Fleeting moments in life happen. I vividly remember a decade ago reading a leaflet about the RHS Master of Horticulture course, I found down the side of the sofa in the student digs at Crathes Castle.
I was an apprentice and thought wow! One day I might be good enough for that. As you read this, I’m more than halfway through that course.
It seemed like a pipe dream, but dreams come true. I never in my wildest dreams however, expected to be recommended to write this very column for you.
Yet another massively unexpected dream come true is being part of the Beechgrove Garden team. Not only that, but in a role like head gardener!
Since taking on the role in mid-January I’ve been affa’ busy!
Filming begins soon with the first programme scheduled to be shown on Thursday April 6 at 8pm on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer.
Followed by showing on BBC 2 on Friday April 7 at 7:30pm.
Brilliance!
The lead up to filming has been a truly brilliant experience. It’s a very unique horticultural experience unlike anything I’ve done before.
Perhaps it’s fairer to say it’s a role that requires all the combined knowledge and skills I’ve garnered over the years from various roles and combining them into one big, green-fingered cocktail.
I am unbelievably excited to share this season with you all. We’ve some fantastic topics getting covered this filming year to improve your horticultural knowledge whether you’re new to gardening or a dab hand at all things gardening!
Horticultural elite
I still pinch myself sometimes whilst going around the garden knowing I’m in the company of some of Britain’s horticultural elite like Carole Baxter, George Anderson, Brian Cunningham, Kirsty Wilson and more.
This year, Beechgrove Garden is back celebrating its 45th anniversary.
Carole Baxter, George Anderson and Diana Yates are introducing the first show in the new series from the fabulous Beechgrove Garden just outside Aberdeen.
It’s an anniversary year and the show will be featuring all the best advice, tips and ideas that have made it such a well-loved Scottish institution since it started in 1978.
First show
On the first show, the team will be assessing the state of the garden after a long cold winter and launching into the many jobs that need done at this time of year, including tips on seed sowing and planting your own garlic supply.
There’s also a list of top tips to save money in the garden, with household budgets feeling the pinch, how do you plant without spending pounds?
Calum Clunie sends the first of his reports from his allotment in Leven and Brian Cunningham is updating us on his own garden at Old Scone.
Coming up
Across the series, the expert gardeners will be testing out windowsill tomato growing, home-grown salads and vegetables as well as the traditional Beechgrove Garden tattie trials.
All summer the show will have advice and instruction for gardeners of all kinds, something for the beginner and the expert.
Responding to viewer interest, this year there will also be a focus on some particular gardening areas. There will be a monthly Back to Basics guide where the team give a masterclass on the key skills needed to be a great gardener.
This is very useful if you are a total beginner or just want to brush up on your own technique.
Kirsty Wilson will be presenting a regular houseplant feature looking at care, selection and some “on trend” planting styles for indoor growers.
There’s also a focus on gardening for wildlife this year: how do you cultivate a garden that looks great but also gives the environment a helping hand?
Later in the series, Lizzie Schofield will be working on a typical New Build garden to show what can be done with a small, undeveloped space.
Notching up 45 years
Spring is here already, and Beechgrove Garden is back, ready to guide you through a season of great growing.
I am privileged to share this fantastic 45th year of Beechgrove Garden with you all.
All I can really say is never give up. No matter how tough life gets, no matter what obstacles you face there is hope.
If someone had told past Scott, at 21 years old, weeding a bed at a holiday cottage in the pouring rain below a leaking gutter and slinking home absolutely drenched through to the underwear, that one day he’d be writing this and about to proudly present to the world the latest series of Beechgrove Garden? Well he’d be speechless.
Beechgrove Garden is arguably the stalwart and peak of Scottish horticulture, something every young Scottish gardener dreams of. Keep going. You’ll get there too with enough hard work. I promise!
Take care and happy gardening.
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