The garden at Great Dixter is known for the way in which it merges the natural and the cultivated world. Its long grass, scattered ponds, old walls and changing flower borders provide a rich environment for all manner of fauna and flora. During 2018-2020 surveys and assessments were made by specialists who have looked at the grassland, hedgerows, ancient woodland and all the biodiversity they support, in the entire historic landscape.  Local and national biological recording groups and volunteers also took part and staff received training in ongoing monitoring.

This recording of a Masterclass held in May 2021 runs through the remarkable findings – that the garden supports the most extraordinary amount of biodiversity – very much against the initial expectations of the experts involved. Here Fergus Garrett talks about the findings and then with entomologist Andy Phillips he and the masterclass group go out into the garden to see what they can find, trawling for insects in the garden's plants and finding the nests of rare bees in building.