Alan Titchmarsh, the nation's favourite gardener, has opened up about a 'heartbreaking' discovery he made after returning home with his wife Alison. The couple had recently moved from their Hampshire home to a picturesque 16th-century cottage in Surrey, bringing with them a whole new garden to create.
A New Garden with a Water Feature
Describing his new garden, Alan drew attention to its eye-catching water feature: 'What I love about my new garden is the way it complements the house in the way it's been softly sculpted - there are no hard edges, there's lots of fraying into trees, then shrubs, lower perennials, and the pond with the ducks dabbling.'
The former Gardeners' World presenter, who turns 77 today (Saturday, May 2), regards the loss of his cherry blossom at his old Hampshire garden as one of his most disheartening gardening experiences.
The Cherry Blossom Tragedy
He told BBC Gardeners' World magazine last year: 'My small but now 20-year old plantation of the pure-white 'Shirotae' cherry generally gives rise to gasps in early April. This year we went away for the weekend just before it was due to open. We returned and excitedly walked around the back of our barn to take in the anticipated view.'
Instead, what awaited him and his wife Alison was deeply disappointing. 'The welter of buds had been decimated by wood pigeons,' he says. He notes that only a few blooms survived—those perched at the very tips of slender branches unable to support the weight of feeding birds: 'Heartbreaking,' he added.
Pond Problems with Roach
Alan will no doubt be keen to avoid the issues he ran into when he created the pond in his Hampshire garden. He reflects that while he never expected larger creatures such as otters to appear in the pond he dug around 15 years ago, he had hoped for more modest arrivals: 'Newts and dragonflies, damselflies and perhaps the odd kingfisher.'
For a time, that vision seemed to be taking shape. Speaking to BBC Gardeners' World Magazine, he describes how the pond supported a lively community of insects skimming across its surface - until an unexpected development changed everything.
'But then, from somewhere,' Alan recalled, 'probably on the webbed feet of a visiting duck, roach arrived.' Roach, a resilient freshwater fish that can grow up to 14 inches long, are known for surviving in challenging conditions—even persisting in polluted waters where other species disappear. That hardiness, however, comes with a voracious appetite.
'Thinking it was just another form of wildlife to gleefully add to my list, I bought some fish food,' Alan said. 'Whenever I sprinkle it on the water, the surface turns into something reminiscent of that scene in the James Bond movie where the baddie is eaten by piranhas. The once limpid pool becomes a foaming cauldron for fully 30 seconds before all the food disappears.'
Beyond the spectacle, the consequences have been less welcome. The roach, not satisfied with occasional feedings, have also wiped out much of the insect life that once animated the pond. In an effort to restore balance, Alan has encouraged an alder tree to grow over the water, hoping it might provide a vantage point for a kingfisher to prey on the fish.
