A BASINGSTOKE teacher had her rooftop garden transformed as part of a BBC One programme.

Aimee Jolliffee was selected to appear on The Instant Gardener, and the episode featuring her garden in Shetland Road, Popley, will be shown at 3.45pm today.

The 27-year-old primary school teacher applied to feature on the programme, presented by Helen Skelton, after a friend saw that the producers were looking for unusual gardens.

Aimee said: “My garden is four floors up because I live in an apartment.

“I decorated the inside of my home really nicely but the outside lets it down.”

She heard back from the show two days later, and was told they were interested in featuring her garden.

The programme was then filmed in May, when Aimee was sent away for the day to Viables Craft Centre.

It was there that she learnt upcycling skills at Les Jolies Choses, while expert garden designer Danny Clarke set to work on her garden, with the help of Aimee’s parents.

When Aimee returned, she said she was “gobsmacked” by the result.

She added: “It was so different to what I expected. It was such a lovely space.

“It was a grey dull space before. It was nothing like the inside of my home. They added a lot of colour to it.

“My house is quite colourful. They brought all of the colours from my house into the garden.

“They made furniture as well for it. They made it into a really nice liveable space that I can use.

“I normally spend all my time in the living room whereas now I have a space to go outside and sit down and socialise with friends.”

Aimee has lived in her home for four years, but said she did not know how to make the garden look nice.

She added: “I’m not green fingered so I had no idea where to start.

“I went to garden centres and bought plants and then they died quite quickly.”

Filming for the show took just one day, and Aimee said she was surprised by the whole process.

She said: “It was very different to what I expected filming to be with all the re-takes.

“I assumed that when you watch these programmes it just happens.

“It was certainly an eye-opener to see how long it takes to film one little part.”

Aimee plans to watch the show with her family, adding: “I’m really nervous!”

She is the second person from Basingstoke to feature on the show.

On July 22, Basingstoke mother-of-five Tania was given help to declutter her disorganised garden and turn it into a child-safe and enchanting space.