Hidden Gardens

Like a factual version of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic children's book The Secret Garden, Hidden Gardens sees Chris Beardshaw travel the country discovering and restoring some previously hidden horticultural havens.

Chris, who is used to travelling the country as the Flying Gardener, visits grand, historic locations to uncover gardens that have either been buried or enveloped by wilderness.

In one episode Chris and his team visit St Fagan's Castle in Wales, where after cutting away dense foliage, they uncover a courtyard with a pool of water, flowerbeds, stone paving and evidence of what was once a flight of grass steps.

In other gardens they find less obvious designs, such as the 17th century cloister garden in Aberglasney in Carmarthenshire, where only the outlines of the paving and perimeter wall remain. This leads to the team embarking on fascinating research about what the plants and flowers would have looked like in the period.

Hidden Gardens opens a door to a forgotten age of horticulture, and builds an interesting timeline of how gardening has changed over the centuries.

Presenter
Chris Beardshaw

Good for?
Witnessing the revival of gardens that have not been seen for years, while seeing how gardening has changed over time.

Where?
BBC

When?
Evening