HEAD gardener Barry Locke and his team went through six months of hard graft and heartache to recreate the garden at Shakespeare's House, writes Pat Smith.

They were given a deadline for the re-opening of the gardens after the whole area was reduced to a building site during renovation work. Many a day since last October Mr Locke and his men have despaired at the upheaval and destruction of the old beds, however they say it was all worth it.

Gone are the builders, the place is a picture and the garden has recently won joint first place in the Stratford in Bloom competition with Nash's House and New Place.

Mr Locke, who's been the head gardener for ten years, said: "It was the biggest challenge since I have been in charge, and a nightmare at times. It all came together in time and we are very proud of the result."

The makeover matches the house renovations, in that everything possible has been done to give visitors an idea of authenticity.

Plants grown in the beds have been carefully researched to make sure most of them were around in Will's day.

A pretty herb garden with 40 different varieties of plants lies at the back of the house. There's a wild flower bed, and corn flowers, pot marigolds, snapdragons and big daisies abound. Old varieties of berries and other fruits also take their place in the borders, as they would have done in Elizabethan days.

The infrastructure has also been radically changed. Tarmac pathways were ripped up to make way for reclaimed York stone walkways, which look as if they were laid many years ago, as do the little stone walls which support some of the raised beds.

Every one of Mr Locke's 15 gardeners had some part to play in the reconstruction and planting of the new garden. Most of them live locally and are long serving employees of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

The gardeners grow all the plants themselves at Hill Nurseries in Welcome Road, Stratford, for all the Trust's historic houses. As an example of the task, 18,000 wallflowers alone are needed for the annual beds this autumn, and they all change again in summer.

Over at New Place there's a foundation garden, a knot garden containing 4,000 plants, and a great garden which is open to the public in Chapel Street.

Mr Locke, who has worked for the Trust for 17 years, said: "It's a great job. You meet so many interesting people. One woman regularly rings me from Tokyo just to ask me the name of plants."

Another important task for the gardeners is to grow plants for sale to the public. This autumn a rush is expected to buy the new Shakespeare 2000 deep red very fragrant rose.