With snowdrops flowering before Christmas and daffodils out in January, spring seems to have come early to Scotland. How quickly we forget the destruction of the gales in December. December 8th saw a record-breaking gust of 165 mph on Cairngorm summit. The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh are still reeling from the destruction that the gales left in their wake, meanwhile Cathedral Grove next to Dunkeld Cathedral lost many of its precious veteran trees.

The Beechgrove Garden is calm now and full of sprightly spring bulbs, but has had its fair share of damage. In this first programme of the 34th series, Jim McColl, Carole Baxter, George Anderson and Carolyn Spray are assessing the winter damage and the unaccustomed spring warmth's effect on the garden. Then it's time to don the gardening gloves and get gardening again.

Carole and Jim have been in Beechgrove throughout the winter and we uniquely begin with a glimpse of winter and winter work in the garden, from taking hardwood cuttings to forcing bulbs for early spring showing. Jim and Carole then follow on the tasks that they started in the winter. Jim very excitedly unveils the new propagation greenhouse at Beechgrove.

Jim has also been to visit Inverness Floral Hall and Gardens, who are hoping to become a 'Botanic Garden' this year under the influence of new head gardener Sarah Speakman. Jim finds out what it means to the garden and to Inverness to have this title and is impressed by the stunning temperate and tropical displays in this gem of a garden.

In the Beechgrove Garden, everyone is looking for an inside job as the garden is covered in an unexpected blanket of six inches of snow. Jim takes cover in the propagation house to prick out his brassica seedlings while George is putting in the work inside the fruit house to optimise the Beechgrove fruit production this year.

Lesley tackles another common garden design challenge and shares her 'Off the Peg' design solutions, this time for front gardens. Lesley 'clothes' a square blank canvas of gravel front garden to create something both pretty and practical that gives us all more than a little kerb appeal.

After George's runaway (almost) success with growing veg for showing last year, he is having another go. He and Lesley are starting off growing 'sweet candle' and 'purple haze' carrots that George hopes to end up with award-winning dimensions.

George is also visiting the fascinating Linn Botanic Garden Cove by Helensburgh, which contains extensive collections of temperate plants. Notable is the fern collection as well as carpets of wild garlic and bluebells in the wooded areas, and a bamboo garden with some three dozen species from four continents. It's a relatively small garden and despite being ravaged by three winter storms where 40 trees toppled, George finds that the garden is spectacular at this time of the year.