Episode 24 The Beechgrove Garden

That is Crocosmia "Jupiter".

Hello, and welcome to Beechgrove,

and it's a wee bit nippy this morning.

Autumn is definitely on its way.

We've got the old fleeces on, and all the rest of it.

But, nonetheless, we're talking about late summer and autumn colour.

And where better than to look amongst the crocosmias.

It's not just "Lucifer", which we've got up in the garden,

and which I see all over the country.

This serves to show us the different colour range, the different heights,

and, indeed, the different flowering times of a whole range of crocosmias.

As I say, the "Jupiter" is good.

The one at the back, "Cally Greyleaf", is huge and sprawling.

I don't think we'll be looking for a place to put that in the garden,

when these get moved on.

This is "Carmine Brilliant", this has been brilliant.

It's got a little bit more to go,

there's still some nice flowers to come out at the end.

It's going really good. And then, what a contrast, "Lady Hamilton".

Rather graceful, isn't it?

The star of the show so far has been "Lana de Savary", and it was the same last year,

but it's one of the earliest to come into flower. Like "Jupiter", stunning.

Very much. But look, it's only just a metre high, if that.

Cos they're up to two feet.

I'm going from feet to metres, never mind.

And then this lovely "Culzean Pink", doing rather nicely.

But it shows how they can spread. You do have to be careful with them.

You've got to trench round them, if you've got a bunch of them in the garden.

A nice pink.

"Star of the East" hardly yet showing.

A little bit fragile, I think. It hasn't made a lot of growth.

And the same can be said for "Jackanapes", here.

It's struggling a bit, for some reason or other.

Maybe it doesn't like us. And, finally, to this little gem here.

Really well named, because it's "Saracen".

It's got that dusky, middle eastern sort of feel about it.

Look at the colour of the foliage,

and what the promise is in these lovely flowers.

Now, it's over to George. I've seen him kicking about over there.

Nice one. Nice one, Jim. These are the Sedums that you seed.

This is the trial which we set out last year.

We're going to look at Sedum spectabile,

which is the common garden form of Sedum,

and a thing called Sedum telephium, and the hybrids of telephium.

That's the Scottish native, which has purple foliage,

and grows pretty well all over the place in Scotland.

We've got one or two good ones, here. Things with very bright colours.

Things like this one, here, which is Sedum Carl.

We've got a fellow at the front,

which I have to say I'm not very sure about, because I don't like

variegated plants, but that's called "Frosty Morn".

And it's got colour, and it'll have appeal to many people.

But this is the old classic.

This is a thing called Sedum "Autumn Joy",

with a bee sleeping on the top of it.

That's the one we'll be testing them all against.

Because things like "Purple Emperor" at the back, here,

with this great purple foliage, and this one at the front, look,

here's an interesting thing.

Purple foliage, and then, also,

right thorough into these yellow flowers, that's Sedum ruprechtii.

They've not done too well this year,

because of the wet and because of the wind.

They'll be better next year, so promise to come.

Meanwhile, on the rest of the programme...

I'm on the Stranraer-to-Glasgow train,

and on route we'll be stopping at some of the stations,

because the gardens are being looked after by volunteers.

It's a great scheme.

And I'm in Perthshire this week, with some allotmenteers,

and they certainly know their onions.

Well, it's time for me to round up the trial of these tomatoes,

and just explain what's going on.

It's all about grafted and non-grafted tomatoes,

and it's the same variety, Shirley.

So, what do I mean by that?

Well, the non-grafted are the ones that have been sown from seed.

They are actually plants that we bought from a garden centre,

and they were costing a pound per plant.

Whereas the grafted ones, these are on a high performance rootstock,

and then the Shirley is grafted onto that.

So, a little bit like an apple, you buy a variety,

and that's actually grafted onto a rootstock.

So, what are the claims about grafted ones?

Because they are more expensive -

you're speaking about an extra £2, so £3 per plant.

First of all, they claim that they are going to crop earlier.

Well, we found there was only a day of a difference

when it came to the cropping.

But, they also claim they are going to be more free

from diseases, which we have found.

There was less botrytis on the grafted plants,

and less, sort of, nutritional disorders

and I have to say that I think the grafted ones are more healthy.

But, I think, at the end of the day,

this is all about the results of the cropping.

You're meant to get more tomatoes.

Well, when it came to picking the ripe ones,

and you can see there's still more tomatoes to crop. At the moment,

the average per plant is 0.6 of a kilogram

on the non-grafted ones,

and it's double, 1.2 kilograms, on the grafted plants.

Well, I thought it would be interesting to crop

a couple of the bags here.

So, this is the complete crop of the grafted,

and this is the crop of the non-grafted.

And we have, we've got about twice as many tomatoes,

which is fantastic news.

And, on average,

we're speaking about one-and-a-half kilograms more.

So, at the end of the day,

it's definitely worth paying £2 more.

Well, isn't that a lovely view behind me?

You might recognise the bridges and the river. Of course, it's Perth.

I'm actually in Bridge of Earn,

in the school grounds of Craigclowan,

and I'm about to visit their allotments in the old walled garden.

Ruth, now, you wrote in to us.

So give us a bit of background to the allotments.

A couple of friends of mine, and myself, were looking for

allotments in the Perth area, and there were none available at all.

We heard that the school were offering their walled garden to the community,

so we came, and we met up with them, and took the allotment on.

A great opportunity, but we're only speaking about, what,

two years ago, and it was quite neglected?

It was, basically it all looked like that bottom corner,

knee-high in weeds, apart from a small area that the kids were growing some potatoes in.

I'm amazed that in two years you've managed to clear the grounds.

But, also, I love the way you've developed this terrace system, with the raised beds.

That was one of our group, Andy's, idea.

He had raised beds in his garden, and we thought that this

would be a really good idea to deal with the slope, to terrace it.

Now, it's not just about adults, though,

because you do involve the schoolchildren, as well?

Yes. They have their allotments, or small beds,

up at the top of the site.

Now, Jill, I understand that you've got a buddy scheme

and a gardening club for the children, so what's that all about?

Well, we have a gardening club that work up at the top, they come in at night times,

and often, if the gardeners are here, we can give them advice.

And then we have a buddy scheme, where a gardener is appointed

a form class, and we come up on a weekly basis

and help show them how to garden, to weed,

to grow healthy fruit and veg.

And the buddy thing's really good, too, because we do

companion planting, which is like buddy planting.

So, we've got flowers and vegetables,

and the kids are fascinated with this.

Wow, this is a really tidy plot.

-Have you been taking out all the weeds?

-ALL: Yes!

Now, I've been hearing that you've been doing companion planting.

Who can tell me about that?

We plant all these plants,

and they work together to help each other grow.

So it keeps away pests and diseases, doesn't it? They work together.

What do you like growing the most?

I quite like growing lettuce.

-And who wants to eat the peas?

-ALL: Me!

I love peas!

Do you love peas? I think they're wonderful.

What about you, Archie?

I like growing the chives and tomatoes.

Now, have you tried the nasturtiums?

Murray and me just tried some.

-Yeah, I like them. Quite nice.

-Peppery?

-Yeah.

Who likes watering? You all like that.

-Is that your favourite job?

-Yeah.

It's really important to keep the plants well watered, isn't it?

-Although, it's been quite a wet season, hasn't it?

-ALL: Yeah.

Yeah, and this beetroot is growing very well.

Hooray!

I believe you've had one or two problems.

So, Anne, what kind of things have been going on?

This year, we've planted carrot seeds three times, at different points

in the year, and, as far as we know, nothing has germinated, apart from in

the last sowing, which was very late on, we got five carrots came up.

Our parsnips just didn't come up at all.

We tried two or three times, I think,

and they just didn't germinate.

I think what we wanted to do, straight away,

was give you a soil analysis, to find out whether it's the soil

that's causing the problems.

And, in fact, you've got 7.1. Seven is neutral.

Can I ask you, your brassicas, presumably, are they quite good?

-Brassicas are brilliant.

-Brassicas are brilliant.

Well, that will probably be why,

cos if you've got that pH around there,

you're not needing to lime, or anything.

They should do great.

The nitrates, well, that could maybe do with a little bit of improving.

So, if your onions, for example, are not bulking up,

then I think you maybe need to add perhaps a little bit more manure.

Back to these problems, then, with the carrots and the parsnips.

I don't think it's anything, really, to do with the soil.

I would want to say a lot of it is maybe the conditions.

You are quite an exposed site, aren't you?

And, you know, in particular, with parsnips,

they are renowned for being very difficult to grow.

You've got to make sure your seed is fresh.

I know it's very tempting, isn't it, to save your packets of seeds,

and some things will grow year after year, they will stay viable.

But, no way with parsnips. They've got to be fresh.

And then, you're not sowing them particularly deeply,

and, if you get the wind, the surface of the soil dries out.

And I have heard older gardeners, sometimes,

used to put a plank across.

So, you sow them, keep the plank there, and it might take

two to three weeks to germinate, but that's maybe keeping

the moisture in. And then you can release that.

Well, Carole, this is the new polytunnel

we've got just put up in the last month.

We're wondering what to do with the ends, which are open.

In the winter, we do have problems here, with deer and rabbits.

And, it can be very, very windy.

OK, well, I would suggest you should put doors on,

but not necessarily polythene.

I think, perhaps, if you have net.

Cos then you have a bit of ventilation,

and if it's very, very windy, I've actually seen polytunnels take off.

So, if you've got that through ventilation,

that will stop that happening.

Now, you've got these lovely beds, but nothing in them.

Have you got ideas, Derrick?

Well, it's a bit late in the season, so what we want to do is something

over the winter, until we decide what we can do with it in the spring.

OK. Well, look, I've got some seeds here for you.

It's surprising what you can grow over the winter time.

A mixture of, like, the Japanese stir fries,

so, things like the Mizuna,

Tatsoi, Pak choi, those are some examples.

And then, you know, the lettuce, like Winter Density.

OK, this is called Spring Onion, but it is hardy over the winter.

Leafy vegetables, like spinach.

And even peas, and broad beans.

And, you know, what I would suggest, to even create that succession,

you could grow some of these outside, as well,

but use that Enviromesh, or the fleece.

That's quite important to still protect them.

But look, I'm going to leave you -

I don't really need to teach you how to sow them, I know you can do that!

-OK, thank you.

-So, I'm going to leave you to it. And fill the beds!

I've had a great day, here. We've had lovely weather.

Now, Mary, what do you get out of this, having your own allotment?

Well, I enjoy the final products,

but I also enjoy the company of everybody here.

Jill, the children, I mean, they've had such success, haven't they?

Yeah, they love coming up here, getting their hands dirty,

and just having fun.

Well, hopefully I've given you some hints and tips.

But, I mean, problems? Look, somebody can grow onions!

Well, earlier, Carole was down there in Perth,

with these allotmenteers, and she was getting them ready

to sow a whole range of over-wintering vegetables.

Here we are, putting out plants of over-wintering vegetables.

A winter green collection.

So, we've got curly kale, we've got sprouting broccoli,

and we've got three or four or five different types of cabbage.

We hope to take all the crop through, but then,

you never know what the winter is going to be like, do you?

So, what we've done again, is to have a mirror image.

Indoors, covered by the Polytunnel, here,

but with just net down here, draped down there, to protect them.

Out here, all that we'll have is a net to keep the cushies off.

And, so, we've got a proper test of what a little protection will do.

And, of course, what it does do,

is that they should obviously winter better, and they may even be

slightly earlier because they've had that protection.

And, every now and again you get, as I say,

these are a bought-in selection, and they're kind of leggy.

You know, if I'd been growing them myself,

I would have thrown them out. But, what do I do with these?

Well, I just make the hole a bit deeper,

because I get that right down in there.

Down in there. And it'll be perfectly all right.

Except that that happens to be one of the sprouting broccoli.

It's not one of my favourite. We'll see how they do, though.

And now, Mr Anderson is going to unveil his show vegetables,

aided and abetted by head gardener, Jane Bingham.

You will recall that I was down at Kelso earlier on,

and I was at the National Vegetable Society's Scottish branch show.

There were some absolute cracking vegetables on the show bench, there.

I've been growing stuff this year to put into Dalkeith's show.

The time has come to reveal all. Come and have a look, come on, Jane.

-It's show time!

-It's show time.

-It's been a long wait.

We grew these in Air Pots, so the idea should be that we should

be able to undo these little screws, the whole lot should fall out.

-Yes, and then they'll be giant.

-But look, you hold onto them.

Hold on to them. I'll do this, I'll unscrew this here.

Keep a hold of it, let that come right down.

Now, can you get in?

-You need your hands in there.

-Look at the length of that.

Well, be careful. Let them see what it's like.

Go on, hold it straight up.

There you go. The big reveal.

-How's that? That's not too bad, is it?

-What do you think of that?

-Let's see, what's that like?

-Oh, look at these!

-Well, don't get excited about it, now.

-Oh, this is better.

-Look at that.

-That's all right.

-That a beauty, isn't it?

Get your hands off the carrots.

I think this one's going to be bigger. Look at that.

Oh, it keeps coming.

-Look.

-Look at that.

-Look at that.

-That's a stunner.

That's a beauty, isn't it?

Just follow it down with your fingers.

-I think I might have snapped the end off it, though.

-What?

Look.

Ian Stocks, how's that?

-Is that good?

-Look at that.

Ho-ho! I'm happy with that. You not happy with that?

It looks beautiful.

Now, don't rub it down away,

because we want to make very sure that we don't damage it too much.

Oh, look at that.

They're perfection, aren't they?

-Well, no.

-Oh, they are!

Well, the judge decides. And, you know, this is it.

We sit here and we think, "These are absolutely brilliant."

And we're really happy about them,

you can tell by our smiley little faces.

But the thing that's important is,

not until they go on the show bench,

and the judge sees them, at 10 o'clock on Saturday morning,

and he will decide.

And this is what they looked like all cleaned up and ready to go

to Dalkeith's show.

Well, are you please with the results, George?

After a year of nurturing, and swearing,

and being fed up with it all?

Yeah, they're pretty good, actually, Jim. There's some quite good stuff.

There's some first prizes, and seconds, and thirds.

-Yeah, beetroot are particularly good.

-Crackers, aren't they?

A little bit corkscrewed, and these are things

that down point them, and they would tell you in

the judges' guide just exactly what you're looking for

in each of the veggies.

-So, did you get any hints and tips?

-Oh, I got a lot of chaff.

Of course, a lot of hassle and that, but, one or two little hints.

There, for example, they're telling me that things are good in length,

and all the rest of it, but one or two blemishes.

But what was the problem was that we actually lost a little bit on freshness.

You see, by the time I took these down to Dalkeith,

you were able to tie a knot in them.

So that's not really very fresh.

So, the secret is to lift them the morning, or the night before?

The night before, and keep them wet, and moist, and get them into the show beds.

But, wait a minute.

In our supermarkets in Inveraray, there are vegetables

that are fresh as anything,

and they were lifted in Spain, or somewhere,

and they've been in a lorry for a thousand miles.

So, we've got to hire a refrigerated lorry, have we?

Or sponsorship.

Oh, by the way, payback?

Well, there was, there was. Here you are, Carole.

-Give that to Jim.

-Oh, £11!

-That's not even enough to buy seed.

-It'll pay the seed.

-What's the story with the broad beans?

-The broad beans.

There are, in all of these shows, you look through the schedule,

and there's maybe one little category that's not got many.

And, I thought, I'll put broad beans in.

So, that the variety of the Sutton.

I thought these were good when I put them on the bench,

for the Sutton, and then...

Oh dear, this is all about size.

This is the other one. Look at it, look at it!

Now, these come from Jim Williams, and he said, "Right, George.

"You keep that. And, next year, once you've dried the seed, grow them,

"and we're up for a challenge for next year."

So, anyone else out there wants to do the same,

get some long beans like that, and we'll see you at the show.

"Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a town surpasses,

"For honest men and bonnie lasses."

As a native Kilmarnock, I might dispute that,

but I tell you what, they're fairly brightening up the old place

since I was here last.

Not least by wonderful baskets of flowers.

And what a difference it makes.

And that is the reason for our wee tour today.

At the centre of this whole operation,

are a group of volunteers.

And, appointed by ScotRail, I'm about to meet Louis Wall,

who actually looks after the volunteers,

keeps them on the straight and narrow,

and makes sure they're the right kind of plants.

Well, let's start and unravel just exactly what you do.

For a start, what length of line are you on?

About 70 miles, Stranraer to Irvine.

-How many stations?

-That's eight.

-Really?

-Eight stations.

And where do the volunteers come from?

They come from retired schoolteachers,

retired gardeners, from all facets of life.

And how often do you see them?

We see them at least twice a week in the summer.

And we've got a roster going,

so I'm not here every day of the week,

but if it's hot and sunny, as a team,

we would have to come in and water probably every other day.

Problems? You mention watering.

Well, we've got water problems here at this station,

where we're are now, at Ayr. We only have one tap.

So, recently I've acquired

a water bowser, which takes 30 gallons.

Do you use gel?

Yes, we do, we have a planting gel, mixed in with a compost,

at springtime, and then we plant up, it lasts all season.

-Hanging baskets?

-In the hanging baskets we use ice cubes.

-I bet you've heard of that one.

-Well, yes.

It's quite a nice way of doing it.

We put these ice cubes in, and of course, it melts, slowly.

You don't get the water running up your sleeves.

-You've got it cracked, boy.

-Thanks, mate.

-Well done.

Well, Louis.

-We are, as it were, at the end of the line, here in Stranraer.

-Yes.

-And I guess you're biggest single problem will be exposure.

-Oh, gosh.

You can't even stand up on certain days.

-There are gale force winds of gale force 8.

-But you've cracked it.

-We've cracked it.

-Yes, you're out of the salt spray.

-Absolutely.

And you've got a lovely welcome.

We've got a Fuchsia up there, and a Coleus, a Cordyline.

-And the people walking through, what a welcome it is.

-Yes.

They do need a wee bit extra attention, of course.

You've got helpers.

We've got a marvellous team here in Stranraer,

and we water these twice a week, and we feed them on a regular basis.

-Good.

-And they've done fine.

-And I notice that you've got some Perennials, here.

-Yes, yes.

And it's working.

Well, we've got a Fatsia japonica, the Vinca major,

even the common variegated mint.

-And there's not a weather mark on them.

-Fantastic.

-So, your philosophy is working well.

-Fantastic.

-Good on you.

Barrhill, in the middle of nowhere.

And you've got a particular problem here. Let's go.

ScotRail management asked me to get a plant that would kill the midges.

Oh, really? Where are the midges?

Well, they used to cover these light fittings, and people were complaining.

And you've solved the problem?

Solved the problem by planting a simple plant called

the Eucalyptus "Lemonbush".

-It omits a lovely odour, and it kills the insects.

-They've gone?

-Gone!

-Brilliant!

-Brilliant.

-Let's move.

Here we are, now, in Irvine, and we're in a protected environment.

And for the most part, you've got perennials, here.

-This will go on and on and on.

-Well, this could go right up to frost.

-This one is statuesque, isn't it?

-Well, this is a castor oil.

Grown from seed.

-Wonderful.

-I sowed that January.

-Took me six months before I planted it out.

-There we go.

-And now we come to these lovely coloured leaves.

-These Coleas.

-These are grown from seed, as well?

-Grown from seed.

-But you can grow them out?

-You can over-winter them.

But then, with the little pelargonium.

That's last year, isn't it?

-The whole thing melds, makes a lovely statement, doesn't it?

-Thank you.

And finally, Prestwick Town.

And Louis Wall hasn't adopted this station or the flowers.

We've got a husband and wife team, as Hugh and Lorraine McEvoy.

-Well, Hugh McEvoy, you're the gardener here, aren't you?

-Yes.

And I do believe you've had a wee operation,

so I've got to listen carefully to what you're saying. Yes.

-Do you raise all the plants yourself?

-No, no, no.

-We get them in as plugs.

-Oh, well, so you've to bring them on.

-We bring them on, aye.

-Yeah, yeah.

And do you change the style, do you change the format every year?

-Well, this year is for show, last year was for perfume and scent.

-Yes.

-Lorraine.

-Yes, Jim.

-The other half.

-The other half.

-Not the better half.

-Not the better half. Oh, I am the better half, aye, aye.

-Now, we won't go down that road.

And these young laddies that I see working about the place,

who are responsible for feeding them.

Tell me about them.

Yes, those are boys doing their third stage

of the Duke of Edinburgh Award,

and they're helping Hugh with maintaining the plants,

watering the plants, and replenishing the plants.

And they're very reliable, they do all the jobs?

They are very good, yes.

-Which is a good news story about today's youth, isn't it?

-It is.

Look at that. Caterpillars of the Cabbage White Butterfly.

Plenty on the outside of the netting, none on the inside.

These will need to be picked off, and next year,

invest in more netting, to make sure you get none.

Well, I just want to highlight these tree lilies.

I planted these back in April.

Wonderful perfume, the variety is called "Robina",

and, I mean, that is such a brilliant, bright, fuchsia pink.

So, if you want to plant something like this next year,

why don't you give it a go?

Pruning is often a thorny question that comes up

when we're talking to gardeners.

One of my first comments is to say, "The plant in question,

"where does it flower?"

Here we are with a Hydrangea,

late flowering, and look where the flower is,

right at the end of the stalk, which has grown since the spring.

It's on the current year's wood.

So, once it's finished flowering,

let it be until the spring of the year.

And then, take these same shoots, which will be bare,

of course, right back to two or three inches from where we started.

Cut, and this is the sort of growth

you will get at this time of the year. And what a result.

And, of course, this is

Hydrangea paniculata "Vanille Fraise".

Just look at that.

Worth taking a wee bit of time over.

Well, then, George, you're going to have to explain yourself here,

because you're responsible for this lot.

This looks a wee bit like a mole in its colony.

It's kind of random, like molehills, as well.

Yes, it's random planting, Jim.

We've got this whole series of early summer bulbs

we're going to put in here.

Some early spring, some later, almost into summer.

We're going to plant them round, randomly.

There's no order to this at all. One sort in each hole, you know.

All the way through, so we get a whole range.

Was your choice governed by the fact

that there is a bit of shade here in summer?

Yes, I want things that will be able to get their season of growing over

before the canopy comes out on the trees.

Yeah, the ground is really, really dry, isn't it? Absolutely amazing.

We've been ranting about wet conditions, but not here.

You've got one of my favourites, the Snakeshead fritillaria, there.

Now, that's at the outside, where it will catch the sun,

but also all the water running downhill.

So, that will then, maybe, seed through it.

Well, if it gets established, it will, won't it? It will start to spread.

And a bit of preparation, here?

Well, a wee bit, just a rough cutting back of the vegetation.

That's all you need. I don't want any heavy maintenance.

And then strimming at the end of the season.

It's got to look natural. That's what I want from this.

Yeah. And a whole other range, as well.

Yes, we've got Alliums, and we've got tulips, and we've got Camassias, and we've got Eremurus.

We've got a whole range of things which is unusual. We will see.

It's going to be interesting next summer

to see just how they come away. Well, next spring, actually.

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

it's all in the fact sheet.

And it might be about all that vegetables

that you can plant over the winter.

Yes. Well, sadly, we're coming to the end of this series,

with just another couple of programmes, or there, to go.

And, we're looking for a few problem corners

to solve next year, perhaps.

If you've got something or other that you think

we might be interested in, get in touch.

Best way to do that is to get the fact sheet,

and get the details from there.

And, next week, I'm going to be having a look at the grasses,

and also at the green manure.

So, if you want to see the results of those tests and trials,

tune in next week. OK?

-Until then, from us here, in the sun, bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Can I get some of these in, then?

-Yeah, go on.

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