Great Dixter is a historic house, garden, centre of education, a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world, and remained the lifelong family home of the late gardener and writer Christopher Lloyd.
John Massey's garden is tucked away behind Ashwood Nurseries in Staffordshire, set against the beautiful backdrop of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Carol Klein pays a visit to her friend's plot, where highlights include hepaticas gathered from around the globe and displayed beside the pond and rockery.
The green-fingered expert visits Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. Gravetye was once the living laboratory of horticultural innovator William Robinson and ornamental flower gardens compete with his beautifully designed walled kitchen garden, which supplies the hotel's restaurant. In spring, Carol delights in the wildflower meadows covered in blankets of daffodils, crocus and snowdrops and in the summer, revels in the beauty of the ornamental flower garden. The autumn brings dazzling displays of colour among the trees, while in winter the gardeners spend their time gearing up for the year ahead.
The plantswoman and broadcaster visits Gresgarth Hall, the Lancashire country home of garden designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd. The grounds of the estate comprise the formal garden rooms nearer the house, and a wilder area where Arabella has planted 6,000 trees among cleverly designed meandering paths. Elsewhere, the garden shows off Arabella's immense knowledge and precision. In spring, splashes of early colour nestle beneath well-chosen spring-flowering shrubs, while summer witnesses an explosion of scent and floral abundance.
Today, the gardens include huge tropical borders, intricate knot gardens, copious topiary, fantastical architecture, and theatrical water features.
Carol visits Bressingham Gardens in Norfolk, home of the Bloom dynasty of Norfolk horticulturists who introduced British gardeners to a wealth of plants and devised a revolutionary way to display them. Carol spends time with Adrian Bloom, whose ethos is to introduce the very best examples of plants that will grace even a tiny garden.
Carol visits the garden of 16th-century manor house Wollerton Old Hall in Shropshire, a beautiful and intricate four-acre oasis in the English garden tradition. With its traditional craftsmanship, sympathetic architecture, elegant topiary and hedges, and deep borders, it looks like it's been here for 100 years, but owners Lesley and John only bought the property in 1983, and since then have set about recapturing the spirit and quality of a bygone era.
The plantswoman and broadcaster visits outstanding gardens across the UK and meets the people who look after them.
The plantswoman visits the garden of one of Britain's most important nurserymen, Graham Gough. In 1998, with his wife Lucy, Graham started his own nursery - Marchants Hardy Plants, in East Sussex. Twenty years later, he is regarded as one of the UK's top plantsmen, and Marchants is a haven for lovers of a new style of gardening.
The plantswoman and broadcaster visits the Beth Chatto Gardens near Colchester in Essex. Located in one of the driest spots in Britain, it is one of the most influential gardens of the last half century. Its creator, Beth Chatto, was a true pioneer and one of the most important plants-people of her time. Carol meets the loyal team of gardeners who continue Beth's work.
