大象传媒

"If we're lucky", says botanist Phil Gates "we gardeners get to experience the seasonal rollercoaster of gardening emotions about 70 times. Just 70 spring, summer, autumn and winters in a lifetime... and with each passing cycle those that remain become even more precious". In this series, recorded over a year, the relationship between a gardener and his suburban garden are explored, and the emotions evoked by each season.

Winter brings with it heavy snows and for more then a fortnight, the garden lies buried under two feet of snow. Phil is forced indoors, and watches the garden through the windows. But this brings its own rewards as the bird feeders attract hungry visitors. The highlights include a flock of Waxings; tropical looking birds with prominent crests which migrate here from Scandinavia, and arrive one morning and feed on the remains of the crab apples before disappearing again.

As soon as the snow melts, Phil ventures back out into the garden; young green daffodil shoots are peering above the soil, and there are the first strange-looking scented flowers on the Wintersweet. Phil has seen a small hexagonal greenhouse in a catalogue which would make the perfect bird hide and herb house, so now he has to clear a space for it; and that means removing a large tree stump. Meanwhile in the glasshouse, the Hollyhocks seedlings have survived the winter and Sweet Pea seeds have germinated on wet paper towels in a plastic container and are now ready to sow into seed trays, prior to planting out later in the year.

And whilst Winter signifies loss and the end of one gardening year, sowing seeds and planning ahead is forward looking and with this, there's the excitement of a new cycle starting again.

Presenter Phil Gates
Producer Sarah Blunt.