Greatest Gardens

Diarmuid and Helen are in Counties Down and Antrim. They cast their expert eyes over a stunning compartmentalised paradise behind a Georgian terrace house in Hillsborough, a reclaimed quarry in Carrowdore and an ambitious river landscape in the shadow of a stunning modern house in rural Antrim.

Our two favourite experts are let loose in County Londonderry and north Antrim. They enjoy a Jane Austen-style Georgian garden in Derry, a bijou Islamic-style sanctuary in Portstewart and great lakeside splashes of colour near Glenwherry.

Diarmuid and Helen encounter an astonishing mixed bag of great private gardens in County Down. First off, on the banks of Strangford Lough, they visit a large estate containing a 200-year-old walled garden. Their next destination is an eccentric garden dominated by alpine rock plants, behind a modest house in Bessbrook. Finally, they visit Castlewellan, where they encounter a mature garden peppered with lots of comic touches.