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The Beechgrove Garden - Season 48 Episode 14 -Episode 14 engsubtitle fullmovie🧲⚡️ Secret Engagement
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00:14Hello and welcome to Peachgrove Garden just outside Aberdeen.
00:18This week updates and new projects.
00:23I check up on my espalier fruit trees.
00:27Lizzie returns to the herd garden she revamped two years ago.
00:32We plant for foliage in the cuttings plot.
00:36And a garden adapted for our feathered friends.
00:43One project I've been working on this year is how to manage a slope.
00:47Now the solution we've come up with here is to create a series of terraces.
00:51So that makes it a wee bit safer to manage and using stone or sleepers stops the soil washing away
00:57down the slope.
00:59Now we've already got the structure plants in, the ones that are going to be topiary.
01:02We've got them dotted around to make sure we can capture views.
01:05And when you're planting up a bed normally you would put the big stuff at the back, the small stuff
01:09at the front.
01:10But for here on a terrace or a slope you've got the opportunity to do a bit of mixing and
01:14matching.
01:15The plants that we're going to put in now are the late seasonal perennials.
01:19So these are the plants that are going to give us a wee bit of colour from July, August onwards.
01:23The first one here, Actia brunette, this is a plant that I'd have anywhere.
01:27It can fit anywhere in the garden, it's just beautiful.
01:30You're going to get white brush flowers just floating over the top of this foliage.
01:35What does worry me though at that bottom level is all I'm going to see is maybe these sort of
01:40tall slender stems.
01:41You won't see anything else.
01:42So I'm going to pop a geranium in here.
01:44This is a mound forming geranium.
01:46This one's called Anne Fokard.
01:49And that'll hopefully just disguise these stems.
01:51And the combination of the two flowers, those white bottle brush floating over the top should look lovely.
01:57We've got an aster in here.
02:00You cannae beat them for late summer colour.
02:02That one's Jungfrau, perfect for cut flower too.
02:05Some Stachys, Euphorbia, grasses as well, just to give that sort of motion feeling.
02:11But this is where I think you can play perfectly.
02:14You've got this low terrace here.
02:16This is where you can sit down and have a wee drink at night.
02:19And the plants that I want to put in here are ones that are normally down at my feet.
02:23I've got to get right down and have a wee look at them.
02:26I've got a wee opportunity to be right at eye level with them now.
02:29So I've got Lily of the Valley.
02:31So we can see the foliage there.
02:33Kind of looks tropical, nice to the wee pond.
02:35And I'll get to get the white scented flowers right up at eye level.
02:39And Epimedium, a brilliant foliage plant.
02:42Again, eye level.
02:43I'll be able to see the detail of the flowers.
02:45But the last one is that Sedum there.
02:48This one's Stardust.
02:49The beauty about these plants, they're like a magnet to the butterflies.
02:54What do you think I'm going to see?
02:56I'm going to get to sit here at night with a glass of wine.
02:58And I'm going to be surrounded with all these butterflies at eye level.
03:03Just perfect.
03:13Well, I can't believe it's been a whole two years since I did the herb garden revamp here at Beach
03:21Grove.
03:21And it really did need it because it was looking really quite tired.
03:25First thing that I did was, though, to lift up the slabs and relay them in this quadrant style, producing
03:32four different areas for us to plant lots of different types of herbs.
03:38Now, we kept some of the original plants like this lovely bronze fennel and also some of the gorgeous chives.
03:47But we also added in some new planting like this sweet sicily that has produced these beautiful pods.
03:55And when you give them a rub, they really smell of licorice.
03:59It's gorgeous.
04:00We also added a dyer's chamomile over there and all of these new herbs we could use for different types
04:08of tea.
04:09But within all gardens, we do need to do a bit of maintenance.
04:13And it's time to chop back this sorrel just so that they don't go spreading all over the place.
04:24Now, once things go to seeds, the plant puts all its energy into producing those seeds,
04:32which means they don't then produce the lovely green fresh new shoots that we want to use in our cooking.
04:40Now, the chives can also be cut right back to the ground and that's going to give it a completely
04:49refresh.
04:50But I do quite like letting the chives go to flower because you can use the flowers in salads and
04:59it gives it a real pop of colour.
05:03Also, the bees absolutely love them, so they have a good feast on them too.
05:08Now, in a couple of weeks' time, this is going to start producing lots of lovely new shoots that we
05:16can chop up over our potato salad
05:19and that we're all going to enjoy our beautiful summer barbecues.
05:23Now, the other reason why I want to give them a really good chop back is because you can see
05:29over here,
05:31the sweet sicily has set seeds and all of these new little seedlings have started to grow now.
05:37Now, I'm going to dig those up because I don't want them starting to take over and bully any more
05:43plants out.
05:45But over here, we have also got a chocolate mint that is not looking too happy.
05:52Now, we planted all the mint in the ground into pots so that they wouldn't take over because they are
05:59vigorous plants
06:00and they do like to spread themselves about and bully other plants out of space.
06:06Now, I'm replacing it with a lovely purple sage. It's completely hardy.
06:11It likes a really sunny spot with free draining soil.
06:15I'm going to put some new compost in this area to just give it a little refresh.
06:20And I think that will be really happy in there.
06:24It's great for adding to stews and soups and really nice, apparently, on a toasted cheese sandwich
06:32if you chop a few leaves on top. So that's a really lovely thing that I'm going to try later.
06:37Also got this hyssop, another completely hardy herb.
06:42It has a really lovely peppery smell, good for stews and soups.
06:47It's part of the mint family, going to grow up to about 60 centimetres to a metre tall.
06:52And it has these beautiful purple flower spikes.
06:55And I'm going to go and find the perfect place for it.
07:02This April, I started the project to demonstrate it doesn't matter what size of garden you've got,
07:07you can have an orchard.
07:09You don't need a large lawn to grow big apple trees.
07:12You just need a wee space like this.
07:14A small border, it could be up against a shed or a garage.
07:17It could even be free standing, as long as you've got these horizontal wires to train the plants up against.
07:23The apples and the pears, they're the ones that you want to go for this.
07:26The likes of your plums won't work.
07:29Now the two methods that we're trying to demonstrate here is cordons and horizontal espalier.
07:35Now this is more a project for the winter, so start thinking ahead.
07:38Because we want to go to a specialist nursery and you're going to buy one year old trees.
07:43Now with cordons, you want to grow them at a 45 degree angle.
07:48They're spaced round about 70 centimetres here, but you can go up to a metre.
07:52And what I like about them is, you can picture this as the side of your garage,
07:56and we're getting three, four different plants in here.
07:59So you can get a mid-season apple, a late-season apple, a couple of pears.
08:04So brilliant, you've got a whole assortment of fruit spread over two or three months.
08:09Now we planted them as bare root plants in April, and they went straight into the ground.
08:13As I say, planted at a 45 degree angle, and that's the angle that we want,
08:17because that's where you get that evenly spaced growth all the way up the plant,
08:22and that's where we'll get the fruit from.
08:24And when you're choosing your plants, speak to the nursery,
08:27because you're wanting these spur-bearing types, not the tip-bearing ones
08:30that only grow fruit at the end of the growth from the previous year.
08:34We're wanting to make these sort of stubby clusters,
08:36and that's where we'll get the maximum amount of fruit from.
08:39Now at this time of year, it's all about the formal training part.
08:42We want to get our plants correctly into the shape that we're wanting them to grow.
08:46So we've got these bamboo canes in here, and that makes life a lot easier.
08:51As you can see with this one, this one's not being trained,
08:53and it's starting to form a sort of banana shape.
08:56We want to avoid that, because I want to get a nice, firm, straight stem.
09:00So this is where I want to be tying it in here, and here,
09:03and as many points as I need to up at the bamboo cane.
09:06There's about 30 centimetres here in between the wires,
09:09so if you've only worked with that, you're always going to get a wee kink in your plant,
09:13and that's what we're trying to avoid.
09:16Now as the season goes on, we're going to start seeing these side shoots, or these laterals.
09:21That's exactly what we want, and in the coming weeks,
09:24we're going to start making the spur system out of them.
09:26But that's for later on. Don't worry, we'll look after you in a few weeks' time.
09:30And then the last wee thing with the corners, you can see we've got the new leader here.
09:36Now, the tree's naturally just going to want to grow straight, sort itself out,
09:40but we're always going to want it to go at that 45 degrees.
09:43So just the same principle. As it grows, you're just going to tie it in.
09:50And as always, just a wee wrap around the bamboo cane, and then a wee knot.
09:57Never go too tight, because we want room for this to grow, to fatten up.
10:03If you do it tight, right up against the bamboo cane,
10:06then we're just going to strangle the poor thing to death.
10:10And then a nice wee cut. I think another one's going to be needed there as well.
10:14So that's the cordons.
10:17I like my garden. I work all year round for me.
10:20So this is brilliant. I'm going to get a productive side here during the summer months.
10:24But I want my garden to look good in wintertime too.
10:26And that's one of the things I like about this.
10:28So over the winter months, with the cordons, I'm going to get a nice row of these diagonal lines.
10:33But this is the one that I really am interested in.
10:35This is a horizontal espalier.
10:38And what we're trying to create here is a central stem that goes all the way up,
10:44but along these wires are going to be the horizontal arms of fruit.
10:48And I can tell you it looks really, really impressive over the winter months.
10:53Now the first move when you're trying to create one of these
10:55is one of the boldest I'll ever make when you're growing plants.
10:58I've done it a few times now and I still get nervous, but this one's responded just perfectly.
11:03When we stuck the plant in the ground, it was actually all the way up to here.
11:07And we actually took about a good third off of it,
11:09because we wanted to do a snip just above this wire.
11:14And the plants responded perfectly.
11:16I've now got three new shoots that I wanted.
11:19The first one is the new leader.
11:21And again, just as we've tied in the cordon, we're going to do the same with the espalier.
11:26We're going to tie this leader in and it's going to go all the way up.
11:29Next winter, we'll do exactly the same process.
11:31We'll do a wee snip just above that wire.
11:34And then I've also been very lucky because I've got the two side shoots
11:37and they're the ones that are going to end up forming the arms.
11:41But to form the arms, we kind of just go straight down and put them horizontally.
11:44We want to do exactly what we've done with the cordon.
11:47Grow them at 45 degree angles just to get that evenly spaced foliage.
11:51And then we'll get loads of fruit up and down those arms.
11:54Next winter, when the branches are still pliable, but they've not formed rigid,
11:58that's when we'll be able to peel them down and then tie them along the wire.
12:02And as I say, start the process again and again.
12:05So it's going to take about two or three years.
12:07And as you can see from the crispy variety of pear, that's the end result that we're looking for just
12:12now.
12:14Now in the brassica bed of the veg plot, we like to keep the netty on over the plants over
12:19the summer months
12:19to keep the pigeons off the foliage.
12:21But there are ways to garden in harmony with the bird life.
12:25And we've been to a garden doing just that.
12:33Bird Gardens Scotland is just north of Lauder in the borders.
12:38It runs as a conservation charity and opened in 2022 after a lot of planting and planning
12:44that focused on the needs of the hundreds of birds who would live here.
12:49Mark Haley is one of the garden's founders.
12:54We had been planning to build a bird garden somewhere.
12:57We just needed to find a piece of land that was big enough.
13:00So when we got here 13 years ago, it was just a flat, empty field.
13:06The main thing at first was planting trees, just getting as many trees in as a backdrop, as a habitat
13:13and as a windbreak.
13:20The avenue was the first thing we built to provide access to the rest of the grounds.
13:24On one side, there's the big emu paddock with the black swans and emus and wallabies.
13:29And on the other side, we've got a series of orchards.
13:32But then either side of the avenue, I've got these two metre and a half wide,
13:36I wouldn't call them beds because I haven't dug over and I haven't weeded.
13:39All I've done is put plants in, in the spaces between.
13:44The blue poppies looking fabulous, it's the first year we've had them.
13:47These are last year's seedlings.
13:48They are looking really good and I'm really pleased with them.
13:51The water table here is quite high.
13:52The ground's very moist, so things like rimulas like it.
13:55There's a line of beech trees here.
13:57And so every autumn, of course, all the beech leaves fall down
14:00and it makes the soil really, really rich in organic material,
14:05which again, the blue poppies really like.
14:14So here we are in the fruit cage.
14:16We built this a few years ago but we've only just put the roof on,
14:20the netted roof, to keep the birds out.
14:22In here we've got raspberries, we've got gooseberries, red currants, blueberries, blackberries.
14:29I make jam, which we sell in the visitor centre but we also use it in quite a lot of
14:32the baking.
14:33And we don't have a slug problem because we've got chickens, ducks and partridges wandering round.
14:41We've chosen silky chickens because they can't fly.
14:44They can eat the slugs, they can graze, keep it tidy and reach whatever fruit they can reach.
14:50But they can't fly so they can't take the fruit from further up.
14:58It's not just the birds that live in aviaries.
15:01We have to put our vegetables in aviaries as well.
15:05And you can see these guys wishing they could get inside.
15:10Before I built them, the pigeons would just watch us planting the salad
15:13and then the minute you turn your back they come and eat it.
15:17These vegetable aviaries are the only place in the gardens that we do have problems with slugs
15:21because the chickens and ducks and things can't get in to tidy up.
15:26There's no slugs anywhere else because there's chickens and ducks everywhere.
15:42So every year nowadays the government put in place what they call flock down,
15:49which means domestic birds and pet birds have to be kept separated from wild birds.
15:53So we have a number of polytunnels on site that we use for that.
15:58Now this past winter just gone, we kept chickens in here.
16:01And as you can see, they left behind some guano.
16:06It's mixed up with the bedding that was put down for them.
16:10So it's wood and chicken manure,
16:15which we found out by accident is a brilliant fertilizer for tomatoes.
16:21And as you can see, they've not been long in, but they're looking very healthy.
16:27The chicken manure is just, we've dug some of it in, we've just left some on the top,
16:31so it's like a slow release.
16:32So every time we water in here, a little bit more nitrogen comes down into the soil
16:37and you can see they're very green, they're going to do well.
16:49So I'm up on the hill and we have built a switchback path going up and down the hill,
16:57hairpin bends, which means that people in buggies or in wheelchairs,
17:00there's no steep incline, so it's easy to get up to the top of the hill.
17:03So when we made the paths, there was a lot of spoil thrown on either side,
17:07which was very ugly.
17:08So instead of just putting grass seed down, we put wildflower seed down.
17:13That was about three years ago now, and every year they've come back.
17:17It's looking lovely just now.
17:18It's just the dog daisies, but there's lots to come, all sorts of things.
17:22It's beautiful, full of insects. It's buzzing on a sunny day.
17:26It's not quite so alive today.
17:28But all of the insects that we've attracted has in turn attracted lots of wild birds.
17:32So the wild bird population here is vast compared to what it was when it was just an empty field.
17:44I think if you want to make your garden more attractive to birds,
17:47if you've got room to plant trees, plant trees, because it provides a habitat,
17:51it provides a roost, it provides food.
17:55If you haven't got room for trees, then bushes.
17:58And if you haven't got room for bushes, just wildflowers.
18:01Wildflowers bring in the insects and insects will bring in the birds.
18:21Time now for this week's handy hints, and mine is a way of being bird friendly,
18:26even if you don't have room for geese and chickens just like Mark.
18:29So it's perfect if you've got a wee back garden or a patio.
18:32And what we're going to do is just sow some wildflowers in a large pot.
18:37Now I've already started by planting this sunflower,
18:40and that's going to grow on, give us a bit of colour later on in the year,
18:43and the sunflower seeds will be perfect for the birds to pick away at that later in the summer.
18:48And then if you've got time, well we're a wee bit of late this year,
18:51then you can sow some annual flowers.
18:53So we've got some cornflowers here, or even calendulas,
18:57but I'm going to start thinking ahead to next year.
19:00And I'd like to sow some teas on them.
19:02They're brilliant for the birdies, but these are a biennial.
19:04So if I sow them now, they'll grow, and then they'll flower for us next year.
19:10In the meantime though, we do want a wee bit of colour,
19:12so I'm going to mix this in with a wee bit of honesty.
19:15That'll flower this year.
19:16And then watch the wildlife coming.
19:18The bees, the birds, they'll just come a-flocking.
19:22About eight weeks ago, I was up in the herb garden,
19:24and I took some cuttings from this Southernwood cola plant.
19:28And as the name suggests, it does really smell of cola.
19:33It has a wonderful smell.
19:34Now, I popped the cuttings into a glass jar of water
19:38and popped them on the windowsill.
19:40And as you can see, they've all developed a really healthy root system.
19:45So all that needs to be done now is to pop them up into some gritty compost.
19:54And give it a really good drink of water.
19:58And in a couple of weeks' time, you should start to see some new growth.
20:03Now, this is a really lovely one to do with kids as well,
20:07because they can get really excited about seeing the roots
20:11and watching the roots grow.
20:13So, great for getting children involved in gardening.
20:23Back at the beginning of the season,
20:25Brian and I were here in the cup flower garden
20:28and we were trying to bust the myth that you couldn't move a peony
20:32and have it flower successfully again.
20:35Now, as you can see, this peony is flowering beautifully
20:39because it was kept at its original depth of planting.
20:45Now, this one over here was planted much deeper.
20:48And as you can see, there are no blooms on it at all.
20:52So, it's a great way to just show that you can move a peony,
20:56just keep it at the same depth and level.
21:00Over here, though, we have got the limonium, the nigella
21:05and all the dried flowers that we are growing this year.
21:09And everything is looking great, apart from the drumstick scabius,
21:14which didn't have great germination.
21:17And so, we've filled in the gap with an annual grass,
21:21a panicum called frosted explosion,
21:23which is going to look fantastic in the dried arrangements.
21:26But over here, I am planting out some fabulous foliage
21:30to add some drama and structure to our bouquets.
21:36Now, first up, we've got some annual grasses,
21:39which is a foxtail barley.
21:42And as the name suggests, it produces the seed head on it,
21:46just like barley with those lovely, airy, fairy bits
21:49that come out of the seeds.
21:51And that is going to produce a nice quality
21:54and give our bouquets some texture and some movement.
22:00Next up, we've got some amaranthus,
22:03adding a bit of drama with this beautiful scarlet red foliage.
22:10It's one called Velvet Curtains.
22:13It grows to about 50 centimetres to a metre tall.
22:17It also produces lovely flower spikes in the same colour.
22:22And it is beautiful for fresh and also dried arrangements.
22:27It keeps its colour, which is fabulous.
22:29Over here, though, the garden team has successfully germinated some eucalyptus.
22:35Now, this one's called Baby Blue.
22:37Now, the reason why you want something like eucalyptus in your bouquets
22:41is to add that structure so that delicate flowers
22:46and also heavier blooms have somewhere to rest on
22:50and be held upright in the bouquet.
22:53Now, we're going to harvest this when it gets to about 60 centimetres tall
22:58so that we still have those lovely disc-like leaves
23:03and they stay really nice and round.
23:05We don't want them to get too old and for the leaves to start to elongate.
23:10Lastly, though, we have got some Lemon Verbena and also some Fennel.
23:18And this is going to provide a green backdrop and a great filler
23:22to make all of your blooms really pop.
23:25It also has the added bonus of providing a wonderful scent.
23:40A few programmes ago, I was looking at ways we can adapt the garden
23:44to help those living with dementia, which can be so beneficial to their care.
23:49Gardens are full of multisensory stimulation from the scent, the touch,
23:54the colour of the plants to the sounds of the wildlife,
23:57which can help relieve tension, aggression, frustration
24:00and bring about a more positive mood change.
24:04The last time we were here, we were looking at the boundaries,
24:07how to make them secure and the plants that we can use
24:10to soften that hard landscaping.
24:12Today, I want to look more to the overall garden layout.
24:16As those living with dementia can be easily disorientated,
24:20what we're looking for is as simple as garden layout as we can possibly get.
24:24One that's potentially just circular around the garden.
24:27Avoiding those junctions where decisions need to be made,
24:30whether they go left or right, which can cause confusion.
24:33Now, ideally, we also want it to be on the same level,
24:36but it doesn't matter.
24:37Sometimes the garden layout doesn't work out that way
24:39and we've got some steps.
24:41We want to avoid them, but as dementia is a progressive condition,
24:45maybe it's something that you live with at the start,
24:47but as time goes on, you maybe look to close off this area
24:51and then a few tough decisions on some of the plants that you've got in the garden,
24:55the likes of this lovely clowned pine here.
24:57It may have to go, so you've actually got a circular level down here.
25:02And then where steps can't be avoided,
25:04even the simple addition of a handrail can make all the difference.
25:09With your paths, you want them to be wide and clear.
25:13Now, that doesn't mean you have to get rid of every single plant
25:15that's brushing against them.
25:16The likes of this Vigelia here, I love this little plant.
25:20As soon as it's finished flowering,
25:22make sure you nibble off these stems that are coming onto the path
25:25and that'll encourage more upright shoots as well.
25:28And the likes of this Decidious Azalea,
25:30just a couple of little trimmings here will just get it back off the path.
25:33Now, it's lovely hearing the crunch of the gravel under my feet,
25:37but as they get older and they start to lose maybe the physical abilities and the skills,
25:42you're maybe looking for more of a flat surface,
25:45one that can even take a wheelchair or a mobility aid.
25:49And when you do that, look for something like a concrete engine,
25:52because that just stops the wheelchair from rolling off into lawns or into flower beds.
25:58Plants for the person living with dementia is so important.
26:02There's an opportunity to reconnect with memories.
26:05And that's why it's so important when you're laying out the garden for the future
26:09to involve them in the decision-making process.
26:11What plants would they like to see growing in their new garden?
26:17Now, I must admit, a wee plot with marigolds, tomatoes, some lettuce, sweet peas,
26:23a wee bit of old fashioned for me.
26:25But actually, for someone living with dementia,
26:28actually may take them back to that time when the front garden used to look like that,
26:32and that's just what we want.
26:34And it's great the sun is out today, it's much needed.
26:37But it's something we need to be careful for,
26:39because the medications, sometimes they can cause sunburn.
26:42So this little patch we've got here is perfect for a pergola,
26:46even a temporary parasol on these days.
26:48But actually, think about the plants.
26:50A well-positioned Japanese maple is just perfect for providing dappled shade.
26:55But try and avoid sort of dense areas where it is going to be dark,
26:59and you would cause that.
27:00Because sometimes it's just a bit too dark, uninviting,
27:03kind of feels out of bounds.
27:08And then think about your plants, their form, their shape,
27:11and how best we can use that to our advantage.
27:14Siberian iris, I love them.
27:16Even when they're finished flowering,
27:18the grassy foliage still gives the garden something.
27:21But when I feel it, it's easily recognisable.
27:25And for those that are visually impaired,
27:27the touch here, the way I can feel it,
27:29helps me know that there's a corner here,
27:31that there's something to navigate.
27:33I can use that plant.
27:34And when I look over there to the hosta,
27:37that contrast in foliage,
27:39the next point that I'm getting to,
27:40the larger leaves, the glaucus colour as well.
27:43And that just helps us differentiate between different points.
27:48So there we go.
27:49There's a few simple tips to help you in the garden,
27:51and we'll be back in a few weeks time with a few more.
28:03Well, that's all from us for this week.
28:06George and Callum are going to be in the garden next week,
28:09and it's going to be all about checking up on the progress so far.
28:11I know they're getting to lift the first early tatties.
28:14They're checking in on the privet hedge,
28:16which was hard pruned last year.
28:18And they're having a wee look at how the club root resistant brassicas are coming along.
28:22Remember, you can watch us.
28:23You can catch up with any programme in the series so far on BBC iPlayer.
28:27But for now, it's bye from us.
28:44Bye.
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