Beechgrove Gardens in Winter 2022 episode 3

Beechgrove Gardens in Winter 2022 episode 3

Beechgrove Gardens in Winter 2022 episode 3: Carole Baxter and Diana Yates are at Beechgrove to demonstrate just what needs to be done for autumn and winter. They show how to plant garlic and take a look at some great species to plant for colourful barks and stems. There is also pruning to be getting on with, with the garden’s buddleia getting some attention, and there is some great advice on caring for heathers.


 

 



 

George Anderson is in his garden pruning hydrangea, and Brian Cunningham is lifting the gladioli he planted earlier in the summer. Plus the usual round-up of handy hints and tips for the week ahead.

Celebrating the great Scottish garden. Tips and advice to get the most out of your garden, with inspirational ideas from Scotland’s most beautiful green spaces. The Beechgrove Garden has been on air since 1978 and remains a firm favourite with audiences in Scotland. It consistently outperforms what is being screened by BBC Network in the same slot. At the heart of the series is a 2.5 acre home garden, situated on a cold, inhospitable slope west of Aberdeen, deliberately chosen to reflect Scotland’s harsher climate.

Horticultural advice in gardening magazines and on UK network gardening programmes is rarely suitable for most of the UK outside the South East of England. Beechgrove shares with its viewers the weekly challenge to work with the Scottish conditions to produce maximum yield of as many varieties as possible of fruit, flowers and vegetables.

 

Beechgrove Gardens in Winter 2022 episode 3

 

How to plant garlic

A member of the onion family, this staple of Mediterranean cooking is simple to grow in a warm sunny site with well-drained soil. It is grown from cloves, which are best planted in late autumn, and is ready to harvest the following summer. Garlic is grown by planting individual cloves of garlic (rather than sowing seeds), usually in autumn – see Plant, below, for full details. Garlic is generally trouble free and needs little maintenance, apart from watering in dry spells, and regular weeding. Also snip off any flower stems that start to form.

There are several types of garlic:

Hardneck garlic varieties produce a stiff stem that grows up through the center of the bulb. Compared to softneck varieties, then tend to have a sharper flavor, with more variation in flavor among the varieties. They’re hardier, too, making them a good choice for regions with very cold winters. Once harvested, the bulbs have a somewhat shorter shelf life than softneck varieties.
Popular hardneck varieties: “Music”, “German Red”, “Chesnok Red”

Softneck garlic varieties don’t produce a stiff central stem. This list the type of garlic you’ll find at most supermarkets. It has a relatively mild flavor. Softneck garlic is the best choice for regions with mild winters, and it’s the type to grow if you want to make garlic braids.
Popular softneck varieties: “Inchelium Red”, “California Whiite Early”

Elephant garlic resembles a giant head of garlic and, indeed, it does belong to the same genus, Allium. However, it isn’t a “true” garlic but rather is more closely related to the leek.

Garlic does best in full sun, so select a planting site that receives 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day. A couple weeks or so before planting, prepare the soil by mixing in a healthy helping of compost or aged manure.

If your garden soil is poorly draining or high in clay, garlic grower Robin Jarry of Hope, Maine, suggests growing in heavily mulched raised beds instead. “I plant in raised beds for good drainage, and then mulch with about 6 inches of old hay after the ground freezes. I never water my garlic—I like low-maintenance vegetables!” Raised beds should be 2 to 3 feet wide and at least 10 to 12 inches deep.

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