Season 40

2018 marks the Beechgrove Garden's ruby anniversary. This week there are sweet signs of spring as Jim, Carole, George and Chris are surrounded by April's peach and cherry blossom. George revisits Sheila Harper's ancient apple trees in Banchory. After a severe prune last year, George returns with slightly less sharp secateurs to show how to deal with the old trees this year. Carole visits Rosie Nixon in Perth. Rosie is a passionate wildlife gardener and photographer who creatively uses her all-seasons organic garden as her own green studio. Throughout the 2018 series, Jim and Carole will be digging in the abundant Beechgrove archive to root out hints and tips from the last 40 years.

Jim and Carole celebrate Beechgrove's ruby anniversary in true Beechgrove style as it's tattie time. Both Jim and Carole are planting a range of ruby or red potatoes, and they also dig up an archive tattie tip from the late George Barron. Brian is back in Beechgrove revisiting his alpine garden and reviews the winter damage, as well as doing a bit of weeding and feeding. Last year Carole met almost-nonagenarian garden hero Sandy Inkster in his immaculate and award-winning Cults garden. Carole will visit Sandy several times throughout the 2018 series but this time meets him on his allotment on the south side of Aberdeen. Chris is adding to the rose garden at Beechgrove. Roses and clematis are a classic combination but you do have to choose carefully, Chris explains, as they have to be able to be pruned at the same time.

Jim is planting with Beechgrove's ruby anniversary in mind, sowing red veg from beetroot 'Bulls Blood', courgette 'Midnight' and lettuce 'Moonred' to spinach 'Red Kitten' and spicy mustard 'Red Giant'. Last year Jim began an observation choosing a range of trees for small gardens. This year he is adding to that with a range of fastigiate trees, which are perfect for a small garden as they don't create much shade and have a small footprint. And Brian, who is used to modest swathes of daffodils at Scone Palace, visits Grampian Growers near Montrose to find out how six million bunches of daffodils find their way from the fields of Angus to neat bunches ready to buy

In the Beechgrove Garden, after the success of the no-dig observation of last year, Jim is extending the trial into the polytunnel, comparing conventionally grown vegetables with easy-grow no-dig vegetable plots. Brian is in Armadale, helping Lesley Welsh and her two children to create a bespoke vegetable plot for the family. Lesley wants the children to be able to easily grow their own and take their own home-grown produce from fork to fork.Brian is also in Tranent, visiting Wattie Russell. Wattie was nominated as one of Scotland's Garden Heroes, and Brian visits to see why. Wattie's inspirational, but tightly packed, garden in Tranent is full of spring beauties with around 500 different pots of colour.

In the Beechgrove Garden, it's tomato time as Jim is growing a range of viewers' recommended favourite tomato varieties, using viewers' best methods for growing them.Carole visits young farmers James Reid and Rosa Bevan near Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, to see how they use permaculture techniques to grow veg in the most environmentally friendly way possible. And Carole is also in Garelochhead to take in the annual Scottish Rhododendron Society show, where she sees competitors showing off the best blooms from the vast range of vibrant varieties.

Carole and the garden team are in their waders while Jim supervises annual work on ponds of all sizes at Beechgrove. Salvia expert Brian Young joins salvia fanatic Jim in Beechgrove to salivate over salvias. George visits North Berwick in Bloom to see what they and the local school are intending to create for their entry to the popular and hotly contested Pallet Garden competition held at the upcoming Gardening Scotland Show.

It's time to get all the bedding plants in this week, and to celebrate Beechgrove's 40th anniversary the summer bedding scheme is all colours of ruby. Brian Cunningham is back at Beechgrove having a look at how the alternative plants to dwarf box have fared over the winter, and he fills the gaps in between these shrubs with a range of colourful annuals. Menawhile, Carole visits old friend Ian Christie in Kirriemuir to find out how he is getting on as he makes his preparations to exhibit alpines at Gardening Scotland in June.

t is a Beechgrove rhododendron special, with Jim and George answering some classic questions about rhododendrons and revamping the main rhododendron border now that it has finished flowering.Meanwhile, Carole visits Harry Nicol's garden in Inverness. Harry's recently renovated garden boasts a riot of rhododendrons all flowering their socks off and proving that you don't have to be on the west coast to grow rhododendrons.Carole is also at Garthdee Allotments on the outskirts of Aberdeen, revisiting 'garden hero', Sandy Inkster. Sandy is a mine of allotment handy hints and is harvesting early polytunnel-grown potatoes.

The whole Beechgrove team are on the road to the Fair City of Perth.Invited by the 'Beautiful Perth' volunteers, Jim, Carole, George and Brian find out exactly how the city earns that title horticulturally as they visit some of the city's best-kept gardens, including the unique and culturally diverse Moncrieff Allotments that are situated on Moncrieff Island in the middle of the Tay and only accessible by vehicles at low tide.Jim, Carole, George and Brian then host a Beechgrove Gardener's Question Time in the recently renovated Perth Theatre.

After being awarded both the coveted Chelsea 'Best in Show' and gold medal, Chris is back to Beechgrove to tend to the rose garden. Meanwhile, Jim reviews the progress of his previously sickly houseplant collection. Brian is creating a new natural feature to ebb and flow by Beechgrove's waterfall using lady's slipper orchids, which look exotic but turn out to be surprisingly easy to grow. Carole visits Richard and Ellen Firman's wonderful, wildlife-friendly woodland garden near Ellon, Aberdeenshire, to marvel at their hosta collection

Jim and Carole have butter and cream on standby in the hopes that there might be some early potatoes and strawberries ready to harvest. Meanwhile, Chris takes on a shady location by the pond at Beechgrove to create a new large shrub and clematis border.

Jim, Carole and George take stock of what has happened in the Beechgrove Garden. The sweet peas have scrambled up the nets and are in full, fragrant flower, strawberries and cherries are being harvested in abundance, and the tomatoes are ripening and reddening. Carole visits Tap o'Noth, an extraordinary organic market garden at the base of an Aberdeenshire hill, to taste what's on the menu for the early harvest. And Jim visits Dairsie in Fife to see how 12-year-old Fraser White won the Royal Horticultural Society's coveted Young Gardener of the Year award for 2017. Salvia expert Brian Young joins salvia fanatic Jim in Beechgrove to salivate over salvias. George visits North Berwick in Bloom to see what they and the local school are intending to create for their entry to the popular and hotly contested Pallet Garden competition held at the upcoming Gardening Scotland Show.

In the Beechgrove Garden, Jim and Carole take the fortieth anniversary celebrations to a whole new level as they unearth the harvest of ruby-coloured potatoes planted 13 weeks ago. George and Carole revamp the rhododendron border at Beechgrove, and they show how to 'air-layer' a big shrub, and how to lift the crown of a small tree to ease congestion in the border. Jim meets Dundee's community allotment officer Kate Treharne. Kate takes Jim to visit two vibrant community gardens which prove that gardening is good for us on every level.

Tomatoes are Scotland's favourite fruit to grow at home, and this week in the Beechgrove Garden, George and Carole taste-test a range of tumbling toms. George is in Lockerbie with Sue and Barrie Walters, who recently moved into their arts and crafts home. The garden is sadly overgrown, and Sue would like help to tame it but keep it true to the arts and crafts style. Carole turns a negative into a positive as she takes a look around the garden to see what's thriving through drought conditions.

The Beechgrove team is on the road to Dumfries, where Jim, George and Chris discover the origins of horticultural therapy. They also take in the extraordinary rock garden on the Crichton Estate, which was designed and built in the 1920s, as well as visiting a tiny but packed bedding plant garden in nearby Collin. Jim, George and Chris also host a Beechgrove Gardener's Question Time in Dumfries's magnificent Easterbrooke Hall and answer as many questions from the good gardeners of Dumfries as they can

The ideal for all gardeners is to have year-round colour in the garden. Carole talks to Martin Barker from Aberdeen University School of Biological Sciences about the science of colour, finding out how and why plants are the colour that they are and how plant colour affects us. Meanwhile, the harvest continues, and Jim's big beef tomatoes are bearing heavy fruit. Colin and Catherine Lockhart in Carnoustie are no longer able to keep their garden the way that they would like, so Brian steps in to make their garden low-maintenance and wheelchair-friendly while still having year-round colour. One of Jim's favourite phrases is 'every day is a school day' and he is always trying to find the ideal tomato-growing system. With that quest in mind, Jim visits retired engineer Steve Engel in Fettercairn. Jim learns how Steve has engineered a homemade invention that keeps his precious tomato crop at the optimum temperature day and night while producing an extraordinary and impressive yield.

Jim is dreaming of jam tomorrow as he harvests plums and blueberries, while Brian assesses the success, or otherwise, of the ruby-themed annuals that he planted in between his box-hedging trial. Meanwhile, Carole mentions the C word as it's already time to force bulbs for a Christmas display, Chris creates a new white garden at Beechgrove, and we learn how white plants in a garden can change perspectives and enhance moods.

Lawns have taken a bit of a hammering this summer between drought and deluges and Beechgrove's lawns are no exception, so Jim gives some timely tips on autumn lawn care. George continues to revamp the Woodland Garden at Beechgrove by lifting the canopies of mature trees to provide new planting pockets below. George also visits Andrew Skea's family farm near Dundee. Andrew has been supplying gardeners with a range of unusual and specialist seed tatties and is also working on developing the perfect multicoloured crisp.

The UK Centre for Economics and Business Research recently reported that the price of fresh produce is set to increase dramatically. Part of the answer is of course to grow your own. Jim shows how we can do that year round as he lifts and stores this year's Beechgrove harvest, before preparing new produce for autumn sowing so we can eat our way economically right through to next year. Beechgrove Garden hero and nonagenarian Sandy Inkster also understands how to keep the fresh veg on the table throughout the year and this week, Carole revisits Sandy at his Garthdee allotment in Aberdeen to see what Sandy has reaped and what he's also sowing for next year.

The Beechgrove team are on the road to Callander, the scenic gateway to the Trossachs. George and Carole visit Greener Callander's colourful community initiatives as well as discovering some hidden gems of gardens right in the middle of the town. Jim, Carole, George and Brian tee-off with a Beechgrove Gardener's Question Time held in the picturesque surroundings of Callander Golf Club, as they try and answer as many questions as they can from the gardeners of the surrounding area.

Expert grower and shower of flowering bulbs George demonstrates the steps to creating a spring display of potted hyacinths with show-bench style. Meanwhile, Jim assesses the mini fruit plot, where there is a harvest even in the tiniest of spaces. Carole visits Glenkyllachy Garden near Tomatin, Strathdearn. This Highland glen garden is renowned for its spectacular autumn colours framing views to the River Findhorn.

Beechgrove Garden looks ahead to spring, with Carole planting a bedding scheme based on the spokes of a colour wheel. Jim and George start the process of battening down the hatches for winter and prepare plants against the weather to come, while Carole visits Attadale Gardens in Lochcarron, Rosshire. Although the garden dates back to Victorian times, Attadale owners Nicky and Ewen Macpherson have recently added contemporary features of particular interest to fern fanatic Carole - a sunken fern garden in a geodesic dome

In the penultimate programme of the series, Jim is cropping kale and looking forward to red brussels sprouts for Christmas, while Carole continues the succession by planting hardy garlic to crop early next year. Chris attempts to spread the colour interest in the rose garden by underplanting with some more unusual bulbs. Meanwhile, Carole makes her last visit of the year to Tap o' Noth permaculture farm near Rhynie to see the last of the harvest and takes a look at the worm farm. George visits the magnificent Dawyck Botanic Gardens near Peebles to see the garden's autumn show and is taken on a fungi foray through the woodlands.

In the final programme of the Beechgrove 40th anniversary series, Jim and George batten down the hatches and prepare plants for winter. Brian gives the alpine garden an autumn clean and adds some new tiny bulbs to the miniature alpine landscape. Chris makes the most of the season by showing how to have plants for free for next year. With Halloween approaching, George visits a spookily good pumpkin farm at Arnprior, and he tries his hand at some terrifying chainsaw pumpkin-carving.