I was soon called outside and I got soaked too.

This is a great shot. Steve called us all together for a group photo. Frances, Alan, Katie and I started nonchalantly leaning on the wall. Unbeknownst to us, Steve ran around the back and photobombed us! You can see him there, stealing the shot by jumping in the air. Disgraceful.

Here are the guys from Frosts having a rest at the end of the makeover. They were absolutely tuckered out. I normally sort them out with a glass of something when I’m getting the champagne ready for the family, but as you can see someone has already been round and given them some cocktails. Look at the cheeky smiles on their faces! There’s Sam, Shaun, Jon, Matt, Martyn and then that other guy. He’s new.

Here is another picture of the new bloke. He came to help us – he’s in charge of Frosts things. He hadn’t done a TV makeover before, and here he is looking up at the heavens and asking, ‘How the hell did I get involved with this lot?’

Look at the state of my hands! They are filthy. What I normally do when I get the bottle of champagne is to give it a really good shake ready to pop it open.

It seems funny but out of the whole garden that we built for them, the girls absolutely loved those little mounds that we made for them to climb over. It was really moving to see them enjoying the garden again. They were also very intrigued by that camera that was filming them.

August 5, 2014