The Magnolias
Percy Thrower's garden
Shropshire
It was Percy Thrower's own garden, The Magnolias, that began the Gardeners' World tradition of filming at the main presenter's own personal garden. Now, still owned by the late Percy's wife who is in her nineties, the garden remains in the way that Percy originally planned it. "Unfortunately it is not in the immaculate state it was when dad was alive", says his eldest daughter Margaret, "but it is still a colourful well-designed garden". The Magnolias' most recent performance on Gardeners' World in 2003, when Monty Don and the cameras returned once more for a retrospective look at each of the original Gardeners' World gardens.
Pic (right, below): Percy Thrower at The Magnolias. Pic reproduced courtesy of Amateur Gardening Magazine.

Barnsdale Gardens
Geoff Hamilton's garden
Rutland
Geoff Hamilton's was already tending a plot (now known as "The Original Barnsdale" when he joined the Gardeners' World team in 1979. As the show progressed, more space was needed to experiment and in 1984, Geoff found a suitable alternative just a mile up the road. A Victorian farmhouse with over five acres of land, most of it pastures, creating the new garden was a real project and one that Geoff set upon with enthusiasm. Since his death in 1996, Geoff's beautiful gardens have been open to the public and include a nursery of choice and unusual plants, mainly propagated from the garden's own stock of plants.
For visiting information, visit the Barnsdale Gardens website.
Pic (right, above): The Herb Garden at Barnsdale. Pic reproduced courtesy of Barnsdale Gardens.