The Beechgrove Garden 2025 episode 5
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Beechgrove Garden. On the programme today we are prepping for
00:19sweet peas and reacting to rainy summers. Coming up, who doesn't love sweet peas? This
00:28year Kirsty is growing a scented archway. I start work on a rain garden to cope with
00:34more of the wet stuff. We have the first update of the year from Callum's allotment. As soon
00:41as you see a wee shoot or root coming through the seed, bring it out, sow it into the ground.
00:47And we'll be considering a variety of lilies.
00:51But first of all Kirsty, we're in the glass house today. A few weeks ago I was actually
00:58in here starting off a few young veg plants just to extend the growing season. We're
01:03at the next stage of the development now. We're ready to move them on and it's nice
01:07and cosy in here. Perfect for the plants that you're growing for us.
01:10So what we're going to do is try a few chillies. So as you see, these were sown at the start
01:15of March and now is the perfect time to take them from these seed trays up into bigger pots.
01:20So a debor or a pencil, just gently go round the seedling, but make sure you hold on to
01:26the leaf, never the stem when you're pricking out.
01:29Yeah, that's a good point. I can still remember my very first head garden and making that point
01:34to me. The plant can always grow a new leaf, but if you bruise the stem and damage it, that's
01:38it. The plants did.
01:39You can see lots of nice healthy roots there. And then we're just going to pop that into
01:43their bigger pots. And this is peat-free, multi-purpose compost here. And chillies are very hungry
01:50plants, so a tomato liquid feed high in potash is really good for them.
01:54That's good. So once they get to about this stage, these are about 30 centimetres tall.
01:59This is Hungarian wax, actually. The heat of chillies is measured in Scoville's. The standard
02:05jalapeno that you buy in the shop, they're about 2,500 to 8,000. These ones can go up to
02:1015,000. But they're not as hot as the Carolina Reaper, 2.2 million. Don't think you'll be
02:16having that in your chilli. We'll have to test these on Callum, won't we?
02:18That's a great idea. What we can do with these ones just now, if we take out this growing
02:24tip, we'll just gently snip it up there. And what that's going to do is going to encourage
02:29all these side shoots to develop. Side shoots means a bushier plant, more flowers. More
02:35flowers means?
02:36More chillies.
02:37Correct. And that's exactly what we're wanting.
02:39And then we might just give these little baby seedlings just a tiny bit of water.
02:43And then where we're going to keep them, I think the best place, this is Scotland,
02:48after all. I think the best place is in this glass house. This is nice and cosy. It's
02:51about 18 degrees, damp down the floor. It creates that little humidity. That'll encourage the
02:57flowers to develop into those lovely fruits. But have fun. I love chillies. They're great
03:01pots. Well, let's hope we've got lots of chillies soon.
03:05So sweet peas have always traditionally been grown at Beach Grove, but usually in borders. But this
03:23year I wanted to do something different and put them up an archway. So that's what we've
03:28done is we've taken a bit of coppiced hazel and willow from the garden and we've used them
03:33to make the archway. So we've put the hazel, the stronger stems, on the base. Now if you've
03:39not got hazel at home you could use birch or sycamore. And then we've used the sort of pencil
03:44thickness shaped willow to make that lovely archway. So all we're doing now is putting the ladder runs
03:51all the way up and that'll provide the structural support for the sweet peas to cling on to and grow
03:58up. So you can also soak your willow in water and that'll make it much more bendy and flexible.
04:05We've gone for about three or four stems grouped together and you can use a bit of string or twine
04:12to just reinforce them. Then you can take your secateurs and if there's any sort of whippy bits
04:18of the willow sort of sticking out or at the ends here you can just finish them off and make sure
04:25they're not going to stick out at the ends. So just give it a little tidy up at the end.
04:32And then what you'll see over here at the base of these structural supports is we've added some
04:39well-rotted manure. So this horse manure is about three or four years old. It's full of worms,
04:45nutrients and goodness because sweet peas are a super hungry plant and we're also as well as this
04:52manure we are going to feed them with a liquid seaweed feed through the summer months and that'll
04:57boost them and we're going to see up here in Scotland how tall these sweet peas will get going
05:03up the archway. Whether they'll actually reach the top is left to be seen. At this time of year it's still
05:10a bit too cold to be planting them out. You want to wait till about May when most of the frosts have
05:15gone. What we've gone for is varieties that are particularly highly scented. So we've got ones like
05:21Turquoise Lagoon, Balmoral, Sweet Caroline and Chrissy here. Lots of pinks, purples and whites. They're
05:28also going to be attractive colours too. They've been grown in root trainers as sweet peas like a deep root
05:36growth and at this time of year you could pinch them out as well. Some people think that'll be a
05:41bushier plant. I don't tend to do it as supposedly you're meant to get more lateral growth not pinching
05:47them out meaning more flowers. So that's up to you at this time of year. You could also take cuttings
05:52and put them in a little jar of water at this time of year and they will also root giving you more sweet
05:58peas. If you don't have space for an archway this big in your garden you could also grow sweet peas in
06:04a container. Just make sure the container's got a good amount of depth to it because they do like
06:09to have deep roots. This one we've just put in a nice metal obelisk or you could use the willow again
06:15and make one and soon we will start when they've been planted out start tying them on with a bit of
06:21string or maybe a sweet pea ring to give them that little bit of help and support to go up these
06:26structures. But soon we should have lots of scented colourful sweet peas to enjoy in the garden.
06:34Now it's time to see Colin Crosby's garden just outside Dumfries.
06:41Colin was head gardener to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at Royal Lodge Windsor
06:47and was also curator at RHS Garden Wisley. He's been developing his own garden just outside Dumfries
06:53for nine years. We caught up with him on a bit of a rainy day.
06:58Now welcome to my garden here at Dill Swinton Mill. We were here last year but we've had a very unusual
07:06winter. It's been really wet though we have had one or two cold spells and my garden here is divided
07:12into different sections. It's got colour throughout the year and there's still a little bit of spring
07:16colour which you can see at the present moment. But like any garden there's always jobs that need to be
07:22done and I've got a few that I need to be busy with at the present moment.
07:32Now this is a great time of year for propagating perennials. Most people think you have to divide
07:37them but with some of them like this helenium you can actually take cuttings and the helenium is a
07:42daisy. It's got wonderful big yellow and orange flowers in late summer. But what I need to do is I
07:48need to get really close to the ground so I get as long a stem as possible. So let me get down here
07:54and see what I can find in this lovely clump. There we go there's one just perfect. Let me see if I can
08:01get another good few in here. As low as we can to the ground. Another good one. And don't worry about
08:09this damaging the plant because it'll actually sprout up from the bottom again. Struggling to get this one
08:16but never mind. There we go another good cutting. I'm wanting about six cuttings of this to go in the pot.
08:23And I've got the last one. There's the cuttings and what I need to do now is put them into a plastic bag
08:29just to stop them wilting before I get them up to the Pawnee Tunnel and into the compost. There we go.
08:38I'll put those in there and ready to strike them as good cuttings.
08:49So here we are in the Pawnee Tunnel. I've already got the compost made up. It's 50% perlite to 50%
08:56peat free multi-purpose compost. So I just fill the pot up with compost. Just level it off and gently
09:04tap it. And then of course you get the cuttings. I've taken them with a sharp pair of secateurs.
09:10So all I need to do is remove the lower leaves just to give a little bit more stem. There we go.
09:18That will do. And then of course what I do need is to dibble them in and I'm putting them into the
09:24corners because you always find when you put plants cuttings close to the edge of a pot,
09:29they actually root it better because there's more air round about them. And I'm going to put maybe
09:36six or seven cuttings in there because as one cutting roots, when it produces the hormones for
09:43rooting, it actually stimulates the other cuttings to produce roots. So here we go putting it into the
09:49hole. Don't be tempted to push the cutting in because that way if you do that you'll actually
09:54damage the bottom of the cutting. So there I am going round the corners, filling up the pot.
10:01Here we go. And actually I think there's room to get another two cuttings into there.
10:13That's good. There's the last one. Just removing the lower leaves, putting it into the pot.
10:19And then what I need to do is water it because you can see all that leafy growth. If I didn't water
10:27it, it would dry out. So here we are. I'll give it a good soak. And then I'll wait for that water to
10:38soak through the pot again. And then I'm going to give it another little drink again. So I'll just wait a
10:44few seconds. And here we go again. Top it over. That will be enough. Now I'm going to keep those
10:52cuttings here in my polytunnel. But you could actually do this in the kitchen windowsill at home,
10:59in your greenhouse. And what you can also do, if you've got a little plastic bag, you can put a little
11:06mini greenhouse over the top of them. And that actually stops the cuttings from wilting as well.
11:14A poly bag over the top and you've got a little mini greenhouse and you can do this in your kitchen
11:20windowsill. So I'm down in the trials area at Beechgrove and this year we're going to be trialing
11:38some lilies this summer. So I've got seven different varieties that we've laid out that are going to be
11:44those big trumpet flowers that are highly scented. So you can plant them any time from October to April.
11:52So we're just a little bit late but we can get away with that up here in Aberdeen.
11:56So we're planting them about 15 centimeters deep and about 15 centimeters apart. And we're trialing
12:02them for their scent, their color, how they perform. But what we are going to do into the planting hole
12:09is add a bit of sand and grit. And we'll just put that into the bottom of the hole and that'll make it
12:14nice and free draining. So when it comes to planting you want to make sure that the lily bulb the pointed
12:19bit is facing up the way and the roots are down and then straight into the hole. And then all we have
12:25to do is just backfill around it. Now what we might need to do with these is to stake them with bamboo
12:32canes or a bit of willow as we don't want their stems to snap. And we will also need to keep an eye out
12:39for any lily beetles. So if you see any of these beetles that are red on the lilies just be vigilant
12:45and keep an eye out for them. So we'll just add a bit more grit and sand into this hole and get these
12:51ones in. Like that. So the one I'm planting at the moment is Lilium purple lady and that as the name
13:00suggests is going to have a really tall nice deep purple flower. Should be highly scented as well.
13:06So we're just going to pop that in the hole. And now lily bulbs are quite hungry bulbs so we will
13:11want to feed it with a liquid feed. Probably seaweed or something like or tomato feed will be fine.
13:18And the good thing about lily bulbs is hopefully they should come back year after year and give
13:22you a nice display in that peak point in summer. But now it's time to go and see Callum in his allotment
13:28in Liban. This year on the allotment I want to try and get some cracking carrots out in the open
13:39ground that also defeat the carrot root fly. But to achieve this we're going to have to do some soil
13:44prep. So I've got just this old compost bag turned inside out that I'm just weighing down with some
13:51slabs and that's just helping to warm up the soil a wee bit more to help germination. So this has been
13:57on for a few days. I'm just going to take this off. We'll just roll this back. And we can see the fact
14:06there's some weeds starting to germinate in here. The soil now is ready for direct sowing. It's really
14:12important when it comes to working with any plant but especially carrots so that you know what kind of
14:18soil that you have. I've got a heavy clay soil so carrots won't do well here. They will grow in the
14:24soil but there won't be anything to shout about. So what I want to do first is, is loosen the soil
14:31because the carrots don't like a compacted soil. So I'm just going to loosen this up.
14:42I'm loosening about an eight inch depth of soil and that's going to be the perfect sort of space for
14:47the carrots to grow in. Now when I'm loosening this, if I see any weeds or stones, I'm going to take them
14:59both out. Especially the stones because if the carrot root hits a stone it will then fork and we're not
15:06wanting that. There we go, I'm quite happy with that. That's better already but I'm really wanting to take this
15:19to the next level. So we're going to add in some sand. Now this is builder sand. There is no sort of
15:28stones in it, you know, it's not like sharp sand or anything like that. And I'm going to add the sand in
15:33to help get some more air into the soil, better drainage and also really work on that crumbly texture.
15:40I'm just going to pour this in over the top. There we go, just like that. And then mix it in.
15:48There we go, okay. Now I'm just wanting to rake the surface.
16:03There we go. So normally what we would say now is, is get a cane in, take out a line of soil about half an
16:18inch deep and then sow in the seeds. Now that's going to encourage you to sow them thickly. So we ensure a
16:26full row of carrots. But if you sow them thickly, we then need to thin them out to give them the space
16:31that they're due. When you go to thin them out, that's then the smell's released and it's going to
16:37encourage the carrot root fly. And as I say, I want to try and defeat them this year and make sure they
16:42don't get to my carrots. So I want to take out the thinning out part. So if you're sowing say two rows,
16:49so you want them about 12 inches apart, with each carrot then in the rows about two to four inches
16:54apart. So what I'm going to do is, I've got my fork here and this is going to help me with my spacing.
17:04Then every second hole, I'm just going to make it slightly bigger with my finger, about half an inch deep.
17:14Then that's where I'm going to sow the seeds. And I'm only going to put one seed per hole.
17:20So the variety I'm growing this year is Nate's three. And this is a summer and autumn
17:26harvesting variety, but also it's known for being really sweet, which is what I like.
17:30And we're going to put one seed per hole. So that means there's going to be no thinning out.
17:34I will do a full row of carrots, but now I'm just going to cover these over.
17:50Before I cover the last one, put your label in so you know the variety and also where your carrots are.
18:00And then just give it a light tap to make sure we get good seed to soil contact.
18:05Now when it comes to the parsnips, it's going to be the exact same preparation that we want.
18:11Although when it comes to sowing the seed, it's slightly different.
18:15Parsnip seeds can be a wee bit tricky to get germinated. So if you get a clear
18:20takeaway tub, you then line the bottom of it with a wet paper towel and then just sprinkle your seeds on the top.
18:28This is going to help encourage them and sort of chip them.
18:31You then take another wet paper towel and lay that over the top.
18:35Put the lid on. We'll take this home, put on a sunny windowsill and you want to check them every day.
18:46As soon as you see a wee shoot or root coming for the seed, bring it out, sow it into the ground.
18:57If you have newly installed a coal frame into your plot or garden, line it with some stones at the bottom.
19:03By lining the stones, it's going to enhance the light in there. It's going to create a texture
19:10that slugs don't really light so it'll protect your plants. But also, during the day, the stones will heat up,
19:20the heat will stay in there and it will slowly release.
19:33As most of us are aware, our climate is changing. In Scotland, we're seeing increased levels of rainfall
19:42and this year, because of that, we're going to create a rain garden. A rain garden is a collection
19:47of plants that can cope with the dry conditions but also those prolonged periods of wet. We're going
19:53to be covering this over the next couple of weeks but the first thing I want to do is to harvest the
19:57rainwater and the best way to do that is to install a water butt. The boldest step we're going to make
20:03is by fitting this rainwater diverter into our pipe. So if you're not very confident, seek some
20:08professional help. But once it's in place, the rainwater is going to flow down the side of our
20:14drainage pipe. It will then get collected in this little basin here before flowing through the pipe
20:20into our water butt. And then once that's full, it's just brilliant. You can use all this rainwater
20:26for all your watering needs in the garden. But what I would say with what Kirsty was doing
20:31earlier on with her chillies and her young seedlings, I would stick to fresh tap water because sometimes
20:36there's a bacteria in your rainwater that may kill them all off. As you can see now, the designs of
20:42water butts are getting quite sleek. They used to look quite industrial looking but they're now looking
20:47quite fancy. And then with a few little pots strategically placed around them, the whole
20:51area is beginning to look quite nice. Especially when you've got it up against something fancy like
20:55your house or a conservatory. Now they're clever in design. You can actually fit two or three so you
21:01can collect as much rainfall as you want. But ultimately, they are all going to get full. And when
21:06that happens, the water just back laps and it'll go back into your drainage pipe and then into the system.
21:13However, for our rain garden, we're going to get it down there and we're going to create a rill that
21:19then diverts the rainfall into our rain garden which is going to be full of those plants that can cope
21:25with dry and wet conditions. And to see how we get on with the landscaping and the planting,
21:30you'll have to come back in a couple of weeks' time.
21:31Now it's time for some handy hints. On days like this where there's sun, there's a wee bit of breeze,
21:46get out in the garden and do some hone. It's always best to start when there's no weeds around,
21:52but any of the young ones that are in the ground, they're going to be brought to the surface. In the
21:57weather like this, they're just going to fry and die, leaving you more time to get on with the jobs
22:02that you really love.
22:10Now that the daffodil flowering season is over, we're turning our attention to next year. Once
22:15your blooms have died, it's important that we go in and just deadhead the blooms. That's because we
22:21want the energy to focus on going into building up the bulb rather than producing seed. I want to
22:26keep these watered and fed. We're feeding with a high potassium feed. That's another way of building
22:32the bulb up for next year. Maybe every 10 days till the foliage goes really yellow. Once it's reached
22:38this stage where the foliage is totally brown and dead, the bulb is totally recharged. It's got all the
22:44energy it needs for next year. Once it is that, we're just going to tidy this up, take away all the
22:48foliage. We could then compost this and that's our bulbs ready for beautiful blooms in 2026.
22:58So a plant that's looking particularly good right now is this Trillium chloropetalum.
23:02It has these amazing maroon flowers and this lovely sort of camouflaged leaf.
23:07It's a woodland species. It'll come back year after year. It's long lived and in the wild,
23:13it relies on ants for seed dispersal. But in your own garden, you can just lift and divide and it will
23:19bulk up into a lovely healthy clump like this.
23:27My granddad always used to say there's nothing finer than homegrown peas. But ever since we've had
23:32the allotment, we've not really had a successful crop. And that's because when I go to sow the seed
23:37directly out into the plot, the mice get them. So this year, I'm trying to sow them in guttering
23:43and I've suspended it up in the polytunnel so there's no way the mice could get near them. Also,
23:48it's going to help me get a sort of head start on my pea crop this year. All you want to do is we'll add
23:54some compost into the bottom of the drain pipe and then we'll just place the seeds in. Now the variety
24:00I'm sowing this year is Ambassador. This is a main crop. It's high yielding and it's mildew resistant.
24:08So we're going to get some nice plump peas. Now we're just going to add some compost over the seeds.
24:14I just want to cover the seeds over with some compost. Now you'll see I'm just using a short bit
24:19of guttering. That's because when we take this out into the plot to plant it out, I'll dig a trench out
24:24and I'm just going to slide the bit earth into the trench and then just cover it back over.
24:29That's going to make my life so much easier and there'll be less root disruption. The final point,
24:35you'll see that the pipe's at a slight angle so when I go to water, the water's going to drain out.
24:51Now it's common practice with tulips. After they've finished flowering we pretty much discard them but
24:55we often get asked what would happen if we kept them for two or three years.
25:00Yeah and you know it's always asked and these are tulips that Carol planted in autumn 2023
25:08and then they flowered in spring 2024. So they've been in these pots for quite a while and had a
25:13really good showy display last year but then I would say this year not looking as showy.
25:18So as a wee experiment, the garden team, they've kept them in the pots but they plunged them. They put
25:24the wee part of the garden where it's out of the road, they stuck them in the ground. So they were given
25:29no water because the bulbs are like that period over the summer just to dry off, just to stop growing.
25:34They need that rest don't they? And then started off into growth again come October, November and then this is the results.
25:41I think you can definitely see a difference. They don't have that showiness that the one-year-old bulbs
25:46would. They're different heights, the colour's a wee bit of peely-wally but so not impressive for me.
25:52But what would you do with them? So not as uniform and as showy. I like to keep them in the containers
25:56the first year, have that showy display and then put them into the herbaceous borders. Also have like a
26:02bulb meadow as well where I'll plant them into the grass and then it's sort of potluck what will come
26:06up in the years to come. Yeah and if you do want to keep them, there's no harm in keeping them. You could
26:10let them dry off over the summer. Maybe replant the bigger ones, the ones that you know they're
26:15probably going to be pretty reliable. Stick them in a container but I'd maybe have that container
26:20at the back of the garden out the road. If they come up well, fantastic but keep the lovely
26:24brand new bulbs for that front doorstep, that container there, nice and showy.
26:41Well Kirsty, that's pretty much it for this week but have you heard there's a wee veg competition going
26:46on this year? Yes, it's certainly heating up this competition isn't it? I know. Well, so over the last
26:51few weeks we've heard from Lizzie, Ruth, Callum, there's only a couple of things you need to know. One,
26:57has to be pretty productive and two, Carol's the judge. So she's pretty strict but listen, I'm seeing a lot of
27:05unusual things in this plot here. What are you up to? It doesn't look like I've taken up mini golf, doesn't
27:09it? But I have to begin with put manure all over that bed and that will really feed the veg and then
27:17I've used flag markers. So the green flags are lime green flowers, so like Nicotiana and gladioli and
27:23then orange flags is purple veg because it's pretty and productive. That's purple, purple leeks, purple
27:31cauliflower, broccoli, purple beans, purple carrots. There's a bit of a purple theme going on but
27:36hopefully, you know, they're really high in nutrients. They're unusual veg that you can't
27:41buy in the supermarket and will look really pretty and be tasty on your plate too. Yep, very nice.
27:47You can certainly see your designer talents influence your little plot here but has nobody
27:52told you that Carol's favourite colour is blue? I know but maybe she'll come round to purple this year.
27:58I think that's what you're hoping for, that's for sure. But listen, Kirstie, I've always felt you
28:02and I have had a special bond and I think you're going to win so you're now my favourite. I think you're
28:06going to do a great job. Let's hope so. Well that's pretty much it for this week. Next week I'm joined
28:12by Lizzie and we're going to be looking at hanging baskets. And we'll be visiting a lovely community
28:17garden in Dunfermline. Don't forget you can catch up with all the episodes so far on this series,
28:24on the iPlayer. And well that's pretty much it for this week. Bye for now.
28:57Cool.