Inside Nigel Slater's secret garden

Dan and Nigel in front of the gates to the new garden Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

Some of the plants now thriving in the garden: Cyclamen hederifolium albifl orum 'Album' Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

400 pots of new plants Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

Astrantia major 'Shaggy' Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

Sarcococcas ready for planting Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

A phlox which was already in place Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

Nigel and Dan start planting up the 'white garden' Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

One of the garden’s long-established roses Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

The bench where Nigel sits and contemplates Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

The star-like Cornus 'Gloria Birkett' Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer

Hedges of winter box mark out the beds of the formal garden at the front. Through the gate is Nigel’s new, secluded area - a place to hide from the world Photograph: Howard Sooley/Observer