TWO gardening enthusiasts from Alloa are set to appear in BBC Scotland's Beechgrove series.

The town's Karolina Juszczyk and Eric Armour will be part of a wheelbarrow load of “Beechgrowers” to be introduced in the second episode of the 2022 series, first airing tomorrow, Thursday April 14.

Both gardening enthusiasts were integral to the effort to spruce up the Wimpy Park, where volunteers were filmed for the programme last year.

Since then, the duo continued to support the area, tending to the garden and taking part in various activities – indeed, Karolina recently spoke to the Advertiser when the Wimpy Park Community Group began collecting donations for people in war-torn Ukraine.

As in 2021, the show will follow six groups of individuals and families from around Scotland who will share their gardens and horticultural efforts sporadically across the series.

Gwyneth Hardy, Beechgrove executive producer, said: “Our Beechgrowers – including Eric and Karolina – are all raring to go this year to share their gardening experiences, tips and occasional disasters.

“There is a big emphasis among this year’s Beechgrowers on growing your own food, but they all promise to have a wealth of gardening stories to share across the board.”

Beechgrove returned to the screens last Thursday at 8pm on the BBC Scotland channel, but the programme will also be shown on BBC Two on Friday nights just ahead of Gardeners' World.

The new Friday night network slot is in addition to the BBC Two screenings on Sunday mornings where Beechgrove has been transmitted since 2013.

Tony Nellany, BBC Scotland commissioning editor, said: “It’s great to be welcoming back the Beechgrove team to the BBC Scotland channel where we know it is loved by our audiences.

“We’re thrilled that it also has a new high profile network slot and even more people across the UK will enjoy a bit of Beechgrove.”

The transformation of the Wimpy Park started in 2017 when volunteers banded together in a bid to bring the area back to its best.

Progress by the Wimpy Park Community Group has been steady ever since and last year's effort was transformative with the group's chair, Fin Robertson, saying he was “blown away by the result”.

Supporting the volunteers in making it happen was a park design by Menstrie's Louisa Carberry, who completed her BA Art and Design at Forth Valley College in the summer of 2021 and landed a consultancy role with Clackmannanshire Council to develop the space.

The walled garden, known as the Wimpy Park, is one of historical significance as well as it used to form a part of the Mar estate.