A couple, who appeared on Alan Titchmarsh’s Love Your Garden, have spoken out about the makeover after some viewers claimed their outdoor space was “ruined”.
Alan Titchmarsh was accused of ‘ruining’ the garden (Image: Getty)
Alan Titchmarsh has transformed numerous gardens throughout his extensive television career on programmes including Ground Force and ITV’s Love Your Garden, though one particular episode attracted criticism. Several years back, Rob and Margaret Isdale, who have fostered more than 150 children, received an unexpected surprise when their daughter Fiona organised for Alan and his crew to completely transform their outdoor area.
Following a quadruple heart bypass operation, Rob was dedicating more time to the garden while recuperating and hoped to enhance it.
He explained: “I had been in hospital and had quadruple heart bypass and when I came out of hospital my daughter drove me home and we were standing in the back garden, and I said as a joke to my daughter, ‘It would be good if Alan Titchmarsh could come and do my garden’.
“And then unbeknownst to me, she put the application in and so that’s how it started,” he told us. During the 2019 renovation, Alan and his crew devoted effort to converting the outdoor area into a space inspired by the book, The Secret Garden.
Alan Titchmarsh and his team transformed Rob and Margaret Isdale’s garden(Image: PH)
While Rob acknowledges the transformation was “nothing that [he] expected,” both he and Margaret were delighted with the result.
“They did a sort of mock monastery wall and things and made it look a bit Elizabethan, even up to the shed,” he described of the layout, reports the Express.
“Even when it’s a bit untidy like it is at the moment, it looks the part because of the design of it.” Nevertheless, when the episode recently broadcast, certain viewers insisted it had been spoiled. On X, one individual remarked that Alan and his crew had ruined the “lovely garden” with “bricks and concrete”.
Another claimed: “It’s too crowded and busy for me but as long as they like it.”
Responding to the criticism, Rob said that he and Margaret were “more than happy” with the outcome.
Rob Isdale said the couple were ‘more than happy’ with their garden(Image: PH)
“I think I saw some things [online], there’s a bit of fake news, we were supposed to be disappointed, and it quite saddens me that because it couldn’t be further from the truth,” he continued.
“They did a brilliant job, Alan Titchmarsh was great. He came and interviewed us part way through while we were out in the caravan site [as the transformation took place]. Yeah, no complaints at all.”
Rob continued by saying that while they still love their garden, he’s implemented a few minor alterations in recent years.
“The shed, that’s now my art studio, I took up painting so I sit in there and do my painting,” he disclosed. “It is the same, the only thing we took down was a tree that was in front of our kitchen window that was blocking out the view a bit and the light.”
Rob has made changes to his shed since the show(Image: PH)
Discussing the makeover during the programme, Alan explained he had transformed their shed into a mock Tudor-style structure while incorporating several weathered “columns” of brick, which he called “ancient looking follies”.
Reflecting on the tireless and inspiring efforts of Rob and Margaret as foster parents, he shared with viewers: “I want this new garden to make them feel as cared for as the children who come to their home.”
During the grand unveiling, the gardener revealed to an emotional Rob and Margaret that he had unearthed “ruins of an old abbey” in the garden, which Margaret described as “brilliant.” Rob chimed in: “I knew it would be special but that’s extra special. Thank you so much.”
Love Your Garden broadcasts today at 6.30am, followed by Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh at 7.30am and again on Sunday at 9.30am on ITV and ITVX.
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