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Hello again and welcome back to Britain under the Microscope.欢迎你又回到闲话英伦，hello Anlan.

Hello.

So I have been following some news in the UK,you guys are also easing up the lockdown regulations，right？

Yeah，the restrictions has started to be somewhat eased. There's still been a bit cautious，but you notice there's more people going outside now and it's easier to go outside now.

What I’ve noticed is, like in China, people have been sharing their lifestyle during the lockdown period on social media. And one thing I definitely noticed is people spend a lot more time in their gardens.

Absolutely! One of the things in the UK is that during this lockdown period we've actually had very very good weather.

Oh,lucky.

Not that lucky because you can't go outside.

Well, but you can go into the garden.

Exactly lots of English people，lots of people in Britain，they do actually have their own garden.

And Britain is a nation that really loves its garden.

Yes.

Let's talk about that today.

So you mentioned about loving gardens.We actually have a particular term for going around the garden,we would say potter around the garden.

Potter like Harry Potter.What does that mean？You go as Harry Potter in the garden.

No，it's basically you go around the garden and you do a little bit of light gardening work.So having a potter around the garden literally means you go in the garden, you have a little bit of a walk around, you sit there, you maybe pick a few dead leaves, clean it up a little bit.

So doing some light work.

Yeah.

Okay. That one thing I always find it interesting is that as a city girl and I’m a complete city girl，I didn't grow up with a garden.So for me gardening seems to be a very old people thing to do, is like when you retire and then now it's time to garden. Do you not have that kind of idea in Britain？

We do because to have a good garden，you generally need time and let's face it kind of when you're retired，you do have a lot more free time. But gardening or enjoying gardens is not necessarily just older people.People of all ages also do work in the garden.

And would you say that British people generally take pride in that？

Very much so.So you notice that houses in the UK would have a front garden and also a larger back garden. Now people don't really worry too much about the front garden.But they do try to keep it tidy，but it's the larger back garden，the private space that people do focus a lot more on.

Generally how big are we talking about？

They can be in all types of sizes. I’ve seen gardens that are absolute huge.I remember my grandmother's garden and she lived outside of London and that was enormous and I remember being six or seven years old and it just seemed to go on for miles and miles and miles.

Can you give us a number so that we have an idea？

Probably that type of garden and I would say 200, 300 square meters.

That's a lot of work.

It is.But also you have some gardens like for example the house where I grew up in London, that garden was probably about, maybe 7 meters by 4 meters.

That's still relatively decent size, enough to have a outdoor meal in.

Yeah.And that's something that we have a lot in the UK, a lot of people have barbecues in the summer.

And I’ve noticed that generally British gardens also have a shed,一个工具房, you put all your tools in and some people they have something called the gazebo?

So a gazebo is basically like a little pavilion. So you have a roof, but around it there are no walls.

这是一个亭子.

Yeah.

The difference between gazebo and pavilion is when you think pavilion you think Asian. But gazebo can be western. And when I visit people's houses in Britain or if I go around estate agents，I keep hearing this word conservatory.What is conservatory?

A conservatory essentially is part of the main house，but it's all glass. So the idea is that you sit in a conservatory when it's a little bit colder，so you still have all the sunlight.

Ah~sheltered.

But you also have lots of plants inside as well.So it's the idea of feeling that your inside the garden without being outside.Yeah.

That sounds like a greenhouse.

Pretty much it is.

有点像阳光房的概念，is it because there is so much rain in the UK?

Yes，probably because there's quite a bit of rain，but also the idea that even in winter you could be in a conservatory, be a little bit colder but you can still go into conservatory.

Let's talk about what people do in their gardens.I know you guys barbecue in the garden.

Yeah.

What else do you usually do in the garden growing up？

When I was a young child, I probably play in the garden now I might go and sit in the garden, read if the weather is nice，I might just have my lunch or my breakfast or coffee outside as well.

Do you also hang your washing out in the garden?

Yes, pretty much most gardens will have a washing line.

But that is quite risky，isn't it？For the weather in the UK, then you go out and you left your washing out in the garden and you have to rush back.

Yes, there's a few times this happened.I always remember when I was growing up when there was washing outside，my mom would always tell me keep an eye on the weather, and as soon as it starts cloudy over，soon as it starts to rain，I gotta run out very quickly in，get all the washing back in.

Generally just enjoy your garden.

Yeah.

Do you get visited by wildlifes like birds and maybe squirrels？Because when I was in Germany，the gardens they always have squirrels coming in.

Lots of people actually encourage these animals to come into the gardens.

How do you encourage them？

For example，you use bird feeder.

With food? And then they will come in, and but you can’t keep them right？

What you do is it's very very common in the UK that you get a bird feeder or a bird table, and you leave food on the bird table. So the idea is that encourages birds to come in to the garden.

And squirrels?

Well, probably less squirrels，they're seen as a little bit like pests in the UK.

Oh really,but they are so cute.

Yeah，I quite like squirrels but a lot of people don't. And also you sometimes get bigger wildlife as well，you get foxes.

Foxes can come into your garden, sounds a bit scary.

Not really scary because foxes are a little bit wary of people.The only problem with foxes is that when they're fighting or when they're calling，they sound absolutely awful.It sounds like a baby screaming.

That's what I was hearing. Sometimes late at night when I was staying in London.

Yeah.

Okay，so you don't necessarily want them in your garden. Now moving on to garden work.You said there is a lot of work to be done. What are they planting flowers，for example?

Yeah，so for example，you would sew seeds in the garden.

Yeah.

And then are you dig up weeds，or weed the garden, you have to mow the lawn as well.

I have a question. Do people never hire gardeners to do that, professional people？

They do, if they got a really big garden or if they're quite wealthy，but most people would just do it themselves because it's quite expensive to get your own gardener. And also a lot of people if they do like the gardens，they like that feeling of doing it themselves.

Spend the whole day in the sun doing garden work.

Yeah.

Of course you have to water the plant, the flowers. Where do people get all these things in the supermarket？

You can get them in the supermarket or you can go to garden centers.

Garden centers, these are centers specifically focusing on gardens?

They're normally very，very large. They are normally filled with plants，filled with ornaments, pretty much anything you need for garden work.

Ornaments are these decorations that you put like little rabbits，little owls as well.

Or gnomes as well.

Gnomes是叫花园精灵.

Yeah.

Like a supernatural creature.如果大家看过原来有个法国电影叫Emily，里面就有 garden gnome，you see them all the time in movies and TV. Alright, even though that I’m not into gardens, but even I know that there's some world famous garden shows园艺展在英国.

Yeah.

For example Chelsea?

Yeah，the Chelsea flower show is very very popular and it's actually one of those things where even the royal family get involved. So like Prince Charles would actually take part in the contest as well.

So it's a competition. It's not just exposition, you actually competing for the top price.

The idea is that you design this very small little patch which is your garden. And you can go into any sort of style.

I see.

If you're really interested in gardens，the best place to go would be Kew gardens.

Kew Gardens? Is that the name of the garden? I remember hearing it vaguely.

Kew is a place in west London.It's a really，really nice part of London. And they have a huge area called Kew gardens and it's a botanical garden.

就是植物园.Maybe next time I'll check it out.

It is absolutely brilliant.They got a huge greenhouse. I think it's over about 150 years old now, it's really really old. So actually it probably look a bit older, it might be 170. And it's just a beautiful area.

And having said all of that, with all this British fascination with gardens. I’m sure there are a lot of idioms relating to gardens.

Absolutely loads.

很多习语应该是跟garden有关的.For example，I know the grass is always greener on the other side.

Yeah. The grass is always greener is that feeling when someone has better than you，whatever your doing is not as good as something else.

The grass is always greener on the other side, like you said it's that you always think what you have is not as good as what other people are having. In Chinese we say这山望着山高，we use mountains. Any other common idioms?

You could also say nip something in the bud.

Bud就是花蕾，like rose bud，for example. Nip something in the bud, what does that mean？

That means to stop something from developing. So it's normally something bad.So for example，you feel there's an argument coming along or there's gonna be a huge problem.You have to try to stop it by nipping it in the bud.

Or when your kid is starting to develop a bad habit，then you can say you need to nip it in the bud.

And also I think this is very very British. Everything is coming up roses.

Everything is coming up roses.

Yeah.

I’m assuming that means everything will be great.

Everything is going well. Everything is improving，it's becoming successful.

If my project is going well，I can say everything is coming up roses.

Yes, it just means everything is doing well.

So hopefully in your life, everything is coming up roses. So we will wrap up here. Share with us in the comment section. What you think about gardens and your experience with gardening? If you have a garden，what would you plant in it？

Yeah.

What would you plant in it？What kind of flowers？

Generally，I like to plant in lavender.I also like herb gardens as well. I actually have a herb garden in my flat in Beijing.So even though I don't have a garden now, I can still have few plants around and look after those on my balcony.

That sounds amazing.

Mhm. And on a final night，we'll just like to dedicate this show to our very own gardener.小助手.

小助手 loves gardening.如果大家加入社群加了小助手的微信的话，就能看见小助手的朋友圈里面有很多花的照片. So this is also an episode dedicated to our hard working小助手.

Wish you a very happy birthday and thank you for everything.

Thank you for everything you've done. On that note will see you next time.Bye~

Bye.