Alan Fred TitchmarshMBEDLVMHHonFSE[1] (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener and broadcaster. After working as a professional gardener and a gardening journalist, he became a writer, and a radio and television presenter.
Early career
Alan Fred Titchmarsh[2] was born on 2 May 1949 in Ilkley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.[3][4] He is the son of Bessie (née Hardisty), a textile mill worker, and Alan Fred Titchmarsh senior, a plumber.[5] In 1964, after leaving school at 15, with one O-level in Art, Titchmarsh went to work as an apprentice gardener with Ilkley Council, before leaving in 1968, at 18, for Shipley Art and Technology Institute in Shipley in the West Riding of Yorkshire to study for a City and Guilds in horticulture.
Titchmarsh went on to study at Hertfordshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture for the National Certificate in Horticulture, before finally moving to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to study for a Diploma in Horticulture.[6][7] After graduating he stayed on at Kew, employed as a supervisor and later as a staff trainer. He left to pursue a career in gardening journalism in 1974. Interested in English literature and writing, he applied for a post with the publisher Hamlyn Publishing, as assistant editor of gardening books. He then started to write his own gardening books, with the first published in 1976.[6]
Television and radio
In 1988 Titchmarsh hosted the gardening show with House in a Garden on BBC Radio 2.[8]
Titchmarsh's first television appearances were on the BBC television show Nationwide as a horticulture expert. This led to his presenting of the Chelsea Flower Show for BBC television in 1983. Titchmarsh hosted this every year until 2013.[7] He also appeared on other BBC shows, such as Breakfast Time and Open Air as either a guest presenter or as a gardening expert.[citation needed]
In 1991 Titchmarsh hosted the BBC television talk show Pebble Mill, which he did until its cancellation in 1996. In 1991 he presented a six part series in which he followed in the footsteps of the pilgrims, travelling around Britain and Ireland.[9]
In 1996 Titchmarsh took over as host of Gardeners' World, the show being filmed in his own garden. In 1997 he hosted the BBC One television series, Ground Force, in which he and fellow presenters Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh would perform a makeover on a garden.[7][10] After Gardeners' World Titchmarsh has presented two series of How To Be A Gardener.
Away from gardening, Titchmarsh has had spells presenting Songs of Praise and a series of programmes on BBC Radio 2 in which he played a selection of light classical music, as well as a BBC nature documentary series, British Isles - A Natural History.
Titchmarsh at the 2008 Gardeners' World Live Exhibition in the NEC
Titchmarsh has appeared in adverts, including working for the Yorkshire Tourist Board (now Welcome To Yorkshire). He voiced the title character in Gordon the Garden Gnome, a cartoon series for the CBeebies channel.[11] In 2007 Titchmarsh hosted a follow-up series to British Isles – A Natural History entitled The Nature of Britain focusing on British plant and animal species.[12]
In 2010 Titchmarsh presented the first series of Popstar to Operastar with Myleene Klass. Since 2011, he has presented gardening show Love Your Garden. In June 2012 he presented Elizabeth: Queen, Wife, Mother on ITV.[13] In August 2011, Titchmarsh left Radio 2. Since January 2012, he has hosted a Saturday morning show on Classic FM.
In 2013, Titchmarsh, then aged 64, responded to complaints that older women were discriminated against on television by stating he would like to hear less "whingeing". "They don't complain in their early days when they are disporting themselves on sports cars", he stated in an interview with The Observer.[14] This drew criticism from media figures who had been protesting against the difficulties faced by older women in the media, including from Miriam O'Reilly, winner of an age discrimination case against the BBC.[15][16]
Titchmarsh was reported to have commented favourably on the UK Independence Party's Nigel Farage in 2013[17] and in 2014,[18] saying he had “some sympathy with the clarion wake-up call they’re trying to give the country”. However, during an interview in 2017 in support of a refugee charity, he said his comments had been misunderstood.[19]
In 2013 Titchmarsh was a reporter on BBC Two programme The Great British Winter. In 2014 Titchmarsh presented The Queen's Garden, a two-part series for ITV, that was filmed over one year.[20] In 2015 Titchmarsh presented Britain's Best Back Gardens.[21] In February 2016, Titchmarsh began presenting the daytime game show Masterpiece for ITV. In 2017 the Channel Five programme Secrets of the National Trust started airing with Alan Titchmarsh as the main presenter.[22]
In March 2024, it was widely reported in the UK press that Titchmarsh's trousers were censored on Korean Central Television (North Korea television).[23][24][25][26][27] Titchmarsh was wearing jeans in the Secret Gardens programme, and jeans are banned in North Korea as they are considered a sign of western imperialism. Speaking to the BBC, Titchmarsh said the news had given him "a bit of street cred." In April this was suspected to be a hoax by Joe Lycett for Late Night Lycett but in the first episode, Lycett confirmed he was not behind the story.[28] And when it aired on KCTV, It featured a Korean language voice-over (Despite Alan Titchmarsh's English speaking still being clearly heard). And it was the only voice-over to exist, as the show was never dubbed in other countries.
Writing
His first novel was Mr MacGregor in 1998, since then he has written over a dozen novels. Nobbut A Lad: A Yorkshire Childhood (2006) was an autobiographical work, followed by Trowel & Error (2002) and When I Was A Nipper (2010).
Titchmarsh has also published a series of gardening guides, the How to Garden series (2009).
Personal life
Titchmarsh married Alison in 1975 and they have two children.[29][30] In 2002 he and his wife moved into a grade II listedGeorgian Hampshire farmhouse, with a garden of 4 acres (1.6 ha).[31][32] He also has a coastal home, near Cowes on the Isle of Wight, where he spends about a third of the year.[33]
Titchmarsh is trustee of various charities, including Gardens for Schools, and Seeds for Africa. Gardens for Schools helped fund gardens and green spaces in and around schools, while Seeds for Africa encourages sustainable vegetable gardening. Titchmarsh has been involved with the Cowes inshore lifeboat,[34] and with the National Maritime Museum.[35]
In 2004 Titchmarsh became the president of Perennial, officially known as the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society.[36] In 2010 Titchmarsh became president of the plant conservation charity Plant Heritage (previously the NCCPG).
Titchmarsh at a tree-planting ceremony in 2011[37]
In 2014 Titchmarsh was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.[38] Titchmarsh is a monarchist.[39]
Titchmarsh markets his own range of gardening tools, with manufacturer Bulldog Tools and works with Digitalis Media to promote Gardeners' Heaven, the online retail arm of his website, which supplies gardening products.[44]
