Episode 2 of Love Your Garden aired on 31 July and was another corker! This time Alan Titchmarsh and his team were in Newark-on-Trent to surprise Nathan, an ex serviceman who, since having both legs amputated, has dedicated his time to supporting ex-servicemen who are struggling with life outside the services, particularly elderly veterans less likely to seek help.
Nathan’s selflessness is incredible and inspiring and it is clear everyone who has met him admires him greatly. As a thank you for the dedication he has shown to others, Nathan’s family, friends and colleagues decided it was time for something to be done for him, so they got in touch with the Love Your Garden team to ask for help turning Nathan’s current garden into something that he and his family can enjoy once more.
As it was, Nathan was unable to navigate around his garden, because of various different levels, lots of steps and because the concrete surface often became dangerous and slippy when wet. These difficulties meant that the garden became disused after his accident and left to overgrow, with the family rarely spending much time out in it.
The mission was clear to Alan and his team. They needed to transform the dangerous and dull concrete garden into a sociable and easily accessible hub, which Nathan and his family could enjoy with friends and loved ones.
Taking inspiration from the woodland that the garden backed on to, Alan and the team set about creating a garden with lots of different use areas for the family. During the episode, Alan also gave a run through of some of the latest trends in alfresco living including outside dining, outside partying areas, premium BBQs, outside pizza ovens and luxury outside dining sets! (If any of these appeal to you be sure to check out our outside range as we have BBQs, firepits, chimeneas, Hartman and Bramblecrest garden furniture sets and much much more!)
Anyhow, back to the episode. Whilst the weather wasn’t playing ball (it rained pretty much continuously for the whole episode) the team pulled out all of the stops and created one of the best gardens we have seen on Love Your Garden to date.
A gradual and slip-resistant ramp running the length of the garden was one of the first changes, helping to make sure the whole garden was accessible by Nathan. Then, leading off the ramp, were an assortment of different areas:
- A woodland adventure zone with treehouse and climbing frame for Nathan’s son, Henry
- A modern summerhouse, come garden studio, filled with a craft corner and comfy seating to provide extra indoor space for the family to enjoy time together
- A new patio and outside lounge area with modern outdoor sofa set and fire pit
- A state-of the art outdoor kitchen and dining area, including an outdoor fridge, a built in gas BBQ, an outdoor dining set, outdoor bar area with stools and a tranquil water feature to help mask the sound of the nearby road.
Alan himself confessed to thinking this was one of the nicest gardens he and the team had created and you will quickly see why when you watch this episode. The team truly succeeded in opening up a garden that was a no-go area, for a family who really needed it.
Needless to say Nathan and has family were speechless during the garden makeover reveal, reminding us again that sometimes silence speaks volumes.
We wish Nathan and his family many happy years enjoying their new garden and can’t wait to see next week’s episode of Love Your Garden on ITV.
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The episode is available here on ITV Hub for a limited time only!
