Beloved TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh, 76, has admitted he sobbed saying farewell to the garden he tended for 23 years at his Grade II-listed Hampshire home, as he and wife Alison downsize to a new chapter
Alan Titchmarsh, one of Britain’s most beloved television gardeners, has admitted that he broke down in tears when the moment finally came to leave behind the garden he had nurtured for more than two decades. Titchmarsh said he sobbed as he said goodbye to the garden he had tended for 23 years, calling time on a place he had shaped bit by bit with his wife Alison.
A Garden Built Over 23 Years
In September, Titchmarsh and Alison put their home in Holybourne, near Alton in Hampshire, on the market for £3.95 million. The couple bought the Grade II-listed Georgian manor in 2002, and the property itself dates back to 1690.
Titchmarsh wrote in July’s Gardeners’ World magazine that he had designed the garden bit by bit, with a formal area close to the house and a wilder area in the outer reaches. A rill, a meadow, a copse and a wildlife pond were added over the years, turning the plot into a private project that grew alongside family life. For a man whose entire public life has been built around tending the land, that slow, decades-long act of creation made the goodbye far harder than a typical house move.
Why He’s Leaving
The 76-year-old explained in BBC Gardeners’ World magazine that it was “time to downsize – a little – as those of us of relatively senior years are regularly told we would be wise to do.” He admitted: “To be honest, we had no plans to move. When you restore an old house and make a garden around it, you pour so much of your heart and soul into it that moving on is bound to be a wrench.”
He continued: “But when you are knocking on a bit (which I refuse to believe, despite what the numbers tell me) you do muse on the future, a future which I hope will be long and fulfilling. Looking after four acres and a Grade II-listed house has been, and still is, a treat beyond measure, but the day will come when it starts to be overwhelming, and I’d rather move on to fresh pastures before that becomes the case.”
The decision, it turns out, was not entirely his own. Titchmarsh revealed it was his daughters who ultimately encouraged the move, even finding the couple’s new, modern home themselves. The new property is described as a long, low, modern home, offering a stark and refreshing contrast to their Georgian farmhouse.
Cherished Memories and a New Chapter
Despite the heartbreak of departure, Titchmarsh has chosen to focus on gratitude rather than grief. He reflected warmly on the memories created at the Hampshire home, including watching his grandchildren grow up running through the meadow. “It has enriched our lives beyond measure and I will never forget it,” he said.
He admitted that his initial apprehension about moving has since been replaced by excitement for this next, more manageable stage of life.
That excitement appears to be translating directly into fresh horticultural ambition. Following the move, Titchmarsh is now facing new challenges in his garden after downsizing with his wife, having sought a smaller property with different soil conditions in order to cultivate new plants. Titchmarsh, married to Alison for 50 years, says he aims to grow plants that present a slight challenge, which he believes will increase his gardening satisfaction.
The End of an Era
For a broadcaster who built his entire career on a love of soil, seasons, and the patient, decades-long craft of shaping a landscape, leaving Holybourne was never going to be a simple transaction. It was the closing of a chapter that held 23 years of family life, a restored 17th-century house, and a garden built with his own hands. True to form, Titchmarsh appears determined to greet what comes next not with sentiment alone, but with a trowel already in hand.
Europeans24 covers lifestyle and human interest stories from across the UK and Europe. Follow us for more.
