County garden in TV battle to be the best

A picturesque north Shropshire garden will go head-to-head with others from around the country on a new television series.

Wollerton Old Hall, near Market Drayton, is due to be featured on I own Britain's Best Home and Garden, which will start on channel Five tomorrow.

The show, presented by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, will run for six weeks and visit 12 different gardens from across Britain in a bid to find the best. The hall will also be featured in the programme, although only the garden will be judged.

Head gardener Andrew Humphris said the home's owner, Lesley Jenkins, was filmed in mid July in the garden along with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and some of the show's judges.

He said a winner was picked from each episode, but was still waiting to hear how Wollerton Old Hall had fared.

"Lesley Jenkins has designed the garden herself, and she's responsible for the planting and the colour themes in the garden, it's been her life's work creating and designing the garden," he said.

"The total size of the garden is four acres, but the main area is an acre-and-a-half and it is divided into small rooms all with different colour schemes. We've got lots of perennials, roses and clematis, so it's quite a traditional garden.

"The garden has been on television before, although we are quite pleased to be put forward for this show, although whether it is the best in Britain is open to debate, because it is down to the judges' tastes."

Wollerton Old Hall garden has a proud history dating back more than five centuries. It is thought the garden has been there for about 550 years, but the gardens as they are now were started by John and Lesley Jenkins in August 1984.

The hall had been Mrs Jenkins's family home, and she started designing a new garden after returning there in the early 1980s.

To find out more about Wollerton Old Hall garden visit www.wollertonoldhallgarden.com