Alan Titchmarsh: ‘People's eye for design deserts them when they leave the front door'
Best childhood memory?
I grew up in Ilkley, a small spa town in West Yorkshire, with the Moors on one side, the woods on the other, and the River Wharfe running through the middle. Nature was central to us growing up; we were always out in the fresh air. I loved fishing and getting frogspawn. Sunday afternoon walks were a weekly ritual. All these years on, I'm happiest when I'm pottering, cultivating and growing outside – I've just spent the day pruning my roses in the garden. Holidays were to Blackpool – we always went to a place called Bispham, a little town about a mile and a half from the town centre. My mother considered it the select quieter end of town, away from the 'kiss me quick' part, although it wasn't quite as posh as nearby Lytham St Annes. I loved the donkey rides, fishing for crabs and the little boating pond. I vividly remember always getting sand in my egg sandwiches! A proper old-fashioned seaside holiday.
Best lesson you've learnt?
Don't go where you're not wanted. It's advice I instilled in my two daughters, Polly and Camilla, who are grown-up now with children of their own. But I put a more positive spin on it for them, and said, 'Go where you're wanted and where you feel you can make a difference.' I left school at 15, with just one O-level, and became an apprentice gardener with the local council. Thanks to the encouragement from my boss there, he told me how important it was to go to college to study horticulture and then get experience at a place such as Kew Gardens or the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It was only with that nudge that I realised that's what I'd love to do, but I questioned whether I could do it.
Best personal characteristic?
There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. I've never been terribly confident. As a child born just after the war and growing up in Yorkshire, you were realistic about your aspirations. But I've always been ready to accept a challenge and give things a go, even if it meant falling flat on my face. Early on, I was taught that the errors in life that you regret are the errors of omission, not commission. In other words, if you do something and it doesn't work, at least you gave it a go. One of the things I prize most in life is being companionable. Jokingly, the girls would say when they were growing up that I was much more patient with plants than I was with them! I want to encourage people and learn the secrets of gardening without being judgmental. I have friends who couldn't wait to retire, but I couldn't do that – I love every minute of my job. There are days when it's challenging and there are problems, but I never dread getting up. Whether it's filming, writing, gardening or my broadcasting, it's like a sprinkling of fairy dust.
Best advice for a novice gardener who doesn't know where to start?
Patience, more patience and observation. Don't try to do too much at once. Don't rush things, work out what your aims are, read up about it, and look at neighbouring gardens to see what grows well and where, and what conditions it needs. My line has always been: a plant wants to grow – it's up to us not to get in the way. It's a matter of right plant, right place. Be aware of how big something can grow – but don't be afraid to dig a plant up and move it, if it doesn't work where you originally put it. If you're starting a garden from scratch, start the area immediately closest to the back, near your kitchen, not down at the bottom, because if you start from the bottom up, you'll come back in after working outside all day and not be able to tell the difference and get discouraged. So start with a few big containers, at least half a dozen, and plant things with pops of colour you like right outside the window. Then gradually work your way down to the back. This will give you more confidence as you go.
Best way to encourage wildlife in your garden?
Stop using pesticides and chemicals. I've been chemical-free and organic now for 40 years in my garden. When you're making the transition, you'll have two or three years where things are righting themselves. Use organic fertiliser such as blood, bone and fishmeal, which encourages the activity of soil bacteria. Have a variety of things in your garden, lots of single flowers with pollen and nectar, that will bring the insects in and grow plants that suit your soil. Don't feel you have to let it all go wild to encourage wildlife. Don't feel you just have to have British native plants – that's rubbish! You can try growing a variety of plants from all over the world because thanks to global warming and climate change, you need to future-proof your garden and be able to pivot what you're planting.
Best career moment?
Awards and work achievements aside, I'm actually most proud of raising a happy family with two children who are still talking to me and with whom I'm very close. We always sat at a table for dinner and (this being the pre-mobile era) just talked, anything to keep the conversation going. We weren't immune to the odd door slam, like every parent, but I'm just so grateful for them. Now they're in their 40s, with their own families, I admire everything they've achieved. I've now got four grandchildren, two boys and two girls, who are almost 10, 11, 12 and 13. The grandkids are so close, they're more like brothers and sisters. They've introduced me to Minecraft, which I just can't get my head around. I love being a grandfather, I don't force them to spend time with me; I'd rather they do it voluntarily, which is really important. The older they get, the more interesting it becomes. When they were little, they loved helping me in the garden and learning about butterflies. But again, I never forced them because you can't expect them to love something if you do that.
Worst thing you can do in your garden?
Design isn't just for inside your four walls. Look at Grand Designs: you have an amazing house after years of work, and then Kevin [McCloud] goes back and looks at the end result. And outside the front door, they've plonked three or four nasty blue ceramic pots, almost as an afterthought. And I think, 'How can you do this?' Not only because those were the in thing in the 1990s, when I did Ground Force, but more because, why does your eye for design suddenly desert you when you leave your front door? Think about kerb appeal and have a vision. I'm lucky that I have an eye for beauty and form, both inside and out. Regarding your front garden, give yourself half a dozen big, handsome containers in no more than three materials – don't have too many types or lots of small ones, because it'll look cluttered, and they dry up and die more quickly. Plant them thoughtfully with some evergreens that will keep their form year-round.
Worst pet peeve?
What really irks me is what a hard time farmers are having right now. In 1950, 30 per cent of our income used to go on food, and now it's between 8 and 12 per cent. Food is too cheap; we don't pay enough for it. We've become addicted to our daily Starbucks or Netflix, mass-produced consumables and quick fixes, rather than things that are most important to life, such as good-quality food, and by that I don't mean a posh restaurant meal. We need a return to learn the value of more simple things in life and support grass-roots local producers. We've got so used to paying next to nothing for food and it's compounded by the current cost-of-living crisis, where many people can't afford to pay more, which then has a knock-on effect in terms of overall health. It will take a mammoth mindset shift in terms of habits to right this wrong. The alternative is that we just get more and more cheap imports, and the proud British farming industry is decimated.
Food security regulations in mainland Europe are nothing like ours, so it's a downward spiral that we need to break, and we need more encouragement for farmers to grow. People who don't really know the ins and outs of it might say they [farmers] get so many subsidies, but they've been forced into that by a system of agriculture that is broken. Buy locally and seasonally is a great start for consumers. Enjoy the postponement of gratification and anticipation; wait for things to come. Stop eating foreign strawberries in January. I want to encourage people to do small things in their garden or green space, even if it is just a few edible plants. It's showing that you're creating something, as opposed to being a consumer. You'll value it more.
Worst travel experience?
Once, when the children were younger and we were on a camping holiday in Italy, my daughter fell over and really hurt herself. I raced over to check, chucking my wallet on the roof of our transit van. Once the commotion was over, I drove off, forgetting my wallet, and of course it was gone when I went back to find it. Who knows where it flew off?!
Worst habit or trait?
I can't think of what you're talking about [chuckling]. I'm very bad at relaxing; no, I find gardening relaxing, I should say I'm bad at sitting still. I can just about watch telly for two hours, if it's a good drama, but other than that, no. I like to potter and the problem with having a lovely garden is that I just want to be in it. I collect books as well, which I love immersing myself in. I'm with Cicero, who said if you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.
Worst fear for the future?
I'm fearful of a world that relies more and more on technology and social media, because it reduces the connection with the outside world and nature, and in turn reduces the connection with the bigger picture of taking care of it. You need to feel and experience nature or see it. It's alien to a lot of people now, and I feel very sad about that. I'm launching my new gardening channel, Gardening with Alan Titchmarsh, across social media, to help counteract this and because I want to share my passion and to help people grow things better. Social media is both a good servant and a bad master. I'm not a Luddite and I'm not saying social media shouldn't exist. Just that it seems to encourage a lot of bitterness and arguing. Just look at the way my avocado comments have blown up over the years. You're allowed your opinion, and I'm allowed mine. You can disagree but you can do so without being disagreeable and insulting.
'Gardening with Alan Titchmarsh' launched in April. The weekly YouTube episodes will offer viewers a mix of 'how-to videos', informative tips, specific masterclasses and advice from Alan. The videos will be published simultaneously on newly created YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts.
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