Beechgrove Garden - 2010 - Episode 5

In the Beechgrove Garden it's finally warming up and that's good news, mostly, but what it also means that the garden pests are on the prowl. Jim tests out what claims to be a catch-all new biological control that will hit a huge range of garden pests (without chemicals) that might otherwise destroy all the hard work in the veggie plot. We don't have the dreaded club root in Beechgrove, but many people (and their brassicas) suffer badly with it. One of those is our own George, and the poor man has it in both his garden and his allotment. Carole visits George in both to try out a few methods of control, and we follow him through the season to see what works and what doesn't. Not everyone has a big garden to grow in. Lesley is using her wee Tuscan Feast garden as a backdrop to her theme for this year - a year in containers. Lesley is growing a mix of pretty and productive crops, all in containers, to delight the eye and the palate in a very tight space. Jim visits Alison Goldie and Mark Hutson, who have a tiny back garden at 600ft up in the hills near Noranside. This wee gem of a cottage garden is packed full with rare and unusual plants. It comprises various 'rooms', containing a myriad of plants from potted herbs, spring bulbs and alpines in a raised bed, to a jungle with a range of bamboos. They also boast an incredible 500 different varieties of pretty primulas.