Novice gardeners rejoice because Britain’s favourite gardener (sorry Monty Don) has some advice that not even you would struggle to follow.

Broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh laid down his catch-all golden rule to Vibe this week in the simplest terms possible.

He said: “I think what everybody wants out of their garden is for it to look good all year round, for something to be interesting at any time of year.

“The most sensible way to do that is to go to your garden centre or nursery once a month and get something at is in flower that month and looking good and take it home and plant it.

“Instead of doing a big shop in May or June every year where you go and have a blitz and buy everything that’s looking gorgeous and plant it, then finally when you get to October and November and December and there’s nothing there.

“If you shop once a month and buy two or three things every month, you end up with a garden which always has something to look at.”

If that’s not enough for you, then maybe the answer is inside yourself?

“We have all got this instinct for gardening,” said Alan. “It is just in some of us it is covered up and buried rather more deeply than others.”


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It is perhaps unsurprising that Alan is able to dish out valuable advice so effortlessly, he’s been doing it for years.

He has been on our screens since the early 1980s, a trusted expert on the likes of Gardeners’ World, Ground Force and his latest horticultural show, Love Your Garden.

And the presenter may be a proud Yorkshireman but much of his extensive knowledge was accumulated in south London, for Alan learnt his trade at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew more than 40 years ago.

He said: “It is the most amazing plant collection in the world so to work in the palm house and to work outside and in the arboretum and places like that - you are working with the finest plant collection on earth. It’s a great treat.

“It was a special time and a great grounding and it gives you a wonderful plant vocabulary for the rest of your life, really.”

“I had a great time down there, I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity.”

Even after he finished working at Kew, Alan stayed on in south London.

He said: “I lived in Kew and I lived there for a couple of years afterwards when I finished working a Kew until I got married.

“I love going to the theatre and in terms of accessibility to London, it was very good for that.

“Also to live in and around Kew, around the Thames and around Richmond Park, was an interesting place to be.”

Aside from handing out some indispensible advice, Alan was chatting to Vibe because he’ll be giving a pair of talks at Coolings Garden Centre in Knockholt on September 14.

Alan said: “It is always nice to meet folk and give them a chance to get their own back, really - I witter on at them all the time on the box. It is always fun and people are always welcoming and enthusiastic.

“It will be me wittering on, trying to be amusing as well as informative, but mainly amusing. Then solving problems or just chatting about whatever they want to chat about, really.

“It is not always just gardening problems - it’s not always ‘why won’t my wisteria flower?’ – but they like to know about TV programmes and meeting Nelson Mandela and that kind of stuff.”

While Alan is rarely stumped by audience questions, he did admit it can be difficult to diagnose problems from afar.

“It is often quite difficult when you can’t see the plant they are talking about. It’s a bit like going to the doctors describing the symptoms of your daughter.

“Sometimes it is quite hard to pin down but generally speaking I’ve been at it for quite a long while now so most things you can sort out.”

Alan Titchmarsh is at Coolings Garden Centre for two shows on Monday, September 14. Go to coolings.co.uk

 

 

 


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“The best thing at the moment is dead heading,” said Alan. “Just snipping off dead flowerheads.

“The chances are the flowers will look a damn sight better cleaned up a bit but it is a lovely gentle pursuit and you may even get a second flush of flower, or even a third one.

“It really is worth getting out with a pair of snips.”