|
|
Born
in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Jim McColl did his formal
horticultural training at the West of Scotland
Agricultural College.
|
| On completion of his
course, Jim took up employment with the college. There
followed posts with the University of Reading,
Shropshire LEA and the National Agricultural Advisory
Service. He returned to Scotland in the autumn of
1973 to join the North of Scotland College of
Agriculture as a horticulture adviser. In 1974 he
also took charge of the Horticultural R&D Unit at
Craibstone. |
| In 1978, Jim joined
Stanley P. Morrison at their Glengarioch Distillery in
Oldmeldrum to manage their pioneering Waste Energy
Project. Concurrently, he was invited to
co-present the 'The Beechgrove Garden' with George
Barron. |
|
Since returning to Scotland in
1973, he has also contributed on a regular basis to a range of
radio programmes on BBC Scotland, notably 'The Scottish
Garden' and currently 'The Beechgrove Potting Shed'.
|
|
In 1982 the Distillery Waste
Energy Project was featured in the UK Exhibit at the World
Fair, Knoxville, Tennessee and in 1988 the project was
featured at the Glasgow Garden Festival and so too was the
Beechgrove Garden.
|
|
Now known as Morrison Bowmore
Distillers, Jim was invited to move to their HQ in
Glasgow to set up a PR and Customer Relations Division, no
doubt as a result of the continuing success of Beechgrove.
Early retirement was taken from Morrison's in 1996.
|
|
Professional qualifications:
Scottish Diploma in Horticulture; National Diploma in Horticulture.
|
|
| |
|
|
The
Beechgrove Garden - The Beechgrove Garden is the
three acre garden featured in the television
programme of the same name. It is a much-loved star;
a celebrity in the world of compost, cauliflowers
and clematis. From April to September, it is a
weekly date in the diaries of dedicated gardeners
from Lerwick to Berwick. |
|
|
|
|
| More
celebrity gardeners... |
|
