Edinburgh Napier University

Fourth year English student Lucy Dalgleish will take to the small screen this week as a contributor to BBC Scotland’s Beechgrove (formerly The Beechgrove Garden). 

Lucy will be part of a range of episodes in the latest series, looking at topics such as growing on a budget, small space growing and vertical growing.

Lucy was first featured on the show in 2019 after starting to document her home gardening journey from her own flat balcony on Instagram.

Last year, as the pandemic struck, she was given the opportunity to contribute three segments for the show which was partly filmed by herself and also with support from her partner, Stuart.

And now, this year, she’s back for more as she looks to pass on hints and tips for home growing, alongside encouraging the younger generation to take an interest in all things green.

Her first segment is scheduled to air this Thursday (22 April) from 8pm on the BBC Scotland channel.

She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Beechgrove again this series and I can’t wait for my segments to be on television – I really hope people enjoy them!

“During lockdown, we’ve seen the growth of a big online community of home gardeners and allotmenteers looking for hints and tips on growing produce at home and turning spaces – often small and underused – into areas for growing. My content regularly looks at these areas so I’m thrilled to be bringing it to a TV audience through Beechgrove.

“I’m a huge advocate for giving gardening and growing a go – no matter what your age may be or what space you have at your disposal. You learn as you go and there are now so many resources out there to help you along the way. And it’s obviously great for the environment too!”

Alongside studying for her English degree at Edinburgh Napier and completing her dissertation, Lucy also writes for Scotland Grows magazine.

She also produces weekly videos for her Lucy Bloom YouTube channel as she eyes a career in gardening communications in the future.

She added: “Having a young, Scottish female voice in gardening is something that is very important to me. The more Scottish-specific advice that we can provide the better. Our environment and conditions for growing are very different to those across the border so some of the advice that we see on other TV shows on aspects like planting times might not actually be suitable for many in this country.

“My YouTube channel is a lot of work but I love doing it. My most-watched video has more than 12,000 views so I’m delighted there’s a demand out there for hints and tip on eco-friendly ways to grow!