2026 Season 48

The days are longer and the weather is a little warmer, so that means Beechgrove Garden is back with weekly updates and expert advice for gardeners of all abilities and experience. Carole Baxter and Brian Cunningham are back at Beechgrove to kick off the season with a range of great jobs that can be done right now and that will make your own plot both productive and attractive. It's Easter weekend, one of the most popular times of the year to get out into the garden, so Carole is planting up an Easter container that will bring colour and joy to your garden, deck or doorstep for weeks to come.

Beechgrove Garden is looking ahead to summer days in the garden, with Lizzie Schofield back to work in the sitooterie area she started off last year as a place ideal for sitting out and enjoying the garden. This week, she prunes and plants in the same area to get it looking great for the good days ahead. Brian Cunningham is back to basics with a beginners' guide to starting off a productive veg plot with some spring sowing, and he also looks at what makes a great homemade compost. Lizzie takes on the tomato plants this year at Beechgrove, and she is looking at what varieties she has picked for 2026. She is also the first of the team to start work on her competition garden, which is based on planting that appeals to one of the senses.

Calum Clunie kicks off his season at Beechgrove, demonstrating what can be grown from a container in just one season. He also starts a season of productive gardening, showing what can be produced for a family of four from a medium-sized vegetable garden. Meanwhile, as summer approaches, Brian is looking at how to keep lawns looking great and tackling a patio space around Beechgrove’s chiminea corner. There is a visit to a great new allotment in Perth, and there are all the usual handy hints.

There is a lot of productive gardening going on at Beechgrove as George Anderson and Ruth Vichos both work on projects that will bear fruit later in the year. Ruth is focusing on growing for those with a small space, returning to the vertical garden that she started last year. Vertical gardening uses structures that allow plants to be stacked upwards - ideal for anyone with just a small plot or patio. She also shows how this method can still be very productive.

There is lots of planting for the plate at Beechgrove Garden as Kirsty Wilson and Brian Cunningham start growing a wide variety of edible produce. Kirsty is the first of the Beechgrove team to kick off work on her competition plot. Each presenter has been given a sense to appeal to in each of their competition borders, and Kirsty is planting things that will taste fantastic. She is also trying something new to Beechgrove: hops.

Planting borders and planning for cut flowers are on Lizzie Schofield and Brian Cunningham’s to-do list at Beechgrove Garden. Lizzie is direct sowing in the new cuttings garden, and Brian is in the zig-zag border planting varieties that will grow tall, making them ideal for the back of a plot without requiring support or staking. Brian kicks off this year’s collection of plants being cultivated in the 6x8 glasshouse. This is the most common-sized domestic greenhouse, so if you are lucky enough to have one, Brian has some great ideas for this season.

It's time for some early summer colour as Carole Baxter makes the first of her visits to classic Scottish gardens. She visits Glenarn, which has a fabulous collection of rhododendrons looking their best right now. Back at Beechgrove Garden, George Anderson and Calum Clunie are busy refreshing the grass and gravel plot and planting new varieties. Calum demonstrates how to take cuttings from a fuchsia, and there are some ideas on how to manage your plot if you are unlucky enough to have club root in your vegetable patch. And there are all the usual handy hints.

Kirsty Wilson and Brian Cuningham show how to help the pollinators in your garden and at Beechgrove as they focus on planting that will attract bees to your plot. Even if you don’t have a garden, Kirsty demonstrates how you can help the local ecosystem by sowing a meadow in a pot. She also discusses the best summer bulbs to plant now for fragrance and colour. Brian is back in the vegetable plot for his summer-long guide to productive gardening for beginners, and there is a demonstration of how to prune spring-flowering shrubs. All that and the week’s handy hints.

Some more unusual growing methods are demonstrated at Beechgrove Garden, with Ruth Vichos and Brian Cunningham attempting to produce a mushroom crop using a kit, and there is a report on some of Scotland’s best bonsai. Brian and Ruth are in the Seaside Garden at Beechgrove to refresh the planting with varieties that can withstand a coastal climate, and Brian turns conifers into sculptures with topiary. Ruth is in her vertical garden, ideal for anyone with limited space.

Sound advice for everyday gardening from Brian Cunningham and Calum Clunie at Beechgrove. Calum is planting up hanging baskets, a great way to decorate a doorstep or shed, and talks about his favourite bedding plants to get planted right now. Brian demonstrates the best way to tackle a border that has gotten out of control and what you should be doing with some of your rhododendrons at this time of year. Calum is busy in his family plot at Beechgrove as he shows just what can be done in an average-sized garden, and also in his competition plot, where he has been challenged to cultivate a border full of scent. There is a report from one of the show’s regular contributors and their allotment in Perth, along with all the week’s handy hints.

George Anderson and Ruth Vichos are back in the Beechgrove Garden just outside Aberdeen, where the climate has been very mixed over the last few weeks. They assess just how that has affected the crops and blooms. George is in the fruit cage checking for pests and also prunes the Beechgrove fig. Ruth is in her vertical plot, ideal for anyone with a small garden or little space to grow, where she plants a perennial that will give a crop year after year. George plants beans, and there’s a visit to Colin Crosbie’s plot near Dumfries, where he is moving hostas and pruning pulmonaria. There’s also a lifting of the first tatties of the year, grown in a container and kept indoors to produce an early crop.

Beechgrove Garden is full of information for gardeners across the country who have to cope with the colder climates of the UK. Beechgrove has had some cold nights even recently, but now it looks like it’s safe to plant out those tender varieties, so Lizzie Schofield and Brian Cunningham are finally putting in the ground varieties that wouldn't survive a frost. In a warmer environment, Lizzie is checking on her tomatoes, and this year she is comparing hybrid and heritage varieties, with both needing some attention right now to maximise their productivity. Brian is in the Accessible Garden looking at recent changes that will make the plot easier to move around and work in for anyone with mobility problems. There is also a trip to Leven to catch up with Calum in his allotment, and there are all the usual handy hints.

Kirsty plants meconopsis, and Brian is in the 6x8 greenhouse looking at what you can do if you have this standard-sized glasshouse. Also, a visit to a great community garden in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow that is used and enjoyed by a range of groups in the local community, and handy hints. Kirsty and Brian start a new feature that gives 'everything you need to know' plant profiles on some of the country’s most popular garden varieties - from growing patterns and soil preference to pruning plans. Throughout the series are fact files on some of the plants most often found in viewers' plots.

Lizzie Schofield and Brian Cunningham are starting new projects and checking on the progress of planting carried out in previous years. Lizzie is in her herb garden, which she renovated in 2024, assessing what has worked and what needs to be refreshed. Meanwhile, Brian is checking on the apple trees he planted in the spring as examples of espalier shaping and pruning. Lizzie begin plans in the garden for cut flowers that will give her foliage alongside the blooms already beginning to take shape, and Brian is planting more perennials in the terraced patio area. There are all the usual handy hints, as well as a look at what plants are good for attracting birds to your plot.

George Anderson and Calum Clunie are back together to tackle the week’s jobs at Beechgrove Garden. Although George got a special picking of potatoes for his birthday in June, this is the time to lift the first crop from the vegetable plot and try out this year’s produce. Calum and George check on the brassicas that were planted in the club root-infected bed, testing varieties that are said to be resistant to the infection. George is back to work on the privet hedge that was given a severe pruning last year to encourage thicker growth, Calum gets round to placing plants known for their fragrance in his competition bed, and there are the week’s handy hints.

The weather in this year’s growing season is making gardening a real challenge at Beechgrove, with cold grey skies and periods of high temperature giving Ruth Vichos and Brian Cunningham plenty to deal with. Ruth is in her vertical garden, where she has strawberries, blossoms and various climbing varieties all demonstrating what you can produce if you are short of space, using stacking systems and plants that will follow vertical surfaces. Brian reviews the wildflower beds he sowed in April, which will become a great resource for pollinators and the rest of the garden’s ecosystem. Brian and Ruth look at the diseases and pests that might be attacking your garden favourites right now and what to do about them. There is a visit to a great garden in East Lothian, and all the week’s handy hints.

It's all about the borders at Beechgrove Garden as Brian Cunningham and Kirsty Wilson replant, fill gaps and replace losses all around the plot. Kirsty revisits her hot border, designed to display vibrant colours at the height of summer. The winter temperatures killed off a few plants, so she will be trying out some alternatives. Brian is in the calendar border, created to have some form of colour or interest every month of the year. It has not had much attention this year, so Brian will be topping it up to ensure year-round performance. Kirsty will also be planting in the border behind Beechgrove's main pond, where other gaps have appeared, and she is building a new structure to create a habitat for pollinators. There is a trip to visit a great garden on the Cowal Peninsula, and all the week's handy hints.

Gardening is all about looking ahead, and in that spirit, the Beechgrove Garden team are planning for winter. Ruth Vichos demonstrates how to cultivate and multiply snowdrops, and Calum Clunie collects seeds from this year’s lupins to sow for future colour. Calum also gets his feet wet as he looks at what you should be doing about pond maintenance right now. Ruth is in her strawberry bed discussing how you should be getting the most from your crop, and she also profiles some the country’s favourite garden plants in her competition plot. There is a visit to a fabulous garden in Orkney, along with all the week’s handy hints.

Brian Cunningham’s beginner’s guide to vegetable growing started in April, and now it’s time to reap the rewards as he starts to harvest from the veg plot at Beechgrove Garden. Calum Clunie sows for winter crops as he starts the sowing cycle again on his family-sized plo. He also refreshes the containers he started in April as a demonstration of just what you can do if space is limited and you only room for some pots. Brian and Calum tackle Beechgrove’s hedges after checking carefully for bird nest activity, and Brian advises on caring for common houseplants. There is a visit to St Andrews Botanic Garden, along with the week’s handy hints.

George Anderson and Brian Cunningham delve into the mail box to tackle a host of viewers’ questions sent in from around the country. Even though we are well into the growing season, the pair also start a major new project as they launch a makeover of a Beechgrove area known as the Crooked Garden. One of the first parts of that revamp is the creation of a stumpery, a growing technique based on an old tree and planted with a range of ferns. George has details on how to feed a cherry tree, Brian is back in the 8x6 greenhouse, and there is a visit to St Andrews Botanic Garden.

There are many ways to develop a fantastic garden while keeping costs down, and one of the most obvious ways is by taking cuttings from the plants you already have. With that in mind, Brian Cunningham and Kirsty Wilson look at how to do so with various garden favourites - Brian with rhododendrons, and Kirsty with a range of tender perennials. Tender means they are vulnerable in the winter, so taking cuttings is also a great way of ensuring you have plants come the spring. Brian revisits his espaliered apple trees for more essential maintenance, and Kirsty sows hollyhocks for that cottage garden favourite next year. Kirsty also pays a visit to the new glasshouses at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and there are all the usual weekly handy hints

There is a taste test at Beechgrove Garden as Lizzie Schofield picks the first of this year's tomatoes to find out whether there really is a difference between the modern F1 and heirloom varieties. Lizzie is also back in the sitooterie, where she is planting and tying in the rose she started off earlier in the year. The cut flower bed is looking at its best, so there is even a spot of flower arranging. Brian Cunningham is back in the Beechgrove plot that he has been adapting to illustrate how to make a garden more accessible for those with dementia, and he also looks at planting options for one of the hardest conditions in a garden to cultivate - dry shade. There is a visit to a garden in Orkney, along with all the weekly handy hints.

With the days getting shorter, and the nights cooler, George Anderson and Calum Clunie review some of the Beechgrove planting projects they started in the spring. A new addition was Calum’s family plot, based on the standard garden size of a new build property, and Calum returns to the plot to harvest and assess just how productive the area has been. George and Calum are in the trials bed to compare how the various club root-resistant varieties of brassica have performed after the infection was found in this area of the garden. The pair also visit the grass garden that was completely overhauled and replanted at the start of the series. There are visits to Jenna McDonald at her allotment in Perth and Colin Crosbie’s plot just outside Dumfries, and there are all the usual weekly handy hints.

As autumn approaches, it’s time to look at the seasons to come. Brian Cunningham launches an experiment to compare the performance of something planted now with the same variety held over and not planted until spring. Ruth Vichos looks back at two of the projects she has been overseeing this summer - her vertical garden, which is ideal for those who don’t have much space to grow, and the strawberry bed that was started three years ago by Carole Baxter, and which now needs to be refreshed. Brian also looks at end-of-summer lawn care after months of mixed conditions, though it has not been as dry at Beechgrove as elsewhere in the country. There is a final visit to Colin Crosbie’s plot just outside Dumfries, and we find out if Jenna McDonald, who was growing flowers on her Perth allotment for her own wedding, has been successful.

Dealing with the changing seasons and Scotland’s weather is a recurring theme with Beechgrove Garden’s horticultural advice. Brian Cunningham looks at which trees you can plant that will cope with wet conditions, and he also looks at what varieties you should be bringing indoors for protection as the nights get colder. Kirsty Wilson plans for the spring with advice on tulips and other bulbs, and she also has a detailed breakdown of everything you need to know about the care and cultivation of some favourite garden varieties. Carole Baxter is back with another one of her visits to a great Scottish garden, and this week she visits a plot in Wester Ross. Kirsty checks on the hops she planted in early summer, and there are the usual weekly handy hints.

The whole team are at Beechgrove Garden to mark the very last episode of 2026 and the end of the summer growing season. Although the series is almost over, there Is always gardening work to be done and enjoy, so every presenter has a tip, a task or a handy hint that can be done going into the autumn and winter. There’s a review of how the garden has coped with the changeable summer weather of this year, from very dry conditions to occasional heavy showers, and of course, George Anderson has the secateurs out for some seasonal pruning. As it’s the last episode, there Is also some judging to be done as Carole Baxter reviews the presenter plots - each planted to appeal to one of the senses - and picks a winner.