BBC Gardeners’ World star Alan Titchmarsh has shared four simple steps on how to create the perfect garden border in a video on his YouTube channel
16:33, 30 Mar 2026Updated 16:33, 30 Mar 2026
Alan Titchmarsh has provided some guidance on how people can plant the best garden borders(Image: WPA Pool, Getty Images)
Celebrated gardener Alan Titchmarsh has released a video featuring a straightforward four-step method for creating the ideal garden border.
The 76-year-old BBC Gardeners’ World presenter released the video on his YouTube channel, Gardening with Alan Titchmarsh, walking viewers through establishing a garden border using four simple steps.
Opening the video, Alan visited a bed in his garden that he intended to transform into a border. The purpose of the video, outlined in the title, was to design a border that maintains its appeal throughout the year because “most people get this wrong,” so he guides viewers through the procedure while offering helpful advice.
Alan’s initial recommended step involved clearing the bed by extracting the perennials – plants that survive beyond two years and flower during spring and summer, reports the Express.
Alan Titchmarsh has his own YouTube channel(Image: Getty)
Regarding where to begin with clearing, Alan said: “Just start somewhere. The great thing about early spring is that stuff is happy to be moved and it can stay out for a good few days as long as it doesn’t dry out. Stick ’em in the wheelbarrow and put them somewhere else while I get everything out of here.”
The second stage of the bed-to-border transformation involves splitting larger perennial plants to generate new ones. Alan explained: “Some of these clumps are small enough to be left as they are.
“Others are larger, and this is when you can do some divvying up, dividing a large clump…into smaller pieces, saving yourself money, covering a larger portion of ground….They really don’t mind.”
Even once the clumps have been extracted, Alan cautioned gardeners to watch for remaining roots. He explained: “These need to come out, so it’s then a case of going through with your fork and prising them out, using the fork a bit like a sieve…just to clean it up.”
Alan’s third step involves improving the soil. He demonstrated working in sections and showcased his soil improver, which encourages grubs and worms.
He recommended: “Don’t just give it [the soil] a little sprinkling…be generous. Quite a good dressing over the top, right the way across. And then, if it falls in any clods, you can spread them out.
“Don’t waste any of it, then spread it out fairly evenly so you’ve got a layer on the surface all the way over, just making sure it’s even to start with and lightly fork it in.”
Alan Titchmarsh(Image: Getty)
Alan’s fourth and final step was creating a strategy for transforming the bed into a border.
He stated: “What I need to work out is how many plants I need to go back in that border. It’s so easy to shoot down the garden centre and get back, you haven’t got enough of one and you’ve got too much of another.
“Try and do yourself a little grid which shows how many plants you’re going to need. That way, they stand a chance of growing well, and also, you’ll waste far less money.”
Alan measured the bed and used lines on his plan to “mark out individual square metres”. The number of plants per square metre depends on how big they will grow.
For instance, he recommended planting one shrub or four perennials per square metre. He suggested initially marking these on the grid, then subsequently sketching drifts to form shapes.
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