THE new head gardener at one of Britain's finest gardens is preparing for his first season of opening to the public starting on Monday, March 1.

Matt Bishop, one of our most exciting young horticulturists, has been overseeing a dramatic winter at The Garden House, near Yelverton on the edge of Dartmoor.

He has been busy planning the early stages of a refurbishment of this historic garden, created by the plantsman Lionel Fortescue from 1947.

Matt has also been planning a regime of care for the modern part of The Garden House designed by Keith Wiley, who Matt replaced as head gardener last October. Keith's stunning naturalistic designs won The Garden House an international reputation.

'It has been a very exciting first few months in charge of this wonderful garden, and the way everything is blooming so early and so beautifully has been the icing on the cake,' said Matt.

'Our top priority has been the programme of care and restoration. This has involved a re-design of the lawned area in front of the house, refurbishment of the planting in the South African garden and designs for new parts of the estate such as our Quarry Garden, where we have a waterfall tumbling through a series of ponds.

'We have been preparing ourselves to open on March 1 so people can come and enjoy the spring colours. Everybody should visit early this year because of the mild weather. Our bulb meadow, a naturalistic planting of thousands of bulbs beneath a canopy of magnolias and acers, is much more advanced than usual.'

l There's a chance to meet Matt on March 18 when The Garden House hosts a 'Meet the Head Gardener' event. Details on 01822 854769.