Gardeners’ World brought a bit of rock ‘n’ roll to BBC2 this week, with a genuine A-lister making a visit.
Viewers checking in for Monty Don and the gang on Friday were shocked when none other than U2 bassist Adam Clayton – a member of the renowned band with Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. – took Adam Frost around his gorgeous garden.
The Irishman has lived just outside Dublin since he was five, and the green-fingered musician makes the most of his surroundings.
He purchased his home, which is surrounded by 17 acres of property and is near to where he attended boarding school as a teenager, in the 1980s, just after U2 topped the charts with The Joshua Tree.
Despite having no experience of gardening, he knew he ‘found consolation outside’, so he converted an overgrown plot of land in a river valley into his own utopia.
Over the previous three decades, he has planted over 4,000 trees, and the garden is full of rhododendrons, camellias, and magnolias.
He said: ‘It takes my mind out of myself. I start to see the colours, see the form and I just go into a different world.’
Adam Frost, a Gardeners’ World star, was astounded by the’magical’ garden and praised the rebuilt river as the operation’s ‘heartbeat’.
Viewers were equally pleased and praised the With Or Without You rocker’s burst of colour and vitality.
‘We were spoilt this evening with Arundel Castle’s tulips, Jim’s wonderfully colourful garden and then Adam Clayton’s magnificent sanctuary. #GardenersWorld,’ tweeted @TheEricaJames.
@Ellebelles1 added: ‘Lovely piece on @gardenersworld1 about Adam Clayton’s garden in Dublin. He has created a true paradise garden 🙌🏼’
‘Caught a glimpse of Gardeners World during halftime and the inimitable Adam Clayton,’ wrote @Dudsey. ‘A stunning garden and the explanation of the release it gives him from the rigours of an incredibly mental and hectic lifestyle prove the power of nature and the great outdoors.’
Some people couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a pun, and we can’t blame them.
Fan @IbelieveinCoyot quipped: ‘Genuinely fascinating feature on Adam Clayton’s garden which is beautiful! Shame they didn’t talk about trees as I wanted to know if he can’t live with or without ewe.’
Even people who don’t particularly enjoy his music were blown away, as @VeganTrailRunr admitted: ‘I don’t like the music of U2 but Adam Clayton’s garden is absolutely stunning.’
Gardeners’ World airs Fridays at 8pm on BBC Two.
