The two best gardeners of my acquaintance often say when they come here “What are you going to do about that?” Usually the answer is not much.A relaxed look is what I like. But even laissez-faire gardeners have standards and before the garden is open there are several things I always do. Cushions get a quick bash, coats are hung up and piles of books and catalogues straightened, but that’s about it.
The horticultural equivalent of my indoor presentation is similarly selective, but it takes a bit longer. Because it is a garden for living in, rather than for looking at, there are plenty of places where serious outdoor housekeepers might suggest that more might be done. That means no books and papers on the floor, no overflowing waste-paper baskets, no puppy-chewed shoes to trip over, and fresh flowers in as many rooms as I can manage. If anyone is coming to the house for the first time I prefer them to see it in a marginally tidier state than two grown-ups in a hurry often leave it. A second series of ‘Vintner’s Tales’ begins on BBC2 on 15 October.

SINCE WE moved here six years ago the garden has been regularly open under the National Gardens Scheme, as well as to groups by appointment. Frequent openings are much easier to manage than occasional ones. There’s quite a lot of words on them, and they’re always beautifully written, as you can imagine.We have a similar sense of humour which depends a lot on observation of people, not slapstick We do laugh a lot, but not at jokes. Listening to a particularly witty or apt description by him is a joy .. Our volume level always goes up after wine. So I think his would be a very good shoulder to lean on – but I hope that I never have to.’England, England’ by Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape, pounds 15.99) is published on 3 September. He’s been very helpful: if he finds an old passage in a book which is of interest, he might send me a copy. As for appearing in his work – well, I think there are two Masters of Wine in his collection of short stories called Cross Channel, and one is blonde But there the similarity ends.

The closer you are to a novelist, I suppose the less likely it is that you end up in one of their novels.I’ve floated the odd idea with him because he, I suppose, would be a typical buyer of wine books. I have absolutely no imagination, so I admire anyone who can write fiction, even bad fiction. But to write good fiction seems to me the summit of human achievement. And it went on and on: the last celebration of his birthday was in January 1997. With mind-blowing wines, thoughtfully, cleverly, chosen.There’s quite a bit of faxing between us.