Obelisk in Artisan's Cottage Garden

The Cottage Gardens were built for the series of six programmes of the same name that were first shown in 1995. This was an immensely popular series attracting the most viewers ever for a gardening programme. The Artisan's Cottage Garden was built and planted in the year before filming began and a replica was built piece by piece during the series. This garden really summed up Geoff's approach to gardening with the plants crammed in and allowed to do their own thing in what often seemed to be organized chaos. Most of the plants used for this series came from our small nursery, so the opportunity to go planting mad was just too tempting! The Gentleman's Cottage Garden was built during the series and was very different from the Artisan's Cottage Garden in that it was formal and quite expensive. Geoff was very aware that there were people who had money to spend on their gardens and it would be wrong to concentrate all his efforts on the budget side of gardening.

We had to build the two Paradise Gardens out of the main Barnsdale garden as space had become very tight and Geoff wasn't prepared to sacrifice any of his existing creations. These were again built for the series of the same name first broadcast in 1996, five months after his death. Both these gardens gave him enormous pleasure in their creation and development. A familiar format was used, which was to offset the building of an expensive garden with a cheaper, but equally beautiful garden. Geoff was well known for his budget ideas and it was very much the way he liked to garden, but when given the opportunity to spend money on his garden he could spend with the best of them!

Detail from Town Paradise Garden border

It was whilst filming in the Town Paradise Garden during the beginning of June, 1995 that he suffered his first heart attack, thus throwing the organizers of the Gardeners' World Live exhibition into a panic. It is only due to heroic efforts of the producer Ray Hough that the series was finished in the way Geoff envisaged, with it also finally giving Geoff's twin brother Tony the opportunity of a piece of the action!

The last garden that Geoff was seen to build was the Reclaim Garden which has been built out of used and second-hand materials. It was two days after filming the setting in of the brass rose fountain that he died whilst cycling for charity in the Brecon Beacons.

Geoff's garden has been preserved to satisfy the great demand from his avid viewers & readers. Geoff was a great lover of plants and firmly believed that in his own garden he didn't want to see any bare earth, so if he did come across any he'd quickly plant something in it, giving him his desired effect of mass planting. Though to some people it may seem a messy way of gardening!

Finally the memorial seat has been placed in a quiet corner of the garden to give anybody the opportunity of peace and contemplation in what must be one of the best settings in the country. The wood for the seat was bought by the staff and it was built by Peter Wallace out of a single slab of oak and as you sit in it you will look out across a bed filled with the Rose 'Geoff Hamilton'. The Cerciphyllum japonicum planted behind the seat was Geoff's favourite tree and it is positioned over his faithful dog Moss who died exactly two weeks after Geoff.

'Versailles' border

Although the gardens surrounding the nursery have been open for several years the main Barnsdale television garden opened to the public for the first time on 19th April 1997. It was a very strange feeling to have people walking round the garden usually only inhabited by film crews or one of the many animals making habitual appearances on Gardeners' World. We had all spent an exhausting 8 months preparing the garden for the sudden upsurge in visitors and believed that we had thought of everything. How wrong can one be! The depth of feeling expressed by visitors and the recognition of what Geoff has created here at Barnsdale were at times overwhelming, but always greatly appreciated. In the first season of opening we had a staggering 60,000 people visit the gardens. The plan was always to open the gardens when Geoff finally retired from presenting on television, but I know he would have been very surprised by the numbers of visitors, pleased with the enjoyment experienced by them and slightly embarrassed by the great upsurge of feeling expressed. We hope Geoff's garden brings you great pleasure and ideas as he designed and built it for you all to enjoy.

©1998 Gecko 55 Ltd. All rights reserved