Episode 2 The Beechgrove Garden

Well, hello and welcome to the Beechgrove Garden,

or should I say, the Scottish Riviera?

Isn't this wonderful? Well, for gardeners

it's all systems go from now on.

And tatties... Look at that,

they're just sprouting away nicely.

They can stay in the cold greenhouse for another day or two.

This is the plot all ready for them.

Put them to one side for the moment,

because in fact we can get started sowing carrots.

And we've been on this plot before during the winter

and you saw how we dug in the green manuring and we left it rough.

All four plots, of course, have been actually covered over

just in the last month, so that the ground can be ripe for this time,

when we get sowing and planting.

Tatties there, roots here, cabbages and cauliflower in there,

and over there the gross feeders,

the peas, the beans, the onions and all the rest of it.

But I'm concentrating on the area which is for carrots,

and you can see how it's been prepared.

Now how do you get from this...

to that?

It's a simple procedure and it works every time for me, that's for sure.

You dig over the ground,

slacken it up, knock down these lumps.

And you can see because of the condition of the ground,

they've been weathered, you see.

And they just knock down. It's still a wee bit damp, but that's ideal.

So, we do that.

Then we put on...

..some fertiliser.

This is Growmore granular fertiliser.

It's a real starter for these young plants coming away,

until they get going. OK.

The next stage of the process

is to tramp it all down.

Like that. So that the tilth is even.

The size of the granules are even,

and here we got down to that demonstration a little bit quick.

But that's basically what's been done.

Right, now, we're ready to sow...

..carrots.

Early Scarlet Horn, and as I have explained several times in the past

I suppose, I stand on the line,

and then, if you've prepared that ground evenly,

that drill will be an even depth. Just look at that.

Just look at that. Precision stuff.

About an inch deep, 2.5 centimetres, if you fancy.

There we go.

And I can tell you the temperature at the moment,

on that thermometer over there, is 11,

in the soil, about four inches down.

There we go. Well, I'm about to get down on my knees to sow.

So, for the rest of the programme...

Tulips are red, daffodils are yellow.

Valentine's Day in the garden with Jim was...

cold.

Meanwhile, our George has been trying his hand

again at growing some prize-winning bulbs.

Well, here we are in the trials area,

and it's an opportunity for us to review

things that went on last year.

First of all, we did these pots of bulbs,

where we layered different bulbs.

One, we kept in an open position,

one, we tucked away so it's more sheltered.

And it's a real success story,

and it's interesting because the gardeners kept a record of the flowering.

They have, and in flowering time, the sheltered one, the anemones,

were two weeks earlier than in this one.

And they started 27 February in the sheltered spot,

so it's the period of flowering as well, isn't it?

-So what about the daffodils?

-A week difference. They were one week.

So, over there they were starting to show,

and then here it was a week later.

Now, I think with the weather, you agree as well, don't you?

Yes, the tables are going to turn,

because this one now, it's in a more open position, it's warm,

it's sunny. I think it's going to catch up and maybe overtake.

The other thing that I like about it

is we are getting hyacinths this year.

Remember we tried it the year before, and it was so cold,

they just rotted.

But that is really good value.

I mean, for flower ability out of one pot, is superb.

OK, now, the story with the Garvineas,

or I call them hardy gerberas, really.

Yes. We had two size of plants, we had small and large.

This bed had all small ones put into the ground,

and they are dead. So they haven't come through the winter.

Whether they will sprout, I'm not sure.

Then the larger ones, they were put in the boxes

and then they were potted up in October,

put into a cold greenhouse. That's the result.

And I think there's a bit of varietal difference.

Some are maybe hardier than others.

You had some that you put in the ground at home?

I had three that I put in the ground.

They haven't come through the winter.

-And they were large plants as well?

-Yeah. And these are your two?

Yeah. Now, these have both been in pots.

This one, which is called Gilly,

this is what was on Christmas Day, on my doorstep, still flowering.

So I'm really pleased with that.

We then had that cold weather which knocked it back hugely.

I put it in the greenhouse to join this one,

which had been there the whole time. This is Orangina.

And it's recovered,

it's starting to show bud, and this one's got a flower on it.

But we have to remember then, still they're not that hardy.

Maybe you have to give them a bit of protection.

Bigger plants are better and protection over the winter.

Then we've got a whole range of pansies.

These again were planted in October.

We've had slight weather problems with frost.

They were heaved up a little bit, they had to be firmed in the ground.

Quite small plants, and then the deer nibbled at them.

-So that pinched the tops out for you.

-Yes!

I think we should come back, cos they are a little bit slow,

and we can then have a look at one or two of the varieties.

That one, Lesley...

Baskets are stunning. That is a beautiful colour.

That one's called yellow plentifall, F-A-L-L,

and so it is a hanging basket variety.

It doesn't need nipping out,

it actually breaks quite naturally, and it is lovely.

Very successful, isn't it?

The lavenders we were trialling at planting last year...

This bears testament to how mild the winter was,

because they've come through. The French one is looking superb,

and I would have never predicted that.

-Well, I'm sure they wouldn't have done two years ago.

-No, that's true.

And isn't this an array of colour?

This is looking fantastic. Now these are all dwarf bulbs,

Narcissi and tulips.

Nice and compact, so we thought they'd be good in pots.

And when we planted them,

we tried to plant them in the order of when they should flower,

so Spring Dawn was the first one to flower.

-We've kept a record of that.

-The gardeners have, yes.

We actually mention that a little later

in the programme with our Problem Corner.

Now we repeated some of the ones we have in the beds. We actually put them into pots,

and we put two layers of these.

We put one at this height, one at this height.

Yeah, so the same variety.

And it's giving us a good spread of flowering,

because the ones at the shallower level are flowering now,

the others are still in bud. They've got more growing...

So it's a way of extending the flowering season.

Just the same bulb, but in different layers.

What else have we got? Toto? Do you quite like that one?

That's very pretty. That's very small, multi-headed.

-Ideal for a little pot, isn't it?

-Mm.

Tweety Bird, I think that's lovely with the reflex petals.

-The wind's blowing its hair back.

-And the colour of it.

Now, some of these, the tulips, I think, are a bit garish.

You need sunglasses.

Well, they are very bright and cheerful for spring,

so Gold Coin with that rich yellow, Show Winner with that red

-and of course they're falling flower because it's so hot and sunny.

-Yeah.

Now, going back to the planting in the bulbs,

this is an interesting comparison.

Isn't it just, because this is praestans unicum,

it's got very good foliage,

so that's another bit of interest with it.

But it's just starting to show a bit of bud and flower here.

Look at it in the pot, it's beautiful.

So it shows that the warmth here is a big difference.

The soil must be a little colder.

Size difference here as well...

It's the same with the Heart's Delight,

cos that really is quite compact.

But, you know, I quite like the water lily one.

That's really pretty.

This is some of the trials from last year,

but what about the trials for this year? Let's get on.

The fruit blossom looked gorgeous in the glass houses,

-cherry and the peach.

-Lots of fruits to come.

-Now, you collected some of these seeds last year?

-I did.

Now, from the sunflower Little Dorrit,

that was just a nice compact one, but once you collect seed,

you don't know what you'll get.

So we're going to start these off now and then plant them out.

We could get different colours, heights...

We've got lupins as well.

We could get some different colour breaks in there, some peas

and then bits and bobs like the poppy heads, which I kept.

-We're just going to direct sow those.

-In May?

-Yep.

Right, I'm going to be looking at a range of foliage plants,

things like the Kochia burning bush,

and at the moment,

these just need potting on, so, you know, handle them by the leaves

and get a nice good root system

and we'll plant those out once the frost has gone.

We are going to look at a range of gladiolas. Wonderful corms here.

Starting them off early in a greenhouse so you just put the corms in the top there.

-Get a head start with them.

-Get a head start.

These little seedlings here are part of a trial of first year flowering perennials.

Apparently, they should flower in the first year.

These were sown a little bit earlier so I want to take you back.

-What were you doing on Valentine's Day?

-I'm not telling you.

I know what I was doing. I was with Jim in the garden.

It's quite nice to get out of hibernation

because the garden is wakening up as well.

It's Valentine's Day! Where's that bouquet of flowers?

Is that why you were late this morning?

Things are all starting now.

The shoots are coming, spring is on the way.

-Lovely wee bits of snowdrops.

-Snowdrops are one of my favourite.

I think it is a sign that spring is on its way, isn't it?

Catkins are coming out in the willow there

and the witch-hazel is stunning.

-It is.

-That lemon shows up against the background.

-What about your daffies in the trial pot?

-The trial with the dwarf daffodils.

The variety Spring Dawn was meant to flower in February, well, I think it started on 31 January.

Even in the north east, we get daffodils. Isn't that wonderful?

Let's get planting, I'm a bit cold!

These are fine conditions for bare root planting, are they not Carole?

Really perfect Jim, we're lucky, the ground's not frozen

and this is the dormant season, isn't it?

Yes. We've got our wild hedge there.

But we've fallen for a nifty little bit of marketing idea.

We're planting another wildlife hedge but it's marketing as an edible hedge.

Which is a great idea, isn't it?

It's not that we are going to shred all this

and put it in the breakfast cereal. All the subjects have fruit.

-They do. We've got five different types.

-That's the cherry plum.

-What's that one you've got?

This is a common pear.

We've got elder, hazel,

and we've got sloe or blackthorn.

We'll mix them up. Land preparation is good.

Yes, so the tares have been lifted, there's a bit of garden compost which has been added

and well cultivated. It's good soil.

-We can compost the top as well.

-Yes, we can.

And a bit of root pruning.

I don't like to see roots that have been twisted like that, so I'm going to take that off.

Just to make life easy, I'm going to take that off there as well.

-It makes it easier for planting.

-Precisely!

Before we start planting, a little bit of organic fertiliser.

Slow release and you need to mix that in because you don't want it to burn the roots.

These are going in about 15 inches apart. You want to be metric or not?

-I'm afraid I'm still in feet and inches.

-Dear me.

-Give it a shiggle.

-Oh, yes, a little bit of a shiggle.

-OK, we need to firm that in.

-There you go.

-Use the heel.

These are planted about 15 inches apart and then pruning the top.

I think we should. We've already proved that one and it helps.

-It stops the rocking.

-And then it makes them nice and bushy at the base.

I want to tidy that up. Are you going to tidy it up?

I'll tidy that up. Then we will be on to the next one.

You know Jim, another job we don't get to see at this time of year

-is all the early seed sowing.

-Exactly,

it's a nice chance to get in from outside, out of that cold wind.

Isn't it just.

We have got a very good example of the whole gamut of seed sowing

because I am sowing sweet peas which are quite large

and can be dealt with individually.

You have got down to stuff that looks like dust.

Yes, take a look at this.

This is Campanula and as you say, it's just like dust.

There are 150 seeds in there.

What I would do is add sand to that, give it a good shake,

then you could sow it evenly across the pan.

I've got a whole collection here of perennials,

you've got to sow them early to ensure that you will get flowers.

We want the sweet peas to be flowering early.

We are sowing them individually in these things.

They make up, we call it the open book system

because when the plants are fully grown in here and you open that up,

you find that the roots have all followed the lines.

I love using them, I use them for sweet peas, peas.

We've used them for years.

The first thing a seed does when you put it in the soil is imbibe water

because all the food inside is like soup.

-Concentrated soup, isn't it?

-You're soaking these already.

Yes. They have been soaking

for about three hours. I started with the water hand hot.

That means it just softens that leathery skin

and it means it will germinate more quickly.

I can use tweezers, which is very handy.

I am putting them into this multipurpose compost. They're going down just over a centimetre deep.

-That is slightly less than half an inch for you!

-Yes.

What about the temperature, Jim?

These will go into a propagating frame

-with a bottom heat temperature of 15C or 60F.

-Old money.

That is interesting because with these perennials you have to check the instructions.

That little collection there, they need warm temperatures,

around about 15-20C

whereas the campanula or the salvia need cool conditions.

-They could go into a cold frame.

-Yes.

I have already sown the Echinacea and again check

but these just need to be lightly covered with a dusting of compost.

What we're trying to do is match the particle size of the compost

with the size of the seeds.

So, when you put in your fine ones,

you don't actually need to cover them at all.

Read the label.

That is the important thing. That's where the best information is.

I tell you what, it is a great joy to be able to show

some of these winter jobs. Seasonal jobs.

Here we are, about to start begonia tubers

and dahlia tubers into growth

so we can get some early growth and cuttings.

Here are the begonia tubers that have been in a box all winter.

I'm taking the old stuff off there.

They have been quite dry. They've been protected.

Look, still nice and green underneath, we know they are alive.

People often say to us, "How do you know which is the right way up?"

With these, it is rather easy because you can see the old stem there.

I'm taking all the old stuff off, checking they are nice and firm,

and I've discovered that one of them has rotted off, so we have to discard that.

Here we've got some multipurpose compost.

All I want to do is bed them into the compost.

I don't want them to break them at all. Where's the top? Here it is.

Give them plenty of space because once they get a wee bit of light and heat and moisture,

they will start to sprout.

There we go. And we have got a new toy to use.

Here, on the bench of the greenhouse, we have a heat mat.

It is sitting on top of a block of polystyrene for insulation covered with black polythene.

This then gets plugged into the system and we get lovely bottom heat.

We apply the water on the top and they start to sprout straightaway.

Two months later, here are our tuberous begonias sprouting nicely.

They've been sitting in the greenhouse. Every now and again, we will give them a real shower

just to keep that surface damp and help the buds come through.

If we wanted to propagate and increase the stock,

now that we see where the new growth is, look at an example here,

we've got buds there, I could go down there with a sharp knife

and make two plants out of one if I was pushed to do it.

The cut surface I would cover with sulphur

to get it dried up and so it wouldn't get diseased.

Now to the sweet peas.

There is an argument over whether or not to soak sweet peas.

I soaked these for three hours.

The temperature of the water when I started was hand hot,

soaked the seeds and there you see the germination has been all right.

Now what we have done is taken the growing tip

out of each one of these shoots,

and what does that do? It encourages new growth at the base.

Look, there are two fine shoots coming away there.

If you are going to spread that out on a trellis, you are going to get these shoots coming up all the way

and you've got a lovely plant to put out.

We are going to grow them as single cordons.

A little bit later on, we will choose the best one

and remove all the other growths

and get the strongest one up the cane for the single cordons.

These are now in the cold frame being hardened off

because they will be planted by the end of the month.

Oh my goodness, take a look at this.

This is the result of forcing rhubarb.

But I would like to take you back as to how we actually forced this.

Now you might remember that George

lifted a crown of rhubarb back in September

and this has been forced indoors since 11 January

and we have got this beautiful early rhubarb.

I want to continue that succession and this is quite easy.

You are not lifting the crown at all.

All you need is a dustbin and cover the crown.

I have insulated it with a bit of polythene

because it can get rather cold, Remember this is 14 February.

We will come back in early spring.

This is a real success story.

You leave the lid off now, you can pick this rhubarb

and it would be lovely and tender and sweet but just remember,

don't force it next year because the crown does tend to be weakened.

One of the consequences of a very mild winter is that all the winter veggies have really come good.

They are absolutely fantastic.

Last of the lettuce here, that is Valdor, an old-fashioned variety but very reliable.

Then, here we have cauliflower.

Not yet headed up, this is the variety, Mystique.

To remind you, this side were brought in plants

this side were the same varieties but seed bought and sown ourselves.

These have always been slightly ahead but there is not much to choose.

Now Mystique, then Spring Hero, a great spring cabbage

and then look at these calabrese!

Absolute magic. This is the variety Aquilles.

Just look at that, that is the second pick.

We have already had the primary heads out of these.

The primary heads are coming on that one. Look at the size of them! I'm salivating already!

And then we have got another new cabbage, this is an FY Hybrid XL, doing exceptionally well.

And, George planted some of them out there on that little raised bed.

They were looking really sad in the winter but they have come away.

And talking about him,

he's away trying to win money at the flower show again.

This is the weekend of the Flower Show

here at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh

and I've put in quite a number of entries

in different classes, tulips, hyacinths, daffodils.

I am not allowed into the hall at the moment because the judging is going on.

I was here all day yesterday,

staging blooms that I'd brought in and pots of bulbs that I've got.

And you know, this isn't where it all started.

This is the penalty shootout.

This is where the decisions are made but it started a long time ago.

The whole process starts a year before the show.

That's when the catalogues come through the door.

You start looking at them and you have some great ideas

because you think we'll grow better cultivars than what we had last year.

And you look through them and then you find that the prices are just horrendous

of the ones you really want.

Some things in catalogues which can be £60 or £30 a bulb.

£20 a bulb.

You can't afford that so you cut back. You cut your cloth accordingly.

The bulbs arrive, you are all excited,

you plant them into the pots.

I am using a deep pot like that and planting them on top of the pot.

Very often, we'll plant them at a depth in the soil

but here right on the top so that we have all that depth

for root growth and to give me decent flowers later on.

That's the varieties. Make sure that goes in

because they all look the same when they come out the plunge.

Then into the corner of the plunge.

There we are.

That's now going to get covered completely with soil,

and compost.

That will sit in there...

..from October,

through until January/February,

by which time...

..it will have made decent roots, and the shoots will be about that long.

When the bulbs come out the plunge,

they'll be this sort of height, but very yellow,

and I bring them out into this tunnel area, here.

What this is, is just some pieces of alkathene piping,

and I put a thin polythene sheet over the top.

That raises the temperature during the day.

You've got to watch you don't move them on,

or start to cook them too much.

When things are growing too fast,

then we bring them into the shade.

This is on the north side of the fence.

They get no sunlight here.

The temperature is reduced slightly.

That means we can hold them back.

I'd bring them in when the flowers are about that stage, there.

Then, I can hold them for about ten days.

Now, daffodils are easy.

I'll tell you what's difficult, and that is tulips. Look at those.

Nice and tight and closed, at the moment.

These have been sitting here for a good seven/eight days.

If I brought them into the full sun, they'd be in flower,

wide open, in about five minutes.

So, we can't do that, cos they never really close up again.

Fingers crossed, these will stay for a while yet.

I've other ones,

which are further back, and they'll come up and sit in this spot,

and, hopefully, be just right for the show.

When you don't have a glasshouse,

this is what you have to do.

They've been put against the French windows,

and that way I can get about an inch of growth on these in a night.

But I have to keep an eye on them,

because if we move on too fast,

they'll get drawn, and end up like sticks of celery.

We don't want that.

If they get too far advanced,

they'll be back outside.

It can be in one day, out the next.

When I take them out, I'll put them somewhere cooler.

That will slow them down, and then I can bring them in later on.

So, it's a bit of fiddling. A bit of "jiggery-pokery", as they say.

They go out, they come in. They go out, they come in.

That way, we get them flowering for the right time.

Because there's only one time they should flower,

and be at their best.

The cut flowers should be at their best, ten o'clock

on the first morning of the show,

when the judges are going to look at them.

This is a category I'd hoped to win.

This is Uncle Duncan, it's the Scamp Challenge,

and there are three blooms there,

which really look almost exactly the same.

But that one

is much, much stronger.

The petals are firmer.

The stem is better. That got first.

Mine only got third,

because it's a weaker flower,

it doesn't have the good colour,

and the consistency within it to impress.

So, I'll have to try harder.

This year,

the quality of blooms in this show is extremely high.

We've attracted a lot of growers from right across Scotland,

and it's much, much better.

I've done better in the hyacinths.

Look, there's the first prize.

The flowers are properly developed,

right to the top of the stem. Nice, strong stem.

Good colour. Look at the second.

That has flowers which are not fully opened, right to the top.

The colour not fully developed there, either.

So, that's why that's second.

That's why that's first.

-Hey, well done to George. He got a first.

-He did indeed.

He was getting a bit technical towards the end, wasn't he?

He was, but he did very well.

Now, then. A new project, this?

Yes. It should have been a project for last year,

but the plants came really late.

They overwintered well,

so we are going to be growing some of the spray

and perpetual carnations.

Absolutely gorgeous.

I love the combinations of colour, and the perfume.

The perfume is just like cloves.

Delightful, isn't it?

Absolutely lovely. And you're going to grow them in "them, thar bags"?

Yes. We used these bags last year. A great success.

Five plants in each bag.

I think we're going to have to put some kind of framework and netting,

cos they get quite tall, don't they?

They do. You take the flowers out of their leaf axles,

and they just keep on going.

-The commercial growers get them up to six feet.

-Really?

They take them out after a couple of years and start again.

Start them over again with pluck.

Sorry?

-Pluck cuttings.

-OK.

And they need glass, just to keep the temperature up?

Oh, yes. Dry heat is what they like.

Looking forward to some cut flowers, anyway.

If you'd like any more information about this week's programme,

lots of information about those trials from this year and last year,

it's all in the factsheet.

The easiest way to access that is online.

And, don't forget, something new for us, as well.

You can find out about Beechgrove on Twitter and Facebook.

-Have we got any idea what she's talking about?

-I really don't.

Next week, I'm going to be looking at some more garden design solutions.

This time, for the garden everybody sees. That's your front garden.

Absolutely. Well, more gardening next week.

I shall be on the lawn with a plugger.

THEY LAUGH

-Till next week, bye.

-BOTH: Bye!

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