Alan Titchmarsh Loves Your Tartan Garden

When it comes to gardening I need all the help I can get! Thankfully ITV's Love Your Garden is full of tips and surprises to inform and inspire us all on how to redesign our own outdoor space; whether you're a first time gardener like myself or green-fingered horticulturalist.

In the second episode of Love Your Garden series six, Alan Titchmarsh, and the makeover team visited Moorland in Somerset - an area devastated by the floods of 2014. In the show they surprised Sheila and her husband Alex Colquhoun whose lives and garden were turned upside down by the disaster.

Sheila and Alex were preparing to retire in 2014, but instead they suffered one of the worst years of their lives. Sheila was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo exhausting treatment. After returning home from hospital to recuperate – she woke up to discover their home knee deep in flood water. Sheila was too weak to be evacuated but as the waters rose it became unavoidable.

As the couple were homeless – sleeping in their grandchildren’s bedrooms and in various rental properties, Alex’s plans for their retirement were put on hold. Now they have moved back home the couple will finally be able to retire and celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

Alan, and the team came to the rescue in the garden, inspired by the classic American picket fence style, and transformed their flood-wrecked garden into a picture perfect paradise fit for Hollywood.

If you'd like to see the full transformation the design team have all the Before and After photos on their blog. I'm blown away by the transformation, just as Shiela and Alex were!

As part of the makeover our Piped Edge Cushion Covers and Fleece Backed Throw in the Colquhoun Ancient tartan were part of a number personal touches within the garden for the couple, in preparation for their upcoming ruby wedding anniversary. Thea Pitcher, associate producer and queen of sourcing products and plants for the show grabbed a quick Selfie with Alan and our Colquhoun Tartan Cushions, they are both big fans of tartan.

Tartan is a lovely addition to any garden, with such a variety of colours available, you could create a colour scheme for flowers, tartan and accessories. Our Pinterest board is full of great ideas on how to incorporate tartan in to your garden; whether it be a throw for picnicking or a tartan wreath for your door.

After a recent photoshoot we had a some beautiful plants looking for a home. Once Anna had managed to transport the plants back to our office (which was quite a squeeze) every member of the ScotlandShop team offered to give the plants a home. We did however keep one to plant just outside our office; Auryn, our modern apprentice who is a bit more green fingered than me has taken on the role of watering it and keeping the entrance to our office looking great!