0:00:13 > 0:00:15Rather nice fennel, that!
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Hello. Welcome to Beechgrove Garden.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22Yes, the variety is Tauro F1, and it's bulking up really nicely.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24It was protected early on in the season,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27and that's the story of the vegetable garden this summer.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Look at that - self-blanching celery coming along nicely,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33planted close so you don't need to earth it up.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36The celeriac, brilliant. It's coming away now,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39and you can see where the roots are beginning to swell,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42so we're going to get a decent crop in there. Moving along,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45carrots here. Harvesting these carrots.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48They were covered for the second-generation fly.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Beetroot - well, the less said the better.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54I'm not sure if we'll get a crop there. Late carrots are fine,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58parsnips OK, and so on. Really we've had a tough time,
0:00:58 > 0:01:00but the boys have done a great job here behind the scenes.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05Potatoes have all been defoliated because of the blight.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08At the far end of the row there is our old favourite, Sarpo Mira,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11with not a mark on it. This is a new Sarpo variety.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15This is Kifli, and it does show a little bit of leaf blight.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18That's a bit disappointing, but we'll get them up fairly soon.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21It's an early main crop. Onions...
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Don't be too greedy. Get them bent over now.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Stop the growth, and get them up out the ground.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Let them ripen, and they'll firm up really nice and firm,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33and they'll stay all winter. Leeks are fine.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37French beans... Ah, not so sure that we'll get a crop there.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40It's getting too late. Broad beans have been fine. Peas are fine.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Look at them Brussels sprouts! We nearly had to put in fence posts to get them up.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48They are coming along beautifully, but we need to start picking them,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51because once the buttons get to a certain size,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54I think they lose their flavour. And the kale - how about that?
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Looking wonderful. These'll keep us going right through winter
0:01:58 > 0:02:01with brassicas. The rest of the brassica plot has been cleared,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05and the old saying, of course, is that nature abhors a vacuum.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09What we're going to do is to put a green manuring crop on.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13It helps to feed the soil. It adds to the organic matter.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16It helps the wildlife, and, of course, it stops leaching
0:02:16 > 0:02:19from these heavy rains. We're using a ryegrass,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22and putting it on here, rake it in lightly.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26It will bulk up. Into this bed next time will come the roots,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30so you wouldn't ever be wanting to put dung in here in the winter
0:02:30 > 0:02:33because it causes roots to fork, doesn't it?
0:02:33 > 0:02:37That's the old story. But ryegrass makes a wonderful root system,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40a fibrous root system, and a top which is strimmed,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43and it gets dug in as well. So I'm about to sow.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Minimum preparation, and I've got to make this...
0:02:46 > 0:02:49I've got to make this last over the whole plot,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51so I've got to be very gentle with it.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55There we go. Now, then, in the rest of the programme...
0:02:57 > 0:03:01100 years ago, in this very garden,
0:03:01 > 0:03:06was grown the most valuable bunch of sweet peas ever.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10And my problem corner this week is an absolute millstone round my neck!
0:03:13 > 0:03:15Oh, dear! It's confession time.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20We're going to have a look at our broad-bean trial, and look at the state of the plants!
0:03:20 > 0:03:22It's a severe attack of chocolate spot.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Now, Jim was looking at the broad beans in the main plot,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27and although the beans are looking OK,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30they are just starting to show signs of the chocolate spot.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35It's very distinctive. It is just a brown sort of spot on the foliage,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38whereas these ones are in a terrible state.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41The foliage has been destroyed. You can see marks
0:03:41 > 0:03:44right down the stems. When you get something like this,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48you've just got to pick the crop. But why are these ones so bad,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50as opposed to the ones in the main plot?
0:03:50 > 0:03:54My theory is, partly because it's far more sheltered here,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57and a lot of fungal diseases, when you've got the moisture
0:03:57 > 0:04:00and the humidity, if you don't have that ventilation,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02that's when you have the problem.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04But back to the reason for the trial.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It's all about growing three different varieties.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12We've got the Sutton, which is a dwarf variety.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16We picked also a traditional one, which is Imperial Green Longpod,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and then a fairly new variety called Karmazyn,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23and you can see that one is pink, which is quite interesting.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I'm not sure if it stays pink when it's cooked,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29but we are going to cook up some of these and try them
0:04:29 > 0:04:31later on in the programme.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34So, three varieties,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37and we're growing them in tubs and also in the border,
0:04:37 > 0:04:42and half of them are being grown with a pea and bean booster,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45which is a nitrogen-friendly bacteria,
0:04:45 > 0:04:49and that's applied to the seeds when we actually plant them,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and that's all you need to do,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55whereas on this side, we applied the fertiliser Growmore.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59So then we want to look and see, has the cropping been significantly different?
0:04:59 > 0:05:03And it has. It's quite interesting. The top figures are the ones
0:05:03 > 0:05:05that have been treated with the booster,
0:05:05 > 0:05:08and below are the ones with Growmore. So here, the Sutton,
0:05:08 > 0:05:111.6 as opposed to 2.2.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Karmazyn 4.3, 5.5,
0:05:14 > 0:05:19and then the Longpod is 3.1 and 4.1.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21So, I mean, my conclusion is the fact
0:05:21 > 0:05:24that the Growmore is giving us better results,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27so really, I wouldn't use the pea and bean booster.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29It's much cheaper just to go for the Growmore.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Well, we've got another vegetable trial to have a look at.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40Now, this is a good-news story. What I've been trialling here
0:05:40 > 0:05:44is two varieties of leeks, Carlton and Sultan,
0:05:44 > 0:05:49and we were sowing them from seed and also buying them in as plants.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Now, sowing from seed, we had a 100 percent success with germination,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56and they were working out at five pence per plant.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Buying them in as plants, we were expecting 30 plants.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02We ended up with a few more, so the cost of those
0:06:02 > 0:06:07were about 11 pence per plant. So the ones from seed were half the price.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10However, what you've got to take into account
0:06:10 > 0:06:12is things like compost. You've got to have the pots,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15you've got to have the greenhouse, a little bit of heat.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19So at the end of the day, I would say it's value for money
0:06:19 > 0:06:23whether you go for sowing from seed or you buy in as plants.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34When Wendy and Gordon Lyon moved to their garden
0:06:34 > 0:06:37at Kellas outside Dundee, they had this wonderful vision
0:06:37 > 0:06:40of taking over a garden that would be absolutely splendid.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43But when you inherit a garden, you inherit all the problems,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47and that's what's happened here. So we're here to see what we can do just to help them out.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Have you done much in the garden since you arrived?
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Well, we've been here a year now, and the first priority was to make it dog-friendly
0:06:58 > 0:07:02and to allow the garden to grow and let us see what we've inherited.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Now it's about developing the garden,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08and that's where we're looking for a bit of a steer from yourselves.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12- First problem is this hedge. It looks awful, doesn't it?- Mm.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15This is a Leyland hedge, and, um, it's been affected
0:07:15 > 0:07:18by the frost and cold.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20It's possibly had an aphid attack as well,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23and sometimes they get a fungus. But it's growing away,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27which is a surprise, isn't it? So we can humour it, as it were,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31and sort it. Now, because it's growing away out...
0:07:31 > 0:07:35I know what we're like when we start pruning, us men.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37We like to get whacked in about it. Don't do that.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42This time be gentle about it. Trim the ends off these green shoots.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Don't disturb the brown, and that way it'll grow back out again.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- It's kind of dreich today, isn't it? - Horrible.- Really.- Awful!
0:07:49 > 0:07:52The main problem is the view from the kitchen.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57- You want to do something with that. Could we go into the warm kitchen? - Absolutely. Come on.- Thanks.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Well, this is much dryer in here. Thank goodness,
0:08:05 > 0:08:09because it's terrible out there. The hedge here has got the same problem.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12- Unfortunately, yes. - Was it always like that?
0:08:12 > 0:08:16When we came here a year ago, the right-hand side was already dead,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18but over the period of the winter months,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21- it's spread to the rest of the hedge. - I think they're dead.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25- I think they are.- I think they are. So only thing you can do,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29dig them out, get two suitably large replacements
0:08:29 > 0:08:32- and plant them, and they'll soon fill up the space.- Excellent. OK.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34But that wasn't the main problem, was it?
0:08:34 > 0:08:37What was it you wrote in and asked about?
0:08:37 > 0:08:40We wanted to create a garden that wasn't such a mish-mash
0:08:40 > 0:08:44as it looks just now, something that would bring in birds and wildlife.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47It's quite a tall order, but we might be able to do that.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50We'll extend the border. Got some things you can put in there
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and make it into what you want.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55The down side is, it's still pouring with rain,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57so we're going to have to get wet.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04You watch your hips, George. GEORGE CHUCKLES
0:09:04 > 0:09:05Which ones?
0:09:07 > 0:09:10- Why are we doing this? - You may well ask.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14This is just compost which we're forking into the top,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16just to improve the soil a little bit,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19- then anything we plant will get a wonderful boost.- OK.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Have I planted things a little bit close together?
0:09:22 > 0:09:24- Do you think you have? - Uh-huh.- Right.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28I think that one there in particular, that little Gaultheria,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32is too close to the lavender. We'll just move it out to the side.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34- OK.- Plants grow, and that's what happens,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36- so the rest of it's OK.- OK. Great.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44- There we are.- Are these carnations? - Yes. It's a Dianthus,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48and these will flower in the middle of summer onwards.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51These two are from South Africa. That's a thing called Schizostylis,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54red, almost scarlet, and that will give you colour
0:09:54 > 0:09:57at the end of the year. And then this one,
0:09:57 > 0:10:02this is a dwarf lilac. But you know how other lilacs get huge?
0:10:02 > 0:10:06This one stays quite small, but it will have nice purple flowers
0:10:06 > 0:10:09- in the spring, and you get butterflies onto that...- Lovely!
0:10:09 > 0:10:11..one or two of the early butterflies.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18So, before we carry on with the planting here,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20it's quite important to tidy this one up.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24This is one of these golden elders, and there's a bit of deadwood on it.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Has the deadwood been caused by excessive pruning?
0:10:27 > 0:10:31It can do that sometimes. If we've pruned really hard on occasions,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34we can cut back into wood that doesn't want to grow.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37So all we'll do is take the deadwood out from this,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39and there's a yew tree at the side,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41where we'll take some deadwood out of that as well.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43So if I indicate the branches to you,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47just because I know you're nervous, you can take them out.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55You know where the cover is for the septic tank, the romantic bit?
0:10:55 > 0:10:58- Lovely!- Put them there, one that side and one in front.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Wendy, see the thistle, that one there that he's just knocked over?
0:11:02 > 0:11:06- Sorry.- Put that in at the back of the conifer, just in the back,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09and that'll be at the front of those grasses.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15This is interesting. It's a geranium,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18a Scottish native, and it's a woodland plant.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21That can go into the shade.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26These phlox, just keep them tight together,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28and put them in at the back.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37- Now, stand back and look. - Nice mix of colour.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40- Yeah. OK.- It's not too pristine.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- By which you mean... - There's textures and ups and downs.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46It's not too regulated and restrictive.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Which we want. You're looking at it from a distance.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52You want the textures within it. All that's left now is to plant.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07There we are, back inside, and that's the view we were trying to create.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Oh, it's exactly what we wanted.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13There's a lot of different textures of foliage in there,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16and that will give you interest all year, but also there's flower,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20which will be right through the year from spring to autumn.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- Maintenance? How does that work? - Most of the stuff that's there,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26you just cut right down to ground level or near ground level
0:12:26 > 0:12:29every spring, and it will re-grow,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32with the exception of the red hot poker, the Kniphofia.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Don't cut that down. Just leave that,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37because it's got good texture in the foliage,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41- and it'll be there all the year. - What are the trees at the back,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44- and what do we do with them? - You're worried about them.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Those are poplars, and if you leave those,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50they'll grow to about 100 feet. I would suggest that in the spring,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54you cut that down to about two foot off the ground at the back.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Just take a saw, cut it right down. And then the young growth you get
0:12:57 > 0:13:00will have this wonderful variegation on it.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04You'll see it against the hedge, and it'll look fantastic all season.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07- And that's Gordon's job. - That's his job, yeah.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10HEDGE TRIMMER BUZZES
0:13:15 > 0:13:19I wish I had a licence for that thing! This is going to take ages.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22But basically what we're saying is that this is the time
0:13:22 > 0:13:25when you can start the round of hedge clipping,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28and I'm working on Cotoneaster simonsii,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31lovely red berries that are held on the plant well through the winter.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34It seems that the birds are not too keen on it.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36It makes a great show then. Semi-evergreen.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Very heavy frost, it'll lose its leaves,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43but most winters it'll go through with a fair covering of leaves.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46We're often asked, "How much can you take off a hedge that's overgrown?"
0:13:46 > 0:13:51Well, this one's got up too high. We're taking it down to 1.2,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54which is absolutely fine, and the reason is, of course,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56that it was beginning to shade the greenhouses
0:13:56 > 0:14:00along this run here, casting too much shade. Even this bit here
0:14:00 > 0:14:03where we tend to keep plants, it was too much shade,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06so let's take it down. This is a good time of year to do it
0:14:06 > 0:14:10with other evergreen hedges as well, things like Leyland cypress,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12Cupressus, our new hedgerows that Carole has.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16They've started to be trimmed just up the edges,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18just up the sides, to give that batter of a shape
0:14:18 > 0:14:22which makes a strong hedge, and that's what we'll attempt here.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25First we're taking the top down, then onto the sides with clippers.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30When we do the sides, we're trying to end up with that sort of shape,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34because if you get any weight of snow on top, it'll hold its shape.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37If it gets to that, a bit of weight and it starts to spread,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41and you've lost it. So you can get tore into it now,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and hopefully you'll find a use for that. It can be composted,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48shredded and composted, and that would be the best thing to do.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52Anyway, I'm going to be here till midnight. I'd better get on with it.
0:14:58 > 0:15:04They're a bit of a scabby bunch, but it's a donation to the funds.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06A lot of them have been spoilt in the rain.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10- We've had too much rain.- No, no. These are for the booby prize!
0:15:14 > 0:15:18To my knowledge, this is the first ever Beechgrove fairy story.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22I'm in the parish kirk in Sprouston, two miles from Kelso,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26and this kirk didn't have a chancel at one time.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29But it has now, as a result of a bunch of sweet peas.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33We've come all the way down from Dollar to win this.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36100 years ago this year, the Daily Mail announced
0:15:36 > 0:15:39they were going to run a nationwide competition
0:15:39 > 0:15:41for a bunch of sweet peas presented in a jam jar.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44They thought they might get about 15,000 entries.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Well, Alec White, who was the gardener up at the Manse,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50says to the minister, the Reverend Denholm Fraser,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52"I think we should have a go at this, sir."
0:15:52 > 0:15:54So between them they decided to have a go,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57one bunch per person. It came to pass that in July
0:15:57 > 0:16:00they cut two bunches, one in the name of Mrs Fraser
0:16:00 > 0:16:03and one in the name of the minister. He got on his bike,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05up to the station in Kelso there, on the train,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09all the way to London, to the Crystal Palace, no less.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Instead of 15,000 entries, there were 38,000 entries.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Imagine the astonishment in this village
0:16:16 > 0:16:18when the telegraph rang in the post office
0:16:18 > 0:16:20at 12 o'clock the next day,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24to say that Mrs Fraser had won the first prize!
0:16:24 > 0:16:27£1,000! 20 minutes later the bell rang again -
0:16:27 > 0:16:31another telegraph to say the Reverend Denholm Fraser
0:16:31 > 0:16:34had won third prize, the bronze, for £50.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37£1,050 coming to this wee village,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41out of 38,000 entries across the whole nation.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Well, there were two dreams realised on that day.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Number one, Mrs Fraser got the furniture
0:16:47 > 0:16:50to furnish the Manse as she thought it should be,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54and secondly, the Reverend Denholm Fraser was able to get the chancel
0:16:54 > 0:16:57he had always thought would be the right thing.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59That, for a bunch of sweet peas.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04100 years on, a group of people in the village decided,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08"Let's celebrate. Let's have a party to commemorate that occasion."
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Mine is to make everybody else's look really good.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21The smell from sweet peas, absolutely wonderful.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25This is the very garden in which the Reverend Denholm Fraser
0:17:25 > 0:17:27grew the sweet peas that won that money.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Peter Davies, what was the garden like when you took it on?
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Well, it hadn't been cultivated for two or three years,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37so there was a lot of work to do. Fair few perennial weeds
0:17:37 > 0:17:41in the ground. We started on this bed here with some heavy digging,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43digging the trench for the sweet peas.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47- When did you get that started? - Beginning of April, end of March,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51- so very, very tight for time, yes. - How deep were you going?
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Started three foot at that end, and by the time I got to that end,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58- I think it was about two feet. - You got the cultivations underway,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02- but when did you sow the sweet peas? - First seeds went in pots in January.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06The last seeds went in pots actually at the end of April,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09- so we were really pushed for time. - Oh, that was quite late.- Very.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12And you coincided with a season which has been quite difficult
0:18:12 > 0:18:17for the crops. What I wanted to ask you about was the varieties
0:18:17 > 0:18:21that you're growing here - nothing like what the minister was growing.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Well, he was very keen on the Spencer varieties
0:18:24 > 0:18:26- that were newly in around that time. - Yes.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31None of his varieties are available today.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34We've got two growing here which aren't Spencer varieties,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38but in his book of 1912, he highly praises these.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41We've got Flora Norton, the sky-blue one,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Lady Grisel Hamilton, the sort of lavender-coloured one.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47What about this training system? You've got canes...
0:18:47 > 0:18:49Yes. We've gone high with these.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Again we've had the marvellous book of his of 1912,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57where he described very well the system that he used.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00He used 16-foot-high larch poles.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04I couldn't get a 16-foot larch pole, so I've done the next best thing.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06And he wouldn't have had bamboo canes,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10because they used brushwood, didn't they, with wire to support it.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14I think when they were picking them for the show in late July,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17in Henry Donald's book, they were up stepladders.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21- High up a stepladder, yes. - This year's growth hasn't been...
0:19:21 > 0:19:24No, we're not quite there. Nowadays they would take the plants down
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and layer them, but they didn't do that.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29I think you guys have done a fantastic job,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33because you've brought this garden back from the brink, so to speak,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and you've got this air, the feeling of the history and the continuum.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Yes, and that's what we really set out to do,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41- take people back in time 100 years. - Good stuff.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50We always hope. We can't guarantee anything in life, I'm afraid,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52but we can only hope.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Tom Neillans, one of the judges.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08What are you looking for in a good sweet pea?
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Good straight strong stems,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13four heads on each stem,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17and straight, and good big blooms.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22Er, clean, no damage from the weather and everything.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25This is the second prize. That's first, this is second.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28- Where is the fault in that one? - You see the bend in the stem?
0:20:28 > 0:20:30And the flower heads are not so strong.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Now, I understand that this is a guy who shows regularly.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37How does that compare with the amateur, so to speak?
0:20:37 > 0:20:41The amateur pushed him very hard. We studied them quite a while,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44and this was the one that really was a better quality.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49- The story is, anybody can have a go. - Anybody can have a go.- That's good.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02THEY SPEAK UNDER APPLAUSE
0:21:09 > 0:21:12CHEERING / APPLAUSE
0:21:15 > 0:21:18APPLAUSE
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Yes, that was a lovely little fairy tale to be able to tell
0:21:29 > 0:21:32down at Sprouston, all about the sweet peas.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36When we were in the garden, Peter Davies, who'd done all the work
0:21:36 > 0:21:40with his pals in the garden, made a comment about layering sweet peas.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43They'd never been taught to layer - they hadn't discovered it, perhaps -
0:21:43 > 0:21:46in the time of the Reverend Fraser,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50and the fact is there were posts 16 feet high out of the ground,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54and there was brushwood, and they were cutting the flowers
0:21:54 > 0:21:57way up at the top by the end of July, beginning of August.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00In the meantime, we have discovered the technique known as layering,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04and this is what we've done. We've taken the plants from the supports
0:22:04 > 0:22:09and laid them out on the ground. That one is already through the gap.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Because what we do, progressively,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16is we take the plants down from here,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20and the fact is, at this stage, this is the working bit here.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22This is the bit that's producing the flowers,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25and will continue to do so right until October,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28no bother at all, if the weather behaves itself.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31This bit, from the ground up, is just a hosepipe,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34just taking all the goodies up there to the plant.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37So we take it along, gently lay it along the ground,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41and then we start to train it again,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43like so.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48We're cutting the flowers over an area that we can actually work with.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51So you tuck that in, and then you go to the next one.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56You're working progressively. I've taken the ties off this one ready.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Down it comes. Lay the foliage gently down there,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03and it goes onto the second cane.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08And, of course, if I continue round the other end,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11I'll finish up with empty canes round here,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14and that's where these guys are going.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18We're picking nice flowers once again over a manageable height.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Nae bother.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25From those lovely sweet peas, we now move on to our ornamental potager.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29And I should explain, an ornamental potager is a mixture
0:23:29 > 0:23:34of flowers and vegetables. And our inspiration came from a potager
0:23:34 > 0:23:38in Fife - the garden's called Cambo - and the head gardener there,
0:23:38 > 0:23:43Elliott Forsyth, every year creates a different type of ornamental potager.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48So this one was based on his potager from last year, 2010,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51and he used the Impressionist painter, Monet,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54so we have this lovely palette of colours.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57So, let's just have a look at one or two of the plants.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Here we've got a scabious. This is an annual, quite easy to grow,
0:24:01 > 0:24:06and a beautiful white form. That particular one is called Snow Maiden.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09So, from a flower we now move on to a vegetable,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11and we've got a chard there, Charlotte,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14with really beautiful red stems.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17And then look at these two Cosmos together.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21That is a brilliant sort of dark pink,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24followed by the white Cosmos.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27And then the Ricinus here, the castor oil plant,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29not really grown for its flowers but its foliage,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31a lovely architectural plant.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35And as we move round, we've got some of the pak choi.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38You might remember that was attacked by the pigeons,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41but it has recovered. Then we've got some of the linear leaves,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44with the leeks. That's a lovely sort of shape or form.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49And this, perhaps, is my favourite part of the potager.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54We've got this lovely grass. It's called Hordeum,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57and the common name is squirrel's-tail grass,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59and I think that would be really nice for drying.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03Then in the centre we've got the kale, Redbor,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06and that's really quite a dark purple.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11And then look at this scabious here. That one's called Black Knight.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13That definitely has to be a favourite of mine.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17And the whole effect of this is really wonderful.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20This is a wee bit of the "ha-ha-ha, see what we've got"!
0:25:20 > 0:25:23The last of the peaches, some of the figs.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25Awful difficult to get figs in here,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28because they disappear between one day and the next.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32And the first crop from the new set of strawberries,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35picked today, by the way. And to tell you the saga again, of course,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39we started off with a crop in here, picking through June,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41then we moved to the crop out of doors.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44We've just finished cropping there. In the meantime,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48the plants that gave us early crop, we took to the community garden
0:25:48 > 0:25:51and they were planted there in Glasgow, and we had a new set here,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54and they've just started cropping.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57And the smell is absolutely gorgeous!
0:25:57 > 0:25:59If you ever grow sweetcorn in your garden,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03we always advise you to plant it in blocks, and that aids with the pollination.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06But there's a couple of other tips you might want to try.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09This is the male part of the plant, and that's the tassel,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12and this is the female part down here. That's the silk.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15And what you can do is, once it's in flower, is just tap it,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18and that transfers the pollen down into the silks.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23Otherwise, you can just run your hand over the tassel
0:26:23 > 0:26:25and then run that over the silk as well.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30Jim, a chance to taste the broad beans. That's the dwarf one.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32This is the one I grow at home. I know it well.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35- Er, yeah.- You think that's OK? - Nice and crunchy.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38- Mm.- Mm. - Bit of white sauce would be fine.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41- That's the traditional one.- Longpod.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44That's the Longpod. I think that's a bit bitter,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46- so I'm not going to try it. - This is a new one.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49That was the pink one, but when you've taken off the shells,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51it still looks quite green.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I think the best bit about it is, it's pink.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59No, it's lovely! It's got a real fresh flavour to it.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02- Like a slug.- Well, I'll take this. You can take those two.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05- Dress it all up, though. - I know. Add in a bit of feta cheese
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and some lardons.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11- Tasty!- Throw out the weeds.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Well, that recipe will be in the fact sheet.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17- Nice.- Got a great harvest as well. You were showing the fruit.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Well, I did. Sweet peas, more flowers,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24vegetable garden still giving us some lovely stuff. Yeah.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27And then flowers - let's look at our daisy border,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29which is based on the family Compositae,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32so they all belong to that family, and the sad thing is
0:27:32 > 0:27:36that one hasn't done very well, and that's the French marigold, Bonanza.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38- African marigold's all right, though.- It is.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40That's a variety called Vanilla,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43lovely white, but there's a pink tinge to it.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46- Creamy, too, in the centre. - The marguerite is super.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Yes. I think that's a topper in the border.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Sole Mio, and it starts off apricot and then goes through the yellows
0:27:54 > 0:27:56- to the whites or creams.- Really nice.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00- And Rudbeckia - you see, I'm saying "Rudbeckia"...- You're improving.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03- ...doesn't need staking at all. - That's good.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Then the Gazania. There's something strange about that one,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09- because it says Kiss Orange Flame... - Yes.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12..and we've got some rather strange colours.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Yellows and oranges. They'd be twice the size if the sun would shine.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18But this fella's lowped the fence, I think. That's a wine red.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21- We've got a bit of a mix there. - Aye, aye.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24If you'd like any more information about this week's programme,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27maybe the daisy border, or Jim with the hedge-cutting,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31it's all in the fact sheet, and the easiest way to access that is online.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Next week I'm going to be in the orchard,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37- finishing off the summer pruning, so until we see you then, goodbye. - Goodbye!
0:28:37 > 0:28:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:41 > 0:28:45E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk