Beechgrove Garden

Beechgrove is back, re-potted, with a new look in a new home on the new BBC Scotland channel. Springing back onto our screens just in time for the Easter holiday gardening weekend, Beechgrove provides trusted tips for the growing season and has sprouted some new faces and facets. In the first episode, despite a stormy spring, the ground is warm enough to start planting, and in true Beechgrove fashion, tatties are the order of the day. But this time, Jim McColl and George Anderson have decided to turn the whole veg plot over to ‘no-dig’ techniques. Meanwhile, Carole Baxter is spring cleaning and pruning, and new shoot/recruit Kirsty Wilson shows Brian Cunningham how to make an easy Easter wreath.

Brian Cunningham and Carole Baxter set up neighbouring luxury greenhouse versus cheap and cheerful polytunnel to see what undercover growing they can achieve. There are over 500 million plastic plant pots in circulation in the UK. Carole and Beechgrove new face Rosa Bevan take a look at the plastic issue from a gardener’s perspective and look at the alternatives. Rosa shows Carole how to make practical pots homemade simply from old newspaper. Willow grows particularly well in the north of Scotland, and Carole visits Karen Collins at her willow farm near Forres. Carole tries her hand at some willow weaving to create a decorative plant support.

This week on Beechgrove, Carole shows how to create easy, instant mass flower colour in just a few weeks by sowing the right seeds now. Meanwhile if space is at a premium, then the way to go is up and so Kirsty creates a lifestyle look with a living wall, made of pallets and plants. Sophie McKilligan is by far the youngest allotmenteer at Garthdee Allotments in Aberdeen. Drawing on her memories of time spent in her grandparents’ garden, Sophie set about reclaiming her newly acquired over-grown patch of potential. Despite her pedigree, Sophie is a learner in the allotment world, and Carole will be there to help her get started with crops that Sophie has previously had problems with: sweetcorn and carrots.

Beechgrove is looking forward to exceeding our “five a day” this week. Carole is tending to the fig, cherry and grapevine meanwhile, Brian and Rosa are planting brassicas and beans in the new back-saving, no-dig veg plot. Brian is also at home in Scone with his children Ben and Eilidh. Brian, Ben and Eilidh are keen to encourage families to garden together and this week they are showing how to make; an edible wigwam, a veg plot out of an old paddling pool and fun flower seed bombs. George visits Mike Thompson’s traditional, Scottish country cottage garden overlooking the Tay Valley in Abernethy.

From the large pond to a tiny puddle, having a pond in your garden is a source of pleasure for humans and is a haven for wildlife. The wellies and waders are firmly on this week in Beechgrove as Carole, George and Brian are all playing in the ponds. Carole tackles the sticky problem of blanket weed in the main pond, George dredges and renews the wildlife pond and Brian creates a tiny, low-maintenance burble pool. Carole also visits Alasdair and Carole Maclean, who live on the edge of Nairn in a bungalow surrounded by a garden they have created over 20 years. In it, they have amassed a collection of over 100 colourful rhododendrons, many of which they raised themselves from seed and cuttings.

This week on Beechgrove, George is in the fruit cage rescuing the raspberries, while Carole plants brassicas and beans in the veg plot. A garden that needs little attention while still looking attractive is a constant request. Brian takes an in-depth look at what makes the Low Maintenance Garden at Beechgrove. Following the theme of low maintenance in a very different way, George visits Iris Jarret’s unconventional garden in Wormit. Iris’s garden is an unashamedly untamed, self-maintaining but delightful garden overlooking the Tay.