Diarmuid Gavin has designed a garden in North Yorkshire for a new BBC2 series. GINA PARKINSON met him at the opening of Gardens Through Time at Harlow Carr.

DESPITE the rain and the wind on an unseasonably cold day last week, RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Harrogate was looking wonderful. This peaceful place is filled with mature trees and overflowing beds and borders that, to put an optimistic slant on the conditions outside, look particularly verdant in the dull light of a cloudy day in June.

Harlow Carr Garden, as it was originally known, was started in 1940 by the Northern Horticultural Society, to trial plants suitable for the northern climate. The position of the site, which has cold, damp, acidic soil with regular frosts, made it ideal.

In 2001 the gardens became the fourth Royal Horticultural Society garden and several changes have taken place including the expansion of the shop and restaurant, the profits from which go back into the gardens.

New to Harlow Carr this year is Gardens Through Time, seven gardens designed to take the visitor through 200 years of gardening history from the Regency period to the present day.

The gardens are not necessarily an exact representation of what would have been seen in those periods, rather a pastiche of what was going on in the gardening world at the time.

The gardens celebrate the RHS Bicentenary, which takes place this year, and are the subject of a television series of the same name created by the BBC and Twofour Productions.

The series will be presented by Diarmuid Gavin and Jane Owen, who is a journalist, lecturer and historian. It is scheduled for screening this autumn but eager gardeners who can't wait that long can see the Gardens Through Time at Harlow Carr when they open to the public on July 1.

Diarmuid Gavin, who is well known as a television presenter and writer, designed the seventh garden.

He says it was "a funny one for me" and admits to finding it difficult working for an imaginary client, but the garden works well and reflects current ideas and trends.

It is a contemporary garden with strong hard landscaping using wood, glass, stainless steel and concrete with lighting to extend the use of the garden into the night and a multi-purpose glass building at the bottom of the garden that could be used to enjoy it on the coldest of days.

The walls are painted aubergine which contrast well with the bright foliage of plants such as the golden hop Humulus lupulus 'Aurea', and provide an excellent backdrop for a group of tree ferns under planted with brightly coloured grasses.

The modern design of the garden puts it firmly in the 21st Century but packed borders and clever use of traditional plants such as Nepeta, roses and Alchemilla mollis bring to mind a cottage garden and echo the other gardens in the series.

The first six gardens were designed by landscape architect Dominic Cole, who has worked in historic gardens such as Stowe and Wrest Park and for the National Trust and English Heritage. He is also a lecturer and chairman of the Garden History Society.

He begins with a Regency garden 1815, which reflects the move away from the rolling landscapes of Capability Brown and back to flowers. The gardens of the new middle classes were seen as works of art with raised beds looking like baskets of flowers set in well kept lawns.

From there we move to Mid-Victorian 1850-60s, during which time plant hunters were searching the world for new species. Typical of this time was the monkey puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana, an expensive item to put in the front garden and tantamount to having a Porsche parked in the drive today.

The late Victorians of 1890s saw their gardens as status symbols, but also as places for the family; they encouraged their children to take an interest in plants.

Imitated scenery became popular with scaled models of the Matterhorn, for example, appearing in gardens of this period as did intricately planted carpet bedding.

Edwardian gardens - 1901-1910 - sought to unite formal layout with the planting of native plant species and hardy exotics. Great attention was spent on detail and gardeners such as Gertrude Jekyll introduced the idea of planting colour schemed drifts of flowers in large borders overflowing with plants.

The garden reflecting the1951 Festival of Britain shows a return to fun gardening after the 'dig for victory' years. Design was inspired by the paintings of Mondrian, whose blocks of bright colours were represented by single colour flowers in large beds with lawns being used as another block of colour. Many new chemicals and tools became available to keep the garden pristine.

The sixth garden takes us to the 1970s when gardens were being increasingly used as a room outside for entertainment. Paved areas and patios replaced lawns and low maintenance planting became popular. Pergolas were incorporated into designs often planted with clematis and ornamental designs. And on to garden seven and back to lawns and borders with a contemporary twist.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr is on Crag Lane, just off the Otley Road, Harrogate. The garden is open every day from 9.30am-6pm (or dusk if earlier). Last entry is one hour before closing. Admission: adult £5; senior citizen £4.50; child six-16, £1; under six free; students £1, RHS members with valid members card free. Gardens Through Time is open to the public on July 1.

Updated: 15:04 Friday, June 25, 2004