Episode 4 The Beechgrove Garden

Hello and welcome to Beechgrove.

It's a beautiful day. It's a bit cool, but it's just the right time

for everybody hands to the pump to give this lawn a bit of a makeover.

-Sorry.

-Isn't it needing it?

-Making a lot of noise.

-Lawns all over the place needing a makeover, aren't they?

-Certainly do.

I think I've got the short straw.

-You're doing a grand job.

-You're doing a wonderful job.

-Yeah.

The important thing is to get rid of all this moss

-which is clogging up everything.

-Yes.

-Yes, and look what you get.

-And what a difference it makes.

-Yeah, it's amazing.

-What are we going to do with that?

-Hanging baskets.

I much prefer to do the scarifying first.

Would you say a LIGHT scarify at this time of year?

-Yeah.

-Rather than the heavy one, you know...

What are you saying about my scarifying?

Are you suggesting mine's too heavy?

Having got rid of that muck...

And of course because some people have got lawns that are almost

-puddled with water...

-Yeah.

-..you can, if you've got the time,

you know, you can actually fork it with a solid tine.

-Yes. That's exactly what I do with our lawn.

-Just to help.

I think it's quite important to stress the sequence of all this.

Get rid of the muck and rubbish

and then once you've done that, you feed it.

-Yep.

-And I prefer just to put on a straight feed at this time.

Get the grass going.

Because moss-killing and weed-killing will come later

when the grass has started to go and when it's warmer.

You get a better kill, I think.

Yeah, when the soil is warmer, as well.

I mean, everything will just take off, won't it?

Well, exactly. Everything happens much more quickly. So, fine.

But listen, what're we going to do about this shape?

-I'm using the scarify to mark out.

-Yes.

The area I've not scarified,

I thought that's the area we could eventually plant up.

So we've got more shrubbery and more herbaceous planting there.

As a backdrop to the pond. So when we're down on the bridge there,

we've got a great backdrop up here.

So that's the reason I'm marking it out there.

And then later in the programme

I'm planting some of the structure shrubs and plants

in the other side of the weir there.

-Splendido.

-That should look really nice.

-Yes.

But also, more revamping is going on in the garden.

Last week, I was with Brian Cunningham,

who's the head gardener of Scone Palace.

He's actually been working on the Alpine Garden.

Lots of lovely features to come there and this week he's been

looking for planting inspiration at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.

And when we came here about 20 years ago, we used a lot of panel fencing.

Some of which is beginning to fall apart.

So we start to replace it.

Not necessarily with more panelling.

We keep on going on about the weather, don't we?

Don't we just, Jim?

And I think the bedding schemes have suffered.

But we should say to start with again, we had an awful lot of rain.

So much rain that I think things like the violas and the pansies...

-Very little frost.

-Yes.

-And no snow cover.

-I know.

-Incredibly so.

-So it shows, doesn't it?

Because if we start at the bottom here,

the ground cover is practically non-existent.

-Well, those violas are Coconut Duet, that one.

-Yes.

-Look at it in the containers there.

-Yes.

Which, you know, a little bit better drainage, a bit of protection.

Probably sitting in a bit of a protected area. Yes, yes.

OK, well, let's have a look at some of the positives.

With the daffodils.

The little daffs are absolutely stunning.

Where are you going to start?

-Well, I'm going to start with this one.

-You would.

You don't like it, do you?

Well, it can only get better from here, then.

That's Rip Van Winkle. It's a double.

Well, the Rip Van Winkle has a beard.

Because that looks as if it's needing a shave. It's untidy.

-I like the foliage.

-Move on.

That blue foliage and the contrast of colours.

-More positive, what's that one?

-OK, that one is Warbler.

-Stunner.

-And Tracey is next to it, behind it.

-Mm-hm. Mm-hm.

They're both cyclamineus and I think what's interesting

-is, in the catalogues they're meant to be the same height.

-Oh, really?

In a way, I think Tracey is better for size...

-Yes, yes.

-..than Warbler. But they're both lovely.

But we weren't discussing size, madam.

We were discussing the fact that the ground cover is useless.

Myosotis is OK.

Yes, but last year didn't it do so well?

I mean, that was one of the reasons

-that we thought we'd try and combine it with some bulbs.

-Time.

-Time, time.

-There is time. There's certainly some flower to come.

I think it will be all right.

And so the tulips will come nicely, as well.

But these are disappointing, aren't they?

They are. The polyanthus again did better last year.

-This is a combination this time with tulips.

-Yes.

And I've chosen them all early flowering

-and fairly sort of compact.

-Yes, the singles.

-The singles.

-Yes.

This, I think, is the one that's really going to work.

-I won.

-Does it take you back in time?

-Well, yes, it does.

And it's a proven technique, isn't it?

Cos Parks Departments of old,

when they could afford to buy tulips...

Wallflower with tulips, Darwin, Triumph and so on.

They will come up just above the wallflower.

You don't see much of the tulip's stem.

And of course we'll need to come back in May.

Yeah, and these tulips, they flower later, don't they? In May time.

Yeah, these will have improved. And these will have improved.

-With a bit of luck.

-I hope so.

Several references have been already made this season

that this is our 20th year in the garden.

Some features are needing a bit of a change,

including this dear old green fence here.

Which is about to fall apart.

We're a bit fed up looking at it

and it shades the low-maintenance garden there

from this side of the garden. So we're going to take it out.

But our first consideration has to be for the plants.

And although it might be the right time to change the fence,

it's not the right time to be frittering about with this

lovely, lovely Japanese quince,

which is just about to come into flower.

So we're going to pull it out of the way to be able to get

the new fence in, and once it's finished flowering, as is customary,

we can then prune it and prune it to the shape of the new fence.

The benefit of that is, of course, the people this side can enjoy

the quince as well as the people in the low-maintenance garden.

So it's time to get on with it.

Yesterday, the site looked like this.

With the quince shaded behind those long green panels.

But Callum's made an early crack at taking out the panels

and he's giving me a hand today erecting our new open fence.

I think it's a bit round the other way - I'm giving HIM a hand.

Well, as you can see, our Mr Fixit, Callum, has already made a start.

He's got two of the panels down, one of the posts in.

We're motoring, I can tell you.

I need a hand here now, Callum, just to get rid of these.

This is an irrigation tube here,

so we need to get that out of the way and the wires.

-Yes.

-Yup.

-OK.

You feed it through and I'll...

..pull.

It's brute strength that is required here.

This will all just fall away quite nicely.

And my friend Lofty here.

See, I think once we get these out of the way,

pulling the plant back is not going to be a major task.

Go, give us a heave.

Well, Callum, to quote Robert Burns,

"The best-laid schemes gang aft agley."

We're stuck here because there's a bracket holding the shrub,

and the shrub is more important than the bracket.

-Yes.

-Cut it off.

-Yeah.

THEY LAUGH Yes, there we go.

Ah!

Well, we pull it back like that. It'll be out of the way.

Where are you going in with that now?

-Just in there?

-Just in through there.

-In there?

Splendid.

We really just want to anchor this back.

Quite a tension, actually.

Go on, yerself.

Right then, Callum.

If I get rid of these wires, have you got a sort of

specifically scientific way of getting rid of these fences...

-this fence?

-Yeah, very scientific.

-Is it?

-Yeah, yeah.

Right, on you go, then.

Oh, really? Oh.

Easy-peasy, that is. Yeah.

-That was a lot easier.

-That was.

-Aha.

-Ready to go.

What are you going to do with these posts?

-You're just take that off at ground level?

-Top them off, yeah.

-Just cut them off.

-Yes. Yeah, yeah.

All right.

I can see you've got some reinforcements, Callum.

You've got Ford in there holding the other end of the board.

In the meantime, do you know,

taking away this fence has made me take a proper look at this quince.

And there is a lot of dead wood in it.

And there's no harm in me getting rid of that right now.

So the boys can do the heavy work and I'll do a bit of pruning.

Look at that. Dead.

It's brown right all the way through.

The boys are using post spades to dig the holes

for the new wooden posts.

And with the weather likely to turn,

we need to use quick-drying concrete to help set them in place.

I think our new fence will look

quite strong and sturdy when it's finished.

-Yep.

-That's it.

Well, that's the last one in place.

A few screws and a wee bit of levelling up,

and one thing or another.

Job done.

Bit of tidying. We'll be home for tea.

Well, now we've just got the little caps to get, to finish that off.

And that's a fence that's looking grand.

Which is more than I can say for our dear friend, the quince.

I keep cutting dead wood off it

and here's proof if ever proof was needed.

There we have coral spot, which grows on deadwood.

And I keep on cutting.

There might not be an awful lot left.

But we'll persevere because in the new situation

with a bit more light coming through

and a bit more attention being paid to it, it might survive.

I have an awful feeling we'll finish up getting a new one.

The sound of water and the reflections you get from it

is mesmeric in a garden.

And it is for precisely that reason that 20 years ago,

when this garden was laid out, water had to be at the heart.

Starting with a mountaintop stream amongst the heath,

through a series of delicate splash pools.

And each one is completely different.

So, for instance, on this side of the bridge,

where we've got the pieris and the rhododendrons,

you get many more reflections and the stream slows a little.

But further down the ponds become much larger,

partially to reflect the shrubs on this side of the bank,

then over a small weir.

And the final hurrah of the water,

a tumbling waterfall through a rocky crevasse.

The water eventually disappearing down a sinkhole

and into the wider pond body itself.

And of course it's the pond that has been completely reworked

during the winter, with all the plants cleaned out

and it's had a new lease of life.

So now it's time to think about the pond margins.

The pond banks.

And whenever you're addressing a big project like this,

you've got to stand back.

This retaining mechanism is now in place

and serving a wonderful purpose of dividing the pond

from the rest of the garden.

And it gives us a wonderful long planting bed which can be rich

in herbaceous and grasses spilling over.

It also gives us the opportunity to clothe this back wall with climbers.

But before we get to that stage,

well, we need to think about the structure plants,

the big players that are going to hold the whole scheme together

and create the frame for this part of the garden.

We need a full-stop tree at this end

to prevent the eye bleeding off in that direction.

To create a real sense of separation

from the upper part of the garden and the pond.

Another full stop in there, with trees and planting.

And then on the rock course and up the steps, climbing plants.

Sprawling and scrambling, filling with foliage and flowers.

The choice of trees to create the structure

is really based on extending the season of interest,

either through foliage or flower.

And also on the structure of the plant itself.

How it presents itself.

Whether it's upright or whether it's more spreading and languid.

And we also need some of stature.

Now, I've got four trees in this pretty small area.

Which sounds like a lot, but we are starting with the biggie at the end.

It's the full stop.

The one that holds the view and bookends the entire garden.

It's the great white cherry.

Two-inch wide clear-white single flowers.

It's just an absolute beauty.

And another cherry as a centrepiece in the garden.

This will be the sort of flagpole.

In fact, it's the flagpole cherry.

This is Prunus Amanogawa.

It's much better if you refer to it in the Japanese,

which is the celestial river of blossom.

Which perfectly describes the double pink blooms

that festoon this naturally upright tree.

Brilliant for a small garden.

And then, Acer Bloodgood,

one of the finest of the Acer palmatums.

It's tough, it's resilient

and it's got a beautifully languid, arching habit,

which will sit on the corner of the bed here

and just tickle you as you walk past.

And then a real curiosity.

It's an Aesculus, but a shrubby one.

A shrubby horse chestnut.

Aesculus x neglecta Autumn Fire.

Now, this one is quite unusual because it's a grafted plant.

You can see that there is the insert of the graft wood.

So anything that's below is the pure species, neglecta.

And this is a really hardy plant from the north-east of the US,

so it will tolerate down to -25.

But what you don't want are these buds on the side

because otherwise you'll just get the straight species growing.

What you do want is this, which is Autumn Fire.

As the name suggests, the most fantastic red, orange and yellow

in a thickety shrub.

And that one is going right against the steps.

As far as the climbers are concerned,

well, I've got three principal specimens.

The first is the rather ubiquitous Clematis montana Rubens.

I know it's a real thug and it's vigorous

with its bronze flowers and foliage, but it's exactly what I want.

Because it's sprawling up the rocks behind me here.

It needs to have some real appetite.

Next to that, well, wisteria.

This is taking a bit of a chance in these parts, but it's pretty hardy.

So it should be OK.

Especially against this south-facing wall.

And this one is Macrobotrys.

And with Macrobotrys, those blooms are to die for.

A metre in length, racemes, pea-like flowers,

very delicate blue and very sweetly fragrant.

So if we can get that to succeed then we really are doing well.

And then an evergreen from the coastal belt of California.

This is Garrya elliptica.

And it's a male form. There are male and female plants.

Again, get a male because the males have long tassels

that dangle very early in the season.

This is James Roof.

It's a real star.

But just to be sure I'm going to put it tucked in against the wall here.

It will grow as a shrub,

but if you want to try it as a wall shrub,

especially in a more exposed site,

then it will just offer that extra bit of protection.

And of course the soil here being made-up ground...

it's an imported topsoil mixed with our own garden compost.

It's really rich, which means that all of these plants will take off

and really start to succeed.

I'll tell you what, it's quite nice to be back inside,

-because when the sun goes away...

-It's chilly.

-It's a chilly wind.

But there's plenty to see in our conservatory.

-Look at the camellias, that's nice.

-Yep, I think we'll come back to them

because there's quite a lot more flower to come out.

-That's Anticipation.

-A real beauty, Jim.

-Looking good. Yep.

And these are stunning as well, aren't they?

The clivias. Yes, stonking.

-And they're going to need feeding, aren't they?

-Yes.

-Once they've produced all the flowers.

-Uh-huh.

At this time of year lots of things need feeding.

And they like to be pot-bound, that encourages the flowers.

-Yes. Yeah, yeah.

-OK, back to more feeding...

-Absolutely.

..because of the citrus here.

-They've all been repotted.

-So the leaves are quite clean.

-There's no signs of, like, sooty moulds...

-No, no.

..or red spider mite, but really yellow.

-Yes. So feeding is the order of the day.

-Yes.

I mean, the fact is that they stay in that compost.

OK, you can top it off, but you've got to keep...

-Because it's drawing nutrients all the time, isn't it?

-It is.

And I think it's a good idea to go for the specialist fertilisers.

-So you actually have two different types.

-Mm-hm.

-You've got the winter one.

-Blue top.

-Which has equal amounts...

-Cold.

Yeah, it's cold. NPK, equal amounts.

And then we move into the summer one, which...

I mean, I would move on to that now, would you?

-Oh, absolutely. Yellow, sunshine.

-Yes, sunshine. That's what we want.

-Mm-hm.

-And that's high in nitrogen.

So that's going to green up the leaves, isn't it?

Should do, should do. OK.

Now, what are you saying about the peace lily?

OK, Well, this is a plant that you can pick up

in the garden centres, the supermarkets.

That one looks healthy, look at this one.

-And I have to admit, this is my own one from home.

-OK.

-But we've had a couple of letters in...

-Mm-hm.

..with a bit of concern because...brown tips.

Yes. Dry.

-Dry atmosphere.

-It is. It's the central heating.

-Yes, indeed.

-What I want to do...

-Come on.

-Because if I turn this round as well, look.

-Oh, yes.

-Couple of the rhizomes have died back.

-Let's get it out of there.

-You want to get it out of the pot?

-Yes, OK. On you go.

It's going to come out of the pot

-and I think a lot of that's going to come away.

-Yep, yep.

And what I would do straightaway...

And I know people get a little bit worried, but look.

-Chop, chop.

-You can just cut off.

-These are the old rhizomes.

-Yes, yes.

And there's a nice...

Look, there's a little one just coming up there.

Ready to start again.

And I'd actually take off some of this old compost.

Yes, yes.

If we'd more room and more space, we'd have watered it and washed it.

Yeah, I know. Some of that in the bottom.

You want a bit of French compost in the bottom.

-But look, we were talking about the brown tips.

-Yes.

So this is the answer.

Either a gravel tray or some clay granules with a bit of moisture.

Doesn't sit in the moisture, but it gets that nice humid atmosphere.

-Yeah, indeed it does.

-And misting, as well.

-Is that going to go in there?

-Come on, get on with this.

I know, we need to... I'll hold on to that.

-Can you put the compost in?

-Absolutely. Why not?

-This is the new compost that we're testing out.

-Yes.

So that's that done.

Let's get that out of the way.

-And bring this one up...

-Production line stuff.

-This is your plant.

-Oh, my Tradescantia.

Yes. Yes. Isn't it looking...?

Well, it's needing a wee bit of attention, I suppose.

What's it called?

Maiden's Blush.

I think it's lost a bit of the blush, actually.

I'm not going down that road.

-Mustn't.

-Take some cuttings?

Why not? Well, it does need a tidy-up.

-So you're going to take some cuttings.

-I am. So easy.

We just sort of go across the plant like this.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-I can see so many cuttings here,

perhaps I could take one or two home, could I?

Oh, really? Was this a thought that just occurred to you, perhaps?

Well, it is a lovely plant.

Yeah, look at the blush. It's gorgeous.

-That one's nice, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I think...

-See, it's lost the blush further down.

-Well, because it's needing

a bit of TLC.

So apart from nicking cuttings...

This is what I'd do. Put it in water.

So you came prepared?

-You'd every intention.

-Every intention.

She never misses a trick, I'll tell you.

-Two to three weeks?

-Yeah, easy-peasy.

-Are you going to finish it off?

-Aye, keep going.

Last week I was busy at the Beechgrove,

laying the foundations for our new alpine garden.

This week I'm looking for the inspiration

for the plants to fill it.

And where else better to come

than the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh?

Home to one of the best collections of alpine plants in the world.

I worked as a gardener at the Botanic's rock garden

for five years.

And today I have come to catch up with my old boss

and alpine supervisor, John Mitchell.

John, it really is great to be back here in this rock garden.

It's looking magnificent.

What I'm trying to create in the Beechgrove

is a smaller version of an alpine garden.

And I'm trying to get as many different environments as possible.

So I'm trying to get a rocky outcrop, a scree,

a crevice garden going down into a woodland garden.

What advice can you give me?

Well, you've come to the right place.

This is one of the best rock gardens I think in the world.

It's on a vast scale.

But if you want to narrow that down,

you could do something like this in your own garden.

It's quite a small rocky outcrop.

You've got the scree coming down, you've got the terraces,

you've got different aspects for growing

a different range of plants.

And on the mountaintops,

that's where we're wanting our low-growing plants

cos the wind blows over the tops of them.

There's not much that can grow there.

We've got a lovely little plant here.

Yeah, saxifrages are always quite good,

but it's also nice to get a few dwarf conifers, as well.

At the top, just to give you sort of interest all year round.

-Yeah.

-But then have your cushion plants at the top

and then cascade down.

And it's also nice to have...

You can see here there's some dwarf narcissus.

I love the way they seed themselves, so they're starting all the way

at the top and then going all the way down to the bottom.

Yeah, just looks so natural.

Other plants are the Pulsatillas,

which I think are absolutely spectacular.

In the springtime the flowers are just stunning.

And then when they've finished flowering

-they've got these beautiful seed heads, as well.

-Yes.

So what's catching my eye here

is these dwarf rhododendrons that you have.

Yeah. The best way if you're planting the bed

is to plant in the vegetation zones from your high alpines

and then come down towards your dwarf rhododendrons

and then into your woodland plantings.

Back at the Beechgrove garden,

I'm trying to create a wee woodland garden.

And there's no better example here

under the canopies of all these trees.

I'm using logs like this to create these terraces,

but I'm fair tickled by these root stumps that you got here.

Yeah, this is our take on a stumpery.

Stumperies are mainly roots that have been sort of dug up,

turned upside down.

This is a more modern slant, this is like root plates,

but it looks nicer, in my eyes,

and it gives you a wider range of areas for growing

a different range of plants.

And I like the way you've got the ferns tucked behind them, it looks so natural.

It gives you interest all year round.

In the sort of spring/summertime the plants come into their own.

In the winter time when things have died down

you've got lovely root plates

and that just gives you a whole different meaning to the garden.

You can't beat primulas. That's your typical woodland plant.

I'm loving that one down there.

Primula denticulata. stunning plant, easy to grow

and it's a good garden plant.

And the trillium there, even though it's not in flower just now,

the foliage just looks stunning.

I think against the root plates any sort of plant looks really good,

but these trilliums are spectacular.

Crevices are a great way to display alpines in an environment

that resembles their natural habitat.

On mountains there's no soil,

so plants try to find homes in any space they can find.

This here is a perfect example of what I'm trying to create

up at the Beechgrove garden, with this crevice wall.

Yeah, it's a different way of growing plants

compared with what we were looking at before.

We've got the plants here actually growing in through the wall.

We get some nice forms here.

This nice Helichrysum forms these nice mats coming down.

Also, at the top of the wall you can see here,

we have the sort of lovely Raoulia which forms like a moss effect

on top of the wall.

And then coming down we've got the ferns coming through.

And this is how they grow in the wild, isn't it?

They follow the cracks in between the rocks.

And you can see a perfect example of what's happening just right here.

Yeah, that's where at night-time when it gets cold

the water condenses on the cracks and it comes down

and that's where the plants get the moisture at night-time.

So we've got a few here that are not yet in flower,

but there's an absolutely stunning blue-foliage Helichrysum

and behind that the blue-flowering Lithodora.

Yeah, again, a great plant to have.

It grows very quickly

and you can see the way it forms, it cascades all the way down.

The Lithadora's slightly slower-growing,

but again just great for growing in these conditions.

Now, that shows what we can do with a functioning wall,

but here you've done something different.

And now the rocks are all on their side.

Yeah, this is now crevice gardening.

And it's a great way of growing a different range of alpine plants.

One thing I do like about this area is the fact that in the winter time,

the way the rocks are all done

and the fact you've got some evergreen mounded plants

like that up there,

it just gives you something different to look at.

It's not dull. It's not boring over the winter months either.

No, I think with crevice gardening it looks good all year round.

But having some form plants like the Daphne arbuscula,

which forms these sort of lovely green domes,

has pink flowers, very sweetly scented.

I think the best plant here is the Sax longafolia.

Which forms these beautiful rosettes.

It takes five to seven years to flower. Once it flowers,

big spike, white flowers and it's spectacular.

That's going to look beautiful.

And just... I would like to give you one plant to take back to Aberdeen

and this is a Sax longafolia.

So hopefully it will be pride of place in your crevice garden.

I'm sure it will. Thanks very much, John.

You're welcome.

This is the sort of thing that can cause disruption

between the neighbours.

You know, if it comes in from next door.

This is Agropyron repens, or known as bishop weed in England.

And ground elder in Scotland and you can work that out for yourself.

Just look at it starting to spread.

And of course at this time of the year when you've got young growths,

you can pick it out.

But just look what comes up with it.

Oh, absolutely horrendous.

Later on, I will tackle this with a herbicide.

But at the moment, somebody will say you're needing the exercise, McColl.

This is a perfect time of year to be doing a spot of seed sowing

to add some colour into my greenhouse here.

I've got a couple of climbers, black-eyed Susan

and the cup and saucer plant.

And also a couple of plants that can go on the bench.

The balsam, which is related to the busy lizzie

and also the amaranthus.

And if you don't have a greenhouse, but as long as you can sow them,

if you harden them off you can also grow them outside

in a nice sunny sheltered spot.

Well, it's not often we stop by the Crooked Garden

and there's you with the crooked man there.

Yep, he's doing fine.

-Favourite plants?

-Oh, there's lots in here.

Lots of little gems.

But I think at the moment in flower just at the front there, Jim,

the Cardamine dentata.

And by you, Chris, is the sort of creamy form I rather like.

-It's fabulous, isn't it?

-Mm.

-Yeah, really unusual.

And what about over your head there?

Twisted hazel.

Found by a vicar cycling through the lanes of Gloucestershire,

if my memory serves me correctly.

-Fabulous to see the tassels there.

-Yeah, really, really nice.

-And you, Jim?

-Well, we just missed the best of Prunus incisa.

-But it's such a delicate thing and does rather nicely in here.

-Mm.

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

it's all in the fact sheet

and the easiest way to access that is online.

Next week, Chris, what are you doing?

I'm rolling one garden down the hill to have a little foray

with some fungi. And make a little fungal valley.

OK, you say little, but that's a lot bigger than myself

because I'm going to be dealing with some mushrooms,

but on the windowsill.

And I shall be planting tatties.

Until next week, bye-bye.

Bye.