As a production company we specialise in natural history and find plenty of inspiration from our base in the South West of England. We like to work on projects that encourage a wider engagement with the natural environment and could not help but feel that a gardens revolution was due.

For far too long the ‘garden’ has been seen as the domain of the pensioner, the bespectacled botanist, or simply people that have a dirty fingernail fetish. God bless them all! Whatever you might say, most of them seem a great bunch with not one ASBO amongst them.

It is time that we, the stupid majority, rise and take back these gardens for all to enjoy!

I am aware that I might be sounding a tad scary now, and would like to restore the balance by pointing the finger at someone else. Ex-music producer and now the gardens guru behind Heligan and the Eden Project, Tim Smit, has this to say:

‘Gardens mean nothing to me - if you can not dream, get drunk or make love in them’

Well that has taken the wind out of my sails a bit – but hell do I suddenly seem like a ‘safe pair of hands’.

With this project we hope to prove that gardens are fabulous places to visit for a number of reasons during a number of seasons. The most obvious reason being the flora and the fauna, a natural resource often safe-guarded by the gardener – who luckily more often than not wants to share his prize with all that can appreciate it. With this in mind the true horticulturalists hiding amongst us will be pleased to hear that the flowers, plants and trees are still the stars of our film.

In addition we consider the people; their achievements, art and vision. History, fairytales, adventure, life, entertainment, humour and more are what we have discovered. And that aside, we have simply been looking for a good excuse to spend more time outside appreciating some of the most beautiful vistas on the planet and soaking up that scented fresh air that fills a garden.

Martin Gaunt
Producer
the Heart of a Garden