Episode 4 The Beechgrove Garden

Hello and welcome to Beechgrove on a cracker of a morning

and that's following quite a sharp ground frost,

but it's a great opportunity to get on with the work in the garden.

Following on last week's comments about putting fertilizer on the

ground to replenish that which has been leeched out, we've got to think

about the plants as well and this young border here

needs a bit of attention and a bit of feeding.

Let me just tell you about the history of it. It is, of course,

splitting off the Silver Garden from our trials ground.

We thought it should be a little bit formal,

so when we started way back in 2004,

it was Euonymus "Emerald Gaiety" we had right along here

'and I felt we might make a little square hedge and

'it would be really quite fine and nice backing for the Silver Garden.

'It didn't work, it didn't do what it was told,

'so we ripped it out and thought a different range of lavenders

'with pillars, obelisks, with clematis.

'In the mind's eye, it looked wonderful.'

Two hard winters sorted that lot out,

so it's third time lucky

and here we've got Nepeta "Six Hills Giant", we've got these pillars...

Are they going to be pillars or pyramids? We'll discuss that later.

Of holly, Silver Queen, and then "Silver Beauty" Lonicera.

Now, what I've been doing is taking the canes out of the Silver Queen

here, because they were quite blown and unstable, and putting up a firm,

a really firm post to hold that leaning shoot going all the way up.

I've also been weeding and then putting in the fertilizer

round the plants and finally, finishing it off with...

the fork and it's then, when you're really paying attention

and getting up close, you can observe several things.

Look at that...albino shoot of holly.

I remember when I saw that as a youngster, I thought,

"I'm going to make a fortune! A new variety! Get cuttings of it!"

It won't root. Now, back to the work of the day, which is, of course,

putting on the fertilizer and gently forking it in.

We're using a slow release organic fertilizer, which, in fact,

is blood, fish and bone, and how much? Well...about...

..that much around each plant, just like that, just like that.

Take the weeds out when you're at it.

And fork, gently fork it through.

Now then, we come to the next holly and do you see that?

That's wind rock, it's blowing about, it's unstable.

That's why we're taking the cane out and putting a stout stake in

because we want these guys to be straight up.

Now then, in the rest of the programme...

Every garden's got to start from somewhere.

Find out where these are going.

And you might be used to seeing one or two of these.

It's the dog's tooth violet,

but wait till you see how many I've found.

Chris, we're back in the Fruit House again.

Slightly different cos we haven't got that swimming pool,

-it's all been filled in.

-It looks a lot tidier, doesn't it?

But it does really open up the opportunity to fill it

full of a hugely diverse range of plant material.

It's all about keeping them small

and getting as many different forms of fruit as possible.

Yes, growing them in pots. So, I'm excited about this one,

never grown a quince before.

Well, it's a pretty vigorous plant, I mean,

quince trees are enormous and that's not on a dwarfing rootstock,

but we're trying to keep it in a relatively small container.

So, that is one way of trying to keep it fairly small,

by pruning it and cramming it into a pot,

but these ones are on dwarf rooting stock.

This cherry, it'd be nice to have the comparison with the one

that's growing in the greenhouse itself, but not a good shape.

We've only got two main stems.

Yeah, it's a nice dessert cherry, it's called Celeste,

but it definitely indicates that it needs the pruning,

so we need to take the top off to encourage plenty of side growths

in here and sacrifice the flowers, which is really painful to do!

-I know!

-Cos you want to get its fruits as soon as possible,

but I think if we take those flowers off now,

we won't get the fruits, but we'll get a much better head on it.

-It's all about shape first.

-Yeah.

This is quite a good specimen though.

Already we've potted it up, Rochester, but I would take

that one off, you know, that's the head of the tree, basically.

Yeah, Peach Rochester, you know, I used to grow this in my

cold glasshouse and I just found it such a good performer.

Orange flesh, rosy skin to it, very juicy, very prolific,

and pretty easy to grow,

but you can see that it's quite a vigorous plant with all these

extended growths here, so, again, I think

-we'll be pruning off about here...

-Have you got the secateurs then?

-Maybe we should have a wee start.

-Am I allowed?

-Yeah, definitely.

I would take that one right back.

Yeah, well, that one can definitely go.

And then, like, find an outward facing bud,

so, I mean, is it obvious, like that one, would you cut just above there?

-Yeah, I think we're halving the stems, aren't we?

-Yeah.

-Just take that one off.

-And then you'd end up going right the way round.

As for the potting itself, we're going to go for an apricot

and...yeah, bare root plants, you save a bit of money, don't you?

You do, and we're right at the end of the bare root season, aren't we,

now? So, you do want to take advantage of it.

This is Apricot Isabella, which is a Gloucestershire tree,

-I'm pleased to say.

-Oh, well, it's going to do well then, isn't it?

-Of course, it's bound to be a good specimen.

-Nice and hardy.

Very hardy and another very prolific fruiter,

but what's fascinating about it is, just look at this,

look at the way that it's producing its internodes there,

-the distance between one bud and the next.

-It's very tight.

-It's going to be a neat habit, a small tree.

-Yeah. Compare that with

something like Rochester where you've got several centimetres.

Because each one of these little buds is going to produce

a side shoot, it's on the side shoots we get fruit.

I think this is going to be absolutely festooned with fruit.

But would we just nip out the tips as well?

Because it is bare root, it's under a little bit of stress.

Yeah, so, I think we need to just go in and maybe just take the tips out,

encourage a bit of side-shooting on there.

So, we should have, well, a whole fruit bowl by the end of the season.

Well, maybe not this season. Next season.

Last year, Beechgrove came to Scone Palace in Perthshire to

celebrate the delights of the Chilli Festival.

This year, head gardener Brian Cunningham has a new project

on his plate...establishing a kitchen garden.

Now, Brian, this is a fairly new project for you,

so what was it like before?

Well, up until a couple of years ago, this area

was basically just grass and weeds.

And, behind us, we used to have an old wooden greenhouse that had

-seen better days as well.

-But, let's explain.

What's the kitchen garden all about?

The kitchen garden's an area of the garden where we grow vegetables

and cut flowers and all the produce is taken down to the palace

-and used there.

-And then who does all the work? Apart from yourself!

Well, at the palace,

we have a small gardening team of four gardeners and we also get

a lot of help from our community team from a bunch of volunteers,

we have another four of them as well who come in on a regular basis.

And then I think it's really great as well, Brian,

you're involving the younger generation.

Are local schools coming in?

Yeah, we've just started a wee project with them too

and they've been great fun,

just learning all about growing vegetables from seed,

right through to harvesting and hopefully,

we'll all sit down and enjoy a bit of food as well at the end.

So, can you all remember what we did?

Three weeks ago was the last time you guys were here and we all did

a bit of seed sowing and this is the results of all your seed sowing.

Very good, eh? Can you all find your own trays?

-There's mine.

-Is that yours?

-That one's mine.

That's really good results.

Now, can you all remember the three different vegetables we've sown

and who can work out which one is which?

-Um, lettuce.

-We did lettuce, that's right, that's right.

-We did beetroot.

-Beetroot, which one's the beetroot?

-Which one's the beetroot?

-Erm, wasn't it those ones?

What are these ones?

-I'm not sure, those aren't mine.

-Onions!

-That's right.

Wasn't the smallest ones that one?

-Because you had to put, like, eight in.

-Yeah, you put eight in.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-The spring onion?

-Yeah, the spring onion.

-That's right.

So, when we harvest it, we want to harvest a bunch of spring onions,

so we sowed eight seeds, didn't we, per module?

Well, I think you've done a great job with this, but there's

more work to be done today, so, Brian, what are they doing?

OK, so we're going to divide you into two groups now.

If I give you a tray of lettuce, you're going to head

into the polytunnel and we're going to do some planting up in there.

And if I give you a tray of potatoes,

you're heading out into the kitchen garden for some potato planting.

Are we having tea and cake?

And a scone.

OK, so we're going to do some lettuce planting now.

So, what we're going to do, we're going to do it in these two blocks.

We'll have two on that side, two on this side,

and you're all going to plant two rows each.

So, first of all, we need to get our finger

and create a little planting hole.

Then after we've got our planting holes,

you're all going to get one of these sticks.

You use the stick to go to the bottom of the plug...

..and remember to hold the...

hold the plant by the leaf.

OK. Does anybody know why we hold the plant by the leaf?

Why do you think we do that?

When we hold it like that, we could hold it too hard

and then it crushes all the soil.

Exactly, so, if we do any damage, then it will grow another leaf,

but if we damage all the roots

then the plant's not got a chance to grow, has it?

So, once we've got our plug,

we're just going to gently pop it in the hole...

tight up against the line, put a little bit of soil round,

and then, most important, a nice firming in.

And then we're going to use our planting stick to measure

the distance between that plug and the second plant.

And then you just start again.

So, how are you finding that?

Well, it's quite hard cos

when you're putting your hand in the soil,

it always just falls down in and it's hard cos you always want to

reach for the stem in the soil, but you have to reach for the leaves.

Reach for the leaves, that's the most important thing, isn't it?

And I think we could now leave you to it

because we're going to plant some tatties with the rest of...

-Potatoes!

-Potatoes!

So, do you all want to put your trays down

and then we'll do a little demonstration just now.

So, do you all want to get a trowel each?

So, when you get your trowel, you're into your hole

and the hole you're wanting to make is about ten centimetres deep,

so that's about the depth of this trowel, OK?

So, you want to go in, give it a good little turn, break it up...

Shall we try that? Shall we all try that?

-Yeah, it's easy.

-And you can see some of the manure.

-How are you getting on?

-Yeah.

Brian's going to lay them out, so that then we know where we planted.

-Is it quite hard work?

-Yeah.

Just give it a twist, try and twist it around a little bit.

So, do you all like eating potatoes?

-Yes.

-I only like mash.

-You only like mash.

-What's your favourite way of eating potatoes?

-Eh...chips.

So, what did you enjoy about it?

Getting mucky!

Well, I really enjoyed it,

-and you're going to be coming back, aren't you?

-Yeah.

And I'm going to see you in May time. What are we going to be doing?

We're going to be in the polytunnel planting up some tomato plants.

We're also going to be out in the garden planting up

some of the lettuce and beetroot plugs that you've been sowing,

and, of course, we'll be able to see

the progress of the potatoes that the potato team have been planting.

-So, you'll be looking forward to that.

-Yeah.

OK, we'll see you soon.

There's almost no area of the Beechgrove Garden that's

devoid of a planting opportunity, largely

because we can construct raised beds even where there's no soil.

If it's just a concrete base or a tarmac pad,

standard construction like this,

softwood timber up to about 450ml high, back-filled with

organic matter and topsoil, a sort of garden compost mix.

Great if you want to grow fruits and veggies,

the standard range of salad crops, that type of thing.

But, if you want to try something that's a little different,

and gives you a planting opportunity for plants that are much more

exotic, those that are

perhaps a bit temperamental for your garden or that normally you'd

grow under the protection of glass and polythene, you can

always try a hotbed, which is what we've got here.

Just to explain how hot this can get,

the thermometer that's stuck in the top of it is reading...

..45 degrees. That's not bad,

considering that that temperature is going to be

warming the soil and warming the roots of your plant.

The warmer they get, the faster they're going to grow,

and the happier exotic fruits and vegetables are going to be.

As a comparison, a standard bed...

..eight degrees.

So, you can imagine how excitable your plants are going to

be in this one, as opposed to a standard bed.

So, how'd you get it so hot?

Well, it's a standard timber construction lined with

polythene to stop any moisture escaping.

Then a 20cm layer of top soil and compost mix,

exactly the same as in our standard bed.

Beneath that...is a layer

of charcoal. This is actually a standard product from

nurseries and garden centres, it's a coir and charcoal mix.

The reason for putting charcoal in is that

when the microorganisms are involved in releasing

nutrients in the soil, they generate toxins which can prove

problematic to plants, but the charcoal absorbs all of those toxins.

So, there's a thin layer of that.

To stop the charcoal falling through into the next layer,

some newspapers soaked in water and then, I have to say,

the system gets slightly questionable and certainly pretty smelly,

because there's a layer of animal bedding which is soaked in urine

and then a layer of chicken dung.

And beneath that...

the kind of engine room,

the kind of rotting factory of this whole bed, this is hay,

bales that have been broken up and you can see,

once this has been soaked in water, look at the steam coming off of that.

Amazing how quickly it starts to break down.

It's rotting taking place.

The heat is created by the microorganisms literally

bouncing off one another in a frenzy trying to digest all of this

material and it's that that's warming this soil here.

It's a sort of readymade underfloor heating system that anything

you want to grow, in our case, courgettes at this end

and melons at this end, and we're going to test to see whether

I can get my melons bigger than Jim's.

-Did you hear that?!

-There's a challenge for you.

-He's at it again!

It was marrows the last time, melons this time.

I'll tell you, it's sweetness that counts, dear boy, not size

-when you come to melons.

-Quality, quality.

Yeah, sweetness, sweet peas.

I know, well, sweet peas, one of my favourite cut flowers, Jim,

and what we're doing is we're actually looking at two

-different methods of the way that you can grow them.

-Yeah.

And remember, last year,

I was looking at four different systems, but they were all about the

-fact that the sweet peas could just scramble up there.

-Sure.

'And this was the best one, a rigid plastic mesh, um,

'just a couple of inches in diameter.

'Readily available, isn't it?'

-And it's not that expensive.

-No, quite.

-Whereas you are...?

I'm going for the...as it were, the cut flower purist show bench

type thing with the long, straight stems and the big

-heads of flowers, and all the rest of it, cordons, single cordons...

-Hmm.

-..that, I always regarded, is for garden display.

-Yes.

And picking the flowers becomes secondary,

because, obviously, the tendrils and everything pull them

in and you get twisted stems and you get wee flowers.

I was surprised with this system.

It'll be interesting to see, but, you know,

you're looking at just one side-shoot.

Absolutely. One plant.

And here we've got...it's been stalked,

the top has been taken out of it, but this is the fella I'm

looking for, this brand-new, very strong side-shoot.

When it's established, that one will be cut back and this will be

taken on, tied in and the tendrils removed, big long stems. Mmm!

-Lots of work!

-Fragrant, of course.

Sweet peas, for me, have got to be fragrant as well as these

delightful colours and, um, all of the names will be on the factsheet.

-At the moment, they all look them same!

-Well, this one, look, I've got

-two side-shoots there. I'm going to keep everything on there.

-Absolutely.

-I don't take off the tendrils...

-You're going for quantity.

-Quantity, low-maintenance.

-Yes, yes.

And I'm also going for a collection that are bi-colours,

I've got one that's three colours. I've even got Sir Jimmy Shand.

That'll dance a long way. These are fragrant and

-there's one of them called Percy Thrower!

-Oh, nice!

And he had a fragrance about him, because he was a pipe smoker.

I worked with him several times when I was in Shropshire, way back when!

Here in Fife, on the East Coast, I've come to Wemyss Castle.

And I'm going to take a walk in the woodlands with

Charlotte Wemyss to look at some absolutely special spring colour.

When we came to live here in 1993, these woods were really in a bad

state and so we cut out an awful lot of the dead trees and the overhanging

growth and everything like that and, I suppose, we let the light in.

So, basically, Charlotte, opening up the canopy.

Yes, we opened it up considerably and, whether by chance or luck,

-I don't know, the eryths began to creep along.

-Yes, the erythroniums.

-I know.

-I have never seen anything like this before!

They're amazing, aren't they? They're just amazing.

Look at them in great big drifts everywhere.

-So, some of them were here already?

-A tiny, tiny amount were here.

Michael's grandfather planted them in the very early '70s by seed

and he always got furious cos they would never spread.

He used to go out every evening in the autumn and spread these little seeds.

Nothing would make them grow.

Maybe it's the time they take naturally or maybe it was the light,

maybe it was a bit of both, but the whole thing, really, is,

without grandfather, they wouldn't be here.

Charlotte, this is absolutely amazing!

I mean, you see a swathe of them

and then you sort of draw your eye into another clump.

That's it, you see, and once you get used to them,

you sort of you see all the drifts through here

and then look up here, all of that is...I mean, look at this,

have you ever seen anything so ravishing?

It's absolutely beautiful, I mean, I love this flower,

but what's your fascination with it?

I just...I love them being as extensive as this, I think

the colour is absolutely amazing, and they're like little fairy hats.

You look how sweet that is, I mean, isn't that incredible?

And look inside there...it's gorgeous!

The colour, the yellow against the pink.

I first met an erythronium in '76

-and the label had been cut off very neatly and it said, "Ronium."

-Oh!

So, I spent hours looking for roniums and, of course,

-I hadn't seen the "eryth" bit that was missing.

-Yeah.

And then I came here and there they all were.

The common name is the dog's tooth violet.

Yup, dog's tooth violet, and you can get them in yellow and white

-and all the rest of them, but these are the revolutums.

-Yes.

And these are the ones that sell for a fortune in all

-the posh garden centres.

-Well, they are expensive.

Well, the difficulty with them

is that they are so deep to dig out, you can't just help yourself.

You'd think, "Hurray! I'd like to give these to my friends."

-They go down really deep.

-They've got a piece of cotton, literally, with a corm

at the bottom, so, by the time you've dug them, you've snapped it all off.

Oh, gosh. But, I mean, the foliage is attractive, isn't it?

-I know, I know.

-As well as the flowers.

The whole thing is just a joy.

-I think it's completely ravishing, all of it.

-Yeah.

-Look at that.

And I think as well, it looks delicate,

-but look how hardy this plant is.

-I know!

And then you run over them with a tractor and they bounce up again.

So, they really have spread, haven't they?

Yeah, they've gone absolutely mad. I mean, they're just everywhere.

So, is it just this area?

No, no, no, I mean, they go over there as well,

and then there's a place I'd love to show you, where I've put

corms and seed and everything, and they're just beginning to sprout.

This is another lovely spring bulb, isn't it? "Gloria of the Snow."

They're absolutely beautiful. I love that blue, it's like nothing else.

-And still the dog's tooth violet popping up.

-I know.

-Look, look, they're pale now.

-Yes, they are a paler pink, aren't they?

-Look, that's almost white.

-Hmm.

-And there's another clump behind you.

Wow, they are, they're everywhere.

Perhaps they'll bloom in that colour, which would be rather nice.

So, my plan is, one day, one day, is to have all this area stuffed

with hellebores of all different colours and everything.

Well, again, they kind of self-seed, don't they?

Well, they do, they're meant to. Let's hope.

And then this is my new nursery of the eryths.

-So, how long have these been in?

-These have been in about three years.

When you start to see the foliage, look, there's

a patch of foliage coming up there.

And then the seed heads, I just pick and pick and pick,

and put them all in a plastic bag, and shake them,

-which gets them out of the little holders.

-Yes.

-And then I just chuck them any old where.

-Just naturally spread them.

Yeah, hope for the best and they seem to sink through the leaf mould

-and, look, proof of the pudding.

-Timing as well, isn't it?

Every year it's another year and you think,

"Another year older, another year on." One day, one day,

I can just see a whole sea of hellebores in here with the odd

erythroniums, cos we can't be greedy, we've got thousands of eryth.

-Well, I love woodland gardening.

-So do I.

I think woodland gardening's wonderful.

So, how long has the Magnolia campbellii been flowering for?

Well, we've had about three weeks this time, which is unusual,

because, normally, three or four days and you get a spanking frost and...

-And they get spoilt, don't they?

-Absolutely gone.

And then the primulas as well, lovely colours.

Well, these have never gone to bed, which is quite extraordinary.

I mean, I took a photograph of that cowslip on Christmas Day.

-Christmas Day for a cowslip!

-Everything's out of sync, isn't it?

It's completely mad!

-Well, we've got all the family.

-Yes, we have, we absolutely have.

I see you've even brought in some of the woodland

plants into the walled garden.

I know I have, but I can't kind of help myself, really,

cos it's the perfect place to put it, and I just think it looks

so brilliant here and I love the way that the hellebore matches the

trillium leaf, although, you know, obviously, it's two separate plants.

Yeah, but it's a nice planting combination, as you say,

-the right spot because it's shady...

-Exactly.

-..fairly moist here as well.

It is, and then, hopefully, I can fill in the gaps with more

begonias and things, but it's the perfect corner and I just love it.

-Well, it's been a perfect time for me. I love your garden.

-Good.

-I love woodland gardens...

-So, do I.

-..so, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Well, there's yet more pruning to be done.

I'm amongst the heathers this time.

You see in front of me there, a couple of spring flowering ones,

they have a wee while to go before they'll need pruning.

There's still a lot of colour in them.

This one here, the sooner it's pruned, the better.

Hedge clippers and, really, basically,

you're taking the flowered shoots.

Don't go too hard into the old wood as it were,

because these fellows don't like that.

Just one of the amazing things about plants,

is that every cell in a plant has the ability to regenerate itself,

and that means that you can get free propagation material from

low lying branches like on this Viburnum plicatum here.

Just excavate a trench...

..put your branch in the ground,

peg it down quite firmly...

..and then you can backfill...

..to hold it in place and, before you backfill the end...

just scratch the underside with your thumbnail.

That exposes the cells that are active.

It's here that the rooting will take place, just like in a cutting.

You can then peg that into the ground...

cover it over, and that single branch will provide me

with 8 new plants within 12 months.

Well, back here at Beechgrove, I've found another erythronium.

This is of a variety called White Beauty, it's a real gem,

but, you know, these plants are very expensive

and Charlotte explains to us why.

They are absolute devils to get out,

because their roots go down to Australia and,

if I can just demonstrate to you, for instance...I hope this works.

Careful, careful!

This is the piece of cotton that goes down to Australia

and this is two and a half years old, and,

in another two years' time, it will be even longer.

Yes. So, it's difficult to dig them out, isn't it?

It's impossible to dig them out,

unless you have a forklift or something,

but, just with spade or a trowel, forget it,

cos you always snip this bit and then you've lost it, you've got nothing.

So, that, I think is why they are as expensive as they are.

Well, we're a bit spoiled for choice here.

-What a display, isn't it wonderful?

-It's stunning, isn't it, yeah.

And it's going to go on for some weeks yet.

-Yeah, it's absolutely beautiful.

-Myosotis still to come.

Tulips still to come. What's your favourite?

Well, the perfume to start off with!

That's me after my hotbed experience with all the dung. Sorry about that!

Well, it is amazing coming off the hyacinths at the moment,

I mean, which one would you pick?

I'd definitely go baby blue eyes in the corner down there.

I think that iridescent blue, as the light drops in the evening,

it just sings out from the garden, it's beautiful.

These were some of the varieties that we grew from, you know,

-the year before.

-Yeah, yeah.

I mean, they were new bulbs, but, obviously,

we've had a good winter and they really look stunning.

Of the violas, I think that one there, Penny Mickey.

They're like little faces, they're lovely.

Yeah, I think the winter has been kind to them and we can enjoy that.

Next one along is Marley's.

-I was down there earlier and they were all looking at me...

-Yeah...

..transfixed with it, it's gorgeous.

But it's a lovely colour theme, isn't it?

Cos it tends to be the blues, the whites and the pinks and then,

-look at this as well!

-Mm-hm!

-I mean, that's gorgeous.

-Asparagus, parsley...

-Look at the rhubarb there.

I know, forced rhubarb.

-The colour alone is worth growing it for, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-And the flavour of that, so sweet.

-Yeah, wonderful.

-Beautiful stuff.

Very much so. Well, if you'd like any more information about

this week's programme, you'll find it all on the factsheet

and the easiest way to access that is on the website.

Next week, well, what am I going to be doing?

I'm going to be on the decking, it's all about growing vegetables

-in containers.

-And, Mr Anderson, what's he up to?

-Oh, he's going to be sowing some Flanders poppies.

-Right.

Chris, you're out and about?

Second visit to the new-build families, so moving them on,

this time planting fruits and veg,

-and also trying to get herbaceous borders started.

-Magic.

Great stuff, well, one of the things that gets left, I think,

sometimes we're so keen to get out, are the house plants

and the flowering plants indoors, so I'm going to have a look at that.

I hope it's raining and I don't miss something.

Oh, now, that's not fair, that's not fair!

-Until next time, goodbye.

-Goodbye.