Hilltop.

For the last eight weeks, I have entered the ranks of the Hilltop team. Positioned in the more formal area of Hyde Hall, their organisation and professionalism are exemplary - at times other staff mention them with the mischievous wink of a younger sibling whispering about an older one. In actuality there is as much welcome and humour on Hilltop as anywhere in the garden, but it is certainly true that they have taken my horticultural education seriously.

  Although I could talk at length about work in the vegetable plot and the dry garden (both of which have attracted television cameras this year, and understandably so), it is rose pruning which I've learned the most from. Hilltop has hundreds of roses: climbers, ramblers, shrub roses - indeed it has a 'Rose Ropewalk' and a Modern Rose Garden. With many thorns to handle and winter cold setting in, it can be a hard task but above all it has been a golden opportunity to develop my knowledge of a glorious and historic realm of horticulture.