
BBC Scotland Flagship gardening programme Beechgrove returned to our screens for the 2023 gardening season on Thursday 06 April 2023 in Scotland and on BBC2 on Friday 07 April 2023.
Beechgrove is also available on the BBC iplayer as well as being repeated on the Sunday morning Gardening slot on BBC2.
Returning for its 45th year the series will run for 26 programmes and the episodes are 30 minutes long.
The 2023 line up of presenters returning include the longest serving presenter Carole Baxter who is celebrating her 40th year in the Garden as well as George Anderson, Brian Cunningham, Kirsty Wilson and Calum Clunie.

The new presenter Diana Yates who started on the programme as a Beechgrower in 2021 from her garden in West Linton on the Scottish Borders and showed us the therapeutic side to gardening as well as her vegetable garden.
Diana returned in Beechgrove 2022 as a guest presenter, then in Beechgrove Gardens in Winter as a presenter before joining the main show in 2023.

Another familiar face joining the Presenting team is Lizzie Schofield who has featured on previous episodes as a Remote mini Presenter on Beechgrove 2022 and makes her first appearance as a presenter in Episode 3 on 20 April 2023.
Lizzie garden is in Buckie Moray Firth and she is an Ambassador for the Scotland Garden Scheme.
Also returning this year are Remote Mini Presenters Erin and Joe Armstrong from their garden in East Lothian.
The Father and Daughter duo will share with us the progress of the work they started last year as well as new projects on their plot.
Not returning this year as Head Gardener is Mairi Rattray who has left and been replaced by New Head Gardener Scott Smith.

He was previously a Head Gardener for National Trust Scotland as well as having a weekly Gardening Column.
Will the Beechgrowers be back this year? Last year they were not shown as much as the first group of Beechgrowers and were not very popular with the viewers.
For this season they have been asking for gardens to visit so every week they are visiting a garden with the owners giving us a tour.

As well as wondering if there are to be any changes to the format, we all hope the firm favourites like the plant and seed trials and Tattie competitions remain.
New for this year is them going back to basics and showing how to grow from beginners upwards masterclass, as well as a handy tip section.
They also plan to show more wildlife friendly ideas for the garden with James Silvey from RSPB.

Looking forward to seeing George in sunny Joppa, Brian in Scone, Calum on his allotment in Leven, Kirsty with her houseplants and hopefully Diana & Lizzie from their gardens.
We also have to see if there are any changes in the Beechgrove Garden with the New Head Gardener.

The return of Beechgrove is a very welcome time for Gardeners as we are spoilt with an abundance of Gardening Programmes to both inspire and inform us of what we should be doing in our own gardens.
Whether you have acres of garden, a patio or just indoor space there is always something for everyone with the varied Gardening Experts on Beechgrove.
Happy Gardening and get those tatties ready!
Beechgrove Presenters
Garden Team
Scott Smith
Claire Howard
Elien Groot
Lucinda McClintock

Episode 1 Thursday 06 April 2023
Presenters
Scott Smith
Guest
James Silvey RSPB Scotland
Episode 2 Thursday 13 April 2023
Presenters
Garden Visit
Carolyn & David McHale
Episode 3 Thursday 20 April 2023
Presenters
Scott Smith
Remote Mini Presenters
Erin & Joe Armstrong
Garden Visit
Frank Kirwan
Episode 4 Thursday 27 April 2023
Presenters
Garden Visit
Jack Pocock
Head Gardener
Scott Smith
Garden visit
Efi Papagianni
Allotment in Dundee
Episode 6 Thursday 11 May 2023
Presenters
Garden Visit
Rachel & Ian New build makeover in Moray
Scott Smith
Episode 9 Thursday 01 June 2023
Presenters
Scott Smith
Leanne Marongwe
Garden Visit
Richard Walker Head Gardener
All Photographs copyright of BBC.com
I shall miss Mairi Rattray. Very gentle, knowledgeable and polite. Obviously not suitable for modern brashness. A great loss.
ReplyDeleteMairi departed in order to retrain as a nurse. It is something she's always wanted to do. Hopefully dispells any untrue rumours!
ReplyDelete