The Beechgrove Garden

Winter is over, spring is here, and the garden is slowly coming back to life - and with it comes a new series of Beechgrove Garden. All through the spring, summer and into autumn, the Beechgrove team will be bringing their expert advice and insight into what you should be doing in your garden each week. Whether you have a window box, a balcony or borders and raised beds, there will be something useful for you to learn about or get done. In the first episode, Carole Baxter and George Anderson are at Beechgrove to review how the wild, wet winter has affected the garden. If you are a beginner gardener, there is a Back to Basics look at what essential tools you need to get started. George and Carole are shifting the Beechgrove rhubar, and Brian Cunningham is tackling the basics of gardening in a greenhouse. All that plus weekly handy hints and a visit to an allotment in Dundee.

George and Carole plant some blight-resistant varieties of potatao in the garden. There is spring colour from the different daffodil varieties that Carole placed in containers last year, and now that they are in full bloom, she will be highlighting the characteristics to look out for in each type. George is sowing broad beans, and there is a look at what makes the ideal tree for a small garden, including what to choose, how to plant and how to care for it in the early stages. Calum Clunie is back for the first of his updates from his productive allotment in Leven, plus the usual weekly handy hints.

It’s one the busiest times in the horticultural calendar, and there is lots to be done at Beechgrove Garden. Calum Clunie and Lizzie Schofield take a look at what you should be doing right now to keep your lawn looking lovely, and they are also up to their knees in pond water as they demonstrate how to mend a punctured pond lining. It’s time to unwrap your dahlias after a winter in the dark, and Lizzie is in the gravel garden splitting and separating crocosmia. There is a visit to a beautiful spring garden in Argyll, plus the usual hot tips and handy hints on what you should be doing in your own garden, balcony or window box right now.

As the days get longer, so does the to-do list at Beechgrove. Kirsty Wilson and Calum Clunie are busy tackling spring jobs, including a revamp of the roses in the picket fence garden. One of the biggest jobs carried out recently at Beechgrove was moving the large viburnum to the bottom of the plot. The move took five people and a lot of heavy lifting, but unfortunately, the viburnum didn’t do so well in its new location until some radical pruning was carried out. Kirsty and Calum check on its spring progress. Also in this episode, the pair tackle creating a hugel bed, a sustainable method of growing that is based around planting on a specially created mound of composting materials. If your gardening is on a smaller scale, Lizzie Schofield is in Buckie creating a perfect patio garden. Plus the usual handy hints for the week ahead and a great garden visit.

George and Lizzie combine flowers and productive gardening by creating a mini potager plot. They also kick off one of the big jobs of the year, a revamp of the herb garden.

Gardening to give nature in your garden a helping hand is the focus of this episode. Carole Baxter is joined by wildlife expert James Silvey to answer your questions on how, and what, to plant in order to attract wildlife to wherever you do your growing There is also a visit to a community garden in Paisley that has gardeners from across the world helping out and benefiting from what they grow. Carole is at Beechgrove planting out a new strawberry bed and looking at which tomato and cucumber varieties she will be growing in her 8x6 greenhouse.

Ideas on what to plant in a shaded area of woodland, and there’s a visit to a thriving community garden.

There is more spring colour to enjoy in the garden, and Carole Baxter is looking at bedding plants, which are safe to plant out now that the risk of frost has hopefully gone. Carole also has an update on the yellow rattle that was sown last year. Yellow rattle inhibits grass growth and is a great way to encourage and assist other wildflowers to progress in a grassy area. It is also time to plant out the dahlias, and new Beechgrove expert Ruth Vichos is tackling pests in the greenhouse. There is a visit to East Lothian to visit the plot of father-and-daughter gardeners Erin and Joe Armstrong, while Brian Cunningham has the latest from his garden at Old Scone.