Beechgrove Garden presenter Jim McColl dies aged 89 as BBC lead tributes
The former presenter of the popular Beechgrove Garden programme Jim McColl has died at the age of 89.
He hosted the dedicated gardening programme on BBC Scotland since it was first aired back in 1978, before retiring in 2019 after spending 41 years on screen.
The show became a huge hit with gardeners across the country, with the original garden that Jim tended and managed throughout the decades having been based at BBC's Aberdeen headquarters on Beechgrove Terrace.
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The 88-year-old, originally from Kilmarnock, passed away peacefully at his home on Tuesday.
The McColl family said in a statement: "It’s with a heavy heart we share the passing of Jim McColl, husband, dad and grandad who passed peacefully yesterday.
"He will be hugely missed not only by us but by his friends, colleagues and a nation who he shared his passion for gardening with over four decades at The Beechgrove Garden."
BBC Scotland's acting director Geraldine McCartney paid tribute to McColl: "His expert gardening advice and wisdom on The Beechgrove Garden was invaluable to green-fingered viewers over the decades and he will be greatly missed by all.
"Loved by viewers across the nation, he’ll be especially missed in the North East, where he was a much-cherished part of the BBC Scotland and Tern TV teams for many years. Our thoughts are with Jim’s family, friends and colleagues."
Harry Bell, managing director of Tern TV who produced the programme, added: "Here’s to 'our' lovely Jim, who for four decades presented The Beechgrove Garden for us with a spring in his step, a twinkle in his eye and a kind word for all folk.
"You’ll be fair missed, Jim. You were a local hero first and a Scottish national treasure next. Thank you for your immense contribution to gardening, broadcasting and steering so many of us on life’s muddy paths."
Jim had largely been at the helm of The Beechgrove Garden since it began in 1978, when he presented the show from BBC Scotland’s Aberdeen base alongside George Barron.
He trained and worked at the West of Scotland College near Ayr, and after a spell down south working as a gardening adviser in Reading, he moved to Aberdeenshire.
There he worked on a ground-breaking project - which was featured on Tomorrow’s World - for the Glen Garioch distillery in Oldmeldrum to use waste energy from cooling the whisky to heat glasshouses full of tomatoes.
The Beechgrove Garden idea came about from the Radio Scotland series The Scottish Garden, and soon his catchphrase "Every day’s a school day" became familiar to viewers.
BBC Scotland will mark his passing by running a repeat of Jim McColl at 80 on November 4 - which was first broadcast in 2015 to mark his milestone birthday.