A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2

Welcome back to “A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2” This episode transports us to a truly magical place. We are exploring the spectacular Bodnant Garden. Nestled in the heart of north Wales, this location is breathtaking. It is a sanctuary where nature thrives beautifully. The show follows a full year in this incredible space. We witness the seasons change dramatically. “Bodnant Blooming” perfectly captures this transformation. It shows the garden waking up in a riot of color. This is gardening on a grand scale.

We meet the visionary Head Gardener, Troy Scott Smith. Troy is leading a massive undertaking. He and his dedicated team are giving Bodnant a facelift. This isn’t just simple weeding, however. It is a complete revitalization of historic spaces. They are breathing new life into forgotten corners. This hard work ensures the garden’s legacy continues.

Troy’s approach to gardening is inspiring. He sees the garden as a living canvas. Each decision respects Bodnant’s long history. Yet, he also introduces bold new ideas. The team digs, plants, and prunes with purpose. They are guided by Troy’s deep connection to the land. This facelift is a balancing act. It honors the past while looking to the future.

This massive project requires incredible planning. The team works through all kinds of Welsh weather. They are restoring vistas that were lost for decades. This means clearing overgrown shrubs. It also means planting for the next generation. Troy’s philosophy is all about sustainable beauty. He wants this garden to flourish for another hundred years.

Next, we follow supervisor Adam Salvin. His focus is the stunning Italianate terrace. This architectural feature is a jewel of the garden. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll on the stonework. Adam is passionate about this restoration. He wants to bring it back to its former glory. This is meticulous, patient work.

The terrace is more than just stone steps. It is the heart of Bodnant’s formal design. Adam and his team carefully clean the balustrades. They reset stones that have shifted over decades. You can almost hear echoes of the past. Soon, visitors will walk this terrace as intended. It will once again be a perfect frame for the landscape.

This restoration highlights a key part of gardening. It is not just about planting new things. It is also about preservation and heritage. The team studies old photographs for accuracy. They use traditional methods whenever possible. The project connects them directly to the garden’s creators. This dedication to history is truly remarkable.

Meanwhile, we meet the enthusiastic Dave Larter. Dave shares his infectious passion for giant lilies. These are not your average garden flowers. The Cardiocrinum giganteum, or giant Himalayan lily, is spectacular. They tower over the gardeners themselves. These plants are true giants of the woodland.

Dave explains the patience this gardening requires. These lilies take seven years to flower. It is a long, dedicated wait for a stunning reward. When they finally bloom, they are magnificent. Their fragrance fills the summer air. Dave’s joy is contagious as he checks their progress. This is a real labor of love.

These giant blooms also play a role in the ecosystem. They are a beacon for nature. Pollinators, especially bees, flock to the huge, trumpet-like flowers. This segment of “A Garden in Snowdonia” shows how specialized planting supports local wildlife. It is a beautiful example of nature in balance.

The episode’s highlight is truly breathtaking. We finally see the world-famous Laburnum Arch. It is captured in its moment of perfect, full bloom. This feature is perhaps Bodnant’s greatest treasure. The sight is absolutely unforgettable. It is a tunnel of pure, dripping gold.

The arch is 55 meters long. It creates an immersive, sensory experience. The show’s cameras glide slowly through the walkway. Golden petals hang down like chandeliers. The light filters through, creating a magical glow. It feels less like a garden path and more like a cathedral. This is the power of visionary garden design.

A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2

Walking beneath the arch is an emotional journey. The air is thick with a sweet, delicate perfume. Petals drift down like a gentle golden rain. Visitors are hushed, soaking in the spectacle. This moment captures the very essence of Bodnant. It is a fleeting, perfect display of nature’s artistry.

“Bodnant Blooming” reminds us this beauty doesn’t happen overnight. This episode of “A Garden in Snowdonia” charts the garden’s life. We see glimpses of the harsh Welsh winter. The team works tirelessly during cold, wet days. They are pruning, clearing, and planning. This quiet preparation is essential. It lays the groundwork for the explosion of spring.

Then, spring finally arrives in north Wales. The garden awakens slowly, then all at once. Millions of daffodils carpet the sloping lawns. Delicate rhododendrons burst into vibrant color. The team’s pace quickens significantly. They are planting thousands of bedding plants. Every corner of the garden demands their attention.

This garden is also a vital sanctuary for wildlife. The episode beautifully captures this living element. Birds sing from the branches of ancient trees. Cameras spot shy creatures in the undergrowth. The clean water of the River Hiraethlyn runs through the glen. This water supports a unique ecosystem.

The gardening team actively encourages this biodiversity. They manage the wilder parts of the garden carefully. Log piles are left for insects. Native plants are encouraged to support local wildlife. This balance between formal design and wild nature is key. Bodnant is a haven for creatures great and small.

A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2 review

A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2 transports viewers to Bodnant Garden, a spectacular property standing on a dramatic hillside in North Wales. This historic site overlooks the famous mountains of Snowdonia. Bodnant is a National Trust property. It currently attracts 160,000 visitors each year. However, the garden faces significant challenges. Its annual running costs have reached one million pounds. Compounding this, visitor numbers have recently been in decline.

Consequently, Bodnant is working hard to raise its profile. The property is embarking on a massive two-million-pound improvement programme. This ambitious project aims to revitalize the grounds and secure its future. Leading this effort is the head gardener, Troy Scott Smith. He has been at Bodnant for two years. He is well aware of the mammoth task ahead. The team is not just gardening any back garden; it is an historic, world-class garden.

For Troy, a garden is a work of art that is never finished. This philosophy guides the restoration seen in A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2. The property itself is vast. It covers 130 acres of steep slopes that rise above the River Conwy. This large estate requires a significant team to maintain. Troy’s vision, alongside that of the National Trust and the garden’s donor family, requires a large team of gardeners.

Fortunately, Bodnant employs a team of 21 gardeners. Some of these staff members have specialisms. These specialisms include expert tree surgery and plant propagation. The 130-acre garden is laid out in two utterly contrasting areas. The first is the formal terraces. The second is the woodland area, which is known simply as the Dell. This division defines the visitor experience and the gardening challenges.

The improvement programme touches every aspect of this massive property. It is led by Troy and his dedicated team. A unique feature of Bodnant’s management is the active role of the donor family. Michael McLaren, a barrister in London, visits every three weeks. He discusses day-to-day garden management, jobs, tasks, and renovations directly with Troy. Michael’s mother, Anne McLaren, also lives part-time at Bodnant Hall and is devoted to the garden.

This team is giving Bodnant a face-lift across its entire 130 acres. The work involves restoring formal structures, managing wild landscapes, and preserving a precious plant collection. It is a constant balance between respecting the garden’s 130-year history and ensuring its vitality for the future. The gardening here is on a grand scale. It involves everything from heavy machinery to the most delicate hand-weeding.

Restoring the Formal Terraces

The formal part of the garden is defined by its stunning Italianate terraces. Deputy head gardener Adam Salvin is responsible for this area. He has worked at Bodnant for over a decade. According to Adam, everyone who comes to Bodnant visits this top half of the garden. It is where everyone can get to. It also has many of the main features of the garden.

A major project is beginning in one of the key terrace areas. This area, created 100 years ago, is known as the Stage. It was originally inspired by an Italian outdoor theatre. While it has rarely seen actors, its elegant lines and symmetrical planting have made it a magnet for visitors. Like many areas, however, the Stage is in need of a makeover. Its yew hedges have come to the end of their useful life.

Adam and his team removed the old yew trees. They were preparing to put in new plants. Unfortunately, they discovered a serious problem. A portion of the 350 newly purchased yew trees was infected with the dreaded vine weevil. The vine weevil larvae start eating the roots. This damage causes the plants to wilt and die. The pots should have been full of roots. Instead, they contained little white larvae with light brown heads.

This was a big and costly setback. Half of the trees were beyond rescue. They had to be thrown away. The remaining trees required treatment with a biological agent that devours the weevils. Consequently, there would be no planting any time soon. The new yew trees had to be kept in quarantine.

Meanwhile, Adam and his team got on with what they could. A delivery of 400 square metres of turf arrived. Adam organized his team to lay the new turf. They recreated the perfect lawn of the Stage. After seven or eight months of looking at bare dirt, the green turf made a big difference. Within a few weeks, the turf looked as though it had been there for years.

Finally, almost 12 months after the project began, the day came to plant the yews. The team had hoped to do it in the spring. They ultimately decided to leave it until the autumn. Adam spent a long time measuring between each plant. He made sure the rows were the right distance apart. This meticulous work will encourage a nice, thick, uniform hedge with no gaps.

The Challenge of the Benches

The restoration of the Stage was driven by Troy and the McLaren family. This joint effort extended beyond planting to fixtures and furniture. The Stage is home to one of Bodnant’s classic seats. It is a William Kent designed seat. The garden has two of them. One is on the Stage, and the other is on the Lily Terrace. The old one was well past any use, so two new seats were made.

This presented an opportunity to select a new color. The team was not happy with the original green color. In fact, many visitors had left comments. They loved the garden but did not like the green on the seats. The old bench was painted with a selection of possible colors. Before making a final choice, Troy consulted Anne McLaren.

Anne was certain to have an opinion. She immediately stated that she hates colored seats. For her, they are a maintenance nightmare. She also noted it is difficult to get the right color. She recalled a seat overlooking the canal that was “much, much too blue.” She is for beige, greeny, olivey colors, not duck-egg blue. She advised that they should not want anything strident at all.

This feedback guided the final decision. The paint color was finally agreed upon. The new bench for the Stage was painted in a color called “bothy green.” After more than a year, the decaying Stage area was improved. Troy was delighted with the result. The garden now has new hedges that will grow and live for 100 years. A significant area of the garden was now complete.

Engineering the Dell: Taming the River

Down in the woodland Dell, supervising gardener Dave Larter oversees a very different environment. For 12 years, his passion for this part of the garden has been undiminished. He feels he is one of the lucky ones in the world. When he walks to work, he can take any path he wants. He can listen to the river and the birds. He often sees a kingfisher flying past. This connection to the wildlife and nature of the Dell fuels his work.

In recent years, however, some of the magic has been lost. The river, a tributary of the River Conwy, has become cloudy. This is due to a significant build-up of silt and shale. Dave is determined to make the little tributary crystal-clear again. He has major water work projects coming up. The biggest problem is a huge collection of material that has built up over the years.

If the team did not maintain this, the whole river would fill up with silt and shale. To make the dredging easier, Dave decided to build a dam. The dam would divert the river. This would give the team better access to the river-bed with machinery. Dave and his team, including trainee gardener Fiona Braithwaite, began building the dam. They used large bags, each filled with a tonne of stones.

Day one went well. Day two, however, did not get off to a good start. First, there was a mechanical problem. That was fixed. Then, the weather turned against them. Heavy rain swelled the river. The volume of water threatened all their hard work. The river picked up and threatened to undo everything. Whatever Dave tried, the river was too much for him. He just could not hold it back. There was not enough weight in the bags.

As Troy Scott Smith noted, a non-professional gardener has an image of gardening as deadheading roses. In reality, large portions of their work involve diggers, machinery, and drainage work. Dave and his team had several weeks of work in the river. During that time, not much gardening would happen in the Dell.

Once the water level dropped, the dam was finished. The team could finally start dredging. The excavation reached industrial proportions. Dave admitted that it runs through his mind that he is “only meant to be a gardener.” He sometimes wishes he could just go back to mowing paths and pruning shrubs. This work was far more complex.

It was Dave’s idea to use a conveyor belt. This proved to be the best way to move so much tonnage up the very steep bank. The team was moving 18 to 20 trailers a day. One trailer holds about 12 tonnes of material. After a few weeks, they had removed a fair tonnage. Months of heavy work paid off. Many hundreds of tonnes of material were removed from the river-bed alone. The dam was dismantled. The water now flows free, sparkling in the Dell once more.

Dave even found an ingenious use for all the excavated shale. He is using it to improve the ten miles of paths around the garden. The paths tend to get muddy. Dave’s team scrapes them, puts the new gravel down, and whacks it down to make it all nice and neat.

A Passion for Plants in the Dell

While the river project demanded heavy engineering, the Dell is also home to delicate horticultural treasures. Dave Larter’s personal passion is the giant lily, Cardiocrinum giganteum. He recalls seeing them in an A-to-Z plant book as a child. The book said it grew up to four meters, or 12 feet. He wanted one ever since. When he came to Bodnant, he found them in the Dell.

His boyhood enthusiasm has turned into an obsession. It is a plant for a patient person. It takes seven years or more to grow from seed. It is also not easy to germinate. Every year, Dave gathers seed pods to grow more. This year, he has 35 lilies in bloom. His ambitions, however, go much further. Before he retires, he wants 500 of these flower spikes in the Dell.

The Dell also features glorious displays of hydrangeas in late summer. These displays do not happen by chance. They require a fairly extreme form of pruning. Adam and Dave must work on the steeply sloping river banks. The pruning has two goals. The first is aesthetics: tidying them up, deadheading, and getting the dead wood out. The second is to keep the vigour. They get rid of old wood to get new, nice, vigorous growth coming up.

Preserving the Living Collection: A Look at “A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2”

The improvement programme at Bodnant is not just about large-scale projects. A key role belongs to Alison Clarke. Her job is to catalogue and protect the plants. Bodnant has a collection of about 50,000 plants. Some of these are very, very rare. Some are threatened in the wild. Some of the material was collected up to 100 years ago by famous plant collectors. Therefore, it is really important to keep them going.

As A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2 shows, this preservation requires specialized skills. Alison trains trainee Fiona Braithwaite in the art of propagation. One method they use is “layering.” Alison explains that layering is just exploiting what nature does. When a low branch touches the ground, roots can form.

Bodnant is world-famous for its unique collection of rhododendrons. It has 800 varieties, some of which are very rare. Ensuring their survival is an enormous challenge. Alison demonstrates layering on one such rhododendron. She scrapes away a little of the bark at the base. This ensures the cambium layer is in contact with the soil. It also causes plant hormones to concentrate in that area, which encourages rooting.

She then uses a small peg to hold the branch to the soil. In a couple of years, the branch will have taken root. It will become a new plant in its own right. Once it is properly rooted, it can be severed, dug out, and moved. Alison feels a great responsibility. If anything happened to one of these rare plants, she would feel guilty for letting it die out.

Managing the Giants: Arboriculture at Bodnant

Bodnant is home to many ancient and beautiful trees. A vital part of the garden’s management is identifying and assessing rotten trees. They must be dealt with before they become dangerous. Adam Salvin is also a qualified tree surgeon. He and fellow surgeon Paul have 35 years of experience between them. They identify an Abies tree that has been dying back for a while.

The tree shows extensive decay on its buttress. Bark is peeling off. The crown has died back significantly. It has been declining for years. The tree has to be felled. If left, the rot would spread. This ten-tonne giant could fall of its own accord. The team determines it is safe enough to climb. Their plan is to climb it and remove it in sections.

Working at heights requires an intense focus on safety. As Paul notes, if you are 100 feet up a tree, you are on your own. The only person who will look after you is yourself. Adam climbs the tree and begins making cuts. The team on the ground helps guide the fall. The tree has a slight lean. They aim it carefully to land in a clear area without damaging other plants.

Despite the best-laid plans, the tree veers off course. It falls and damages a nearby conifer. It was a shame, but as Adam says, you have to take the rough with the smooth. Once it has happened, you cannot put it back. The felled tree was completely rotten. It might have fallen at any moment. Therefore, the main job of the day was a success, despite the collateral damage to the conifer.

Anne McLaren admits she is sentimental. She does not want to see many of her old favorite trees chopped down. However, she realizes everything has a life period. You cannot keep a tree when it has become untidy, old, and shabby looking.

The Legacy of the Laburnum Arch in “A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2”

Perhaps Bodnant’s most famous feature is its laburnum arch. This magnificent tunnel of yellow blooms every spring. It attracts 50,000 visitors each May. Troy Scott Smith notes there are many imitations. Bodnant’s laburnum arch, however, was planted in the 1880s. At 130 years old, it was likely the first. It was an amazing feature to conceive at the time.

The team is conscious that they must preserve it. The original metal arches, while looking sound, were rotten where they went into the ground. They have all been renewed. This preservation requires constant, time-consuming work. Every year, it takes about five weeks to cut back dead wood and replace the ties on the arch. This is essential for a good show of spring flowers.

After flowering, deadheading is a two-day operation. Troy is always looking for ways of saving time. When he first came, he thought two days was too long. He had a brilliant idea to speed it up. He got a mechanical hedge cutter. He thought he could just go along and it would all come off quickly. It was quick. He did the whole arch in 40 minutes.

However, it looked “really awful,” he admits. He admitted he was wrong. The team did it again by hand, and it looked a lot better. It was a lesson in how some tasks in an historic garden cannot be rushed. The success of A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2 rests on this balance.

A Living History: The McLaren Family Legacy

Bodnant often sends specimens to other gardens and nurseries. These links have proven to be enormously beneficial. This network is part of the garden’s living history. This history is embodied by Anne McLaren. She planted two trees in memory of her late husband, Lord Aberconway. He had always wanted to have a Magnolia, so she found a very tall, straight one.

Her second tree was a Judas tree. Bodnant used to have a wonderful Judas tree many years ago, but it died. Anne discovered that the Hilliers nursery had received a cutting from her father-in-law. They had been propagating Bodnant’s specific Judas tree. She was able to get that very tree back for his second memorial. It was, she says, very appropriate.

This story captures the essence of Bodnant. It is not just a collection of plants. It is a place of memory, history, and continuous renewal. From the formal terraces to the wild woodland, Troy and his team have refreshed the garden. Their hope is that these efforts will be rewarded. They want more visitors to come to this beautiful A Garden in Snowdonia.

A Garden That Lives and Breathes Through Generations

What becomes clear through every frame of “A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2” is that Bodnant Garden represents something far more profound than beautiful landscaping or horticultural excellence. This is a living testament to what happens when vision, patience, and unwavering dedication converge across generations. Troy Scott Smith and his team aren’t simply maintaining a National Trust property—they’re stewarding a legacy that stretches back 130 years while simultaneously planting seeds for a future they’ll never see fully realized.

The stark reality facing Bodnant—one million pounds in annual running costs, declining visitor numbers, and the urgent need for a two-million-pound improvement programme—underscores a truth that many historic gardens confront. Beauty and heritage alone cannot guarantee survival in the modern world. Yet what makes this episode so compelling is watching how the team rises to meet these challenges not with compromise, but with renewed ambition.

When Adam Salvin meticulously measures the spacing between yew hedges on the Stage, knowing they won’t reach maturity for decades, he’s making a declaration of faith in Bodnant’s future. When Dave Larter battles a swollen river with bags of stone and industrial conveyors, transforming from “just a gardener” into a hydraulic engineer, he’s defending the very heart that makes the Dell magical.

These aren’t the actions of caretakers running out the clock. They’re the decisions of artists deeply connected to their canvas, understanding that every choice reverberates across time. The vine weevil setback that destroyed half the new yews could have been devastating, yet the team adapted, waited, and ultimately created something that will outlive them all. This resilience mirrors the garden itself—constantly evolving, occasionally setback by nature’s unpredictability, but always moving forward.

The McLaren family’s continued involvement adds another layer of meaning to Bodnant’s story. When Anne McLaren recalls bringing back the Judas tree that originated from her father-in-law’s garden through the Hilliers nursery, we witness how plants become living memories, botanical threads connecting past and present. Her practical wisdom about tree management and bench colors isn’t mere aesthetic preference—it’s accumulated knowledge passed down through generations who have loved this place.

Perhaps the most powerful metaphor in the entire episode is Dave Larter’s obsession with Cardiocrinum giganteum, those magnificent giant lilies that take seven years to bloom. His dream of cultivating 500 flowering spikes before retirement captures everything Bodnant represents: the willingness to work toward goals you might not fully witness, the understanding that true beauty requires patience, and the recognition that some achievements are worth dedicating a lifetime to pursue.

The laburnum arch—Bodnant’s crown jewel—serves as the ultimate reminder that iconic moments are built on invisible foundations. Those 50,000 visitors who flood through each May to witness the golden tunnel don’t see Troy’s failed experiment with mechanical hedge cutters or the five weeks of painstaking pruning that precedes each flowering. They experience only the transcendent result, that cathedral of dripping gold that takes their breath away. Yet it’s precisely this hidden work, this unglamorous dedication to getting the details right, that transforms a collection of plants into something approaching the sacred.

For anyone who gardens, whether tending a windowsill herb collection or managing acreage, Bodnant’s story offers both inspiration and instruction. Gardens teach us that meaningful creation operates on nature’s timeline, not our own. They remind us that caring for living things means accepting setbacks, adapting to circumstances beyond our control, and trusting that patient effort compounds into something greater than we imagined. The restoration work happening across Bodnant’s 130 acres isn’t just about preserving the past—it’s about ensuring that future generations will stand beneath that laburnum arch, walk those restored terraces, and experience the same sense of wonder that draws 160,000 visitors annually.

As this remarkable episode of “A Garden in Snowdonia” demonstrates, Bodnant Garden stands at a crossroads shared by many historic landscapes. Its survival depends not on nostalgia alone, but on bold reinvention that honors heritage while embracing change. Troy Scott Smith’s philosophy that “a garden is a work of art that is never finished” perfectly encapsulates this living-breathing approach to stewardship. When you watch this dedicated team working through Welsh weather, solving problems that range from vine weevils to river engineering, you’re witnessing what it truly means to love a place—not just admiring its beauty, but doing whatever it takes to ensure that beauty endures. Bodnant isn’t just blooming; it’s being reborn, one careful decision at a time.

FAQ A Garden in Snowdonia episode 2