Gardeners’ World icon Alan Titchmarsh, 77, says one piece of garden equipment has become his most important ‘now’
Alan Titchmarsh has named his most important tool(Image: Getty)
Alan Titchmarsh has revealed the “most important gardening tool” in his arsenal. The 77-year-old gardening legend has cultivated his horticultural expertise since childhood, spending his pocket money on seeds as a youngster.
After leaving education at 15, he embarked on an apprenticeship with Ilkley Council in Yorkshire as a trainee gardener. Following a period editing horticultural publications, Alan started contributing to Radio 4’s You and Yours and The Today Programme during the 1970s.
His television career subsequently flourished, fronting popular programmes including Gardeners’ World and Ground Force. He recently featured on the RHS’s Roots podcast, reflecting on his career while offering guidance to budding horticulturists.
During the discussion, Alan revealed what he considers the most essential piece of equipment for his garden. He said: “Somebody said to me, ‘What’s the most important gardening tool? And I said, ‘Now, a kneeler’.”
Through his Gardening with Alan Titchmarsh YouTube channel, Alan has previously highlighted several indispensable gardening implements. Amongst these was the rake, which he recommends positioning with the teeth facing upwards, describing its purpose as “levelling” soil.
Alan says his kneeler is vital now(Image: Getty)
He said: “You only need a few strokes across the ground to make it level with a rake.”,
The presenter also identified secateurs as the “most useful cutting tool” within his garden. He explained: “I look for a pair that sit comfortably in my hand. With secateurs you can get different sizes, some with longer handles, which means often it gives you a better torque so you can cut slightly thicker stems.”
Alan, however, warns against using secateurs on anything exceeding a centimetre or half an inch in thickness.
He went on to say: “They are great, absolutely flawless for pruning roses, pruning trees, shrubs, any stem less than half an inch in diameter.”
Alan is also fond of secateurs(Image: Getty)
Gardeners’ World host Monty Don has long championed the humble secateur, confessing he never ventures outside without a pair tucked away. The self-proclaimed “tool obsessive” also revealed he feels “underequipped” if he has “less than 30 tools” at his disposal.
He said: “Every gardener has to have a pair of secateurs. These are Japanese, they’re very beautifully made and they’re very sharp, which is important.
“I never go into the garden without a pair of secateurs, so it’s got to feel comfortable, they’ve got to be small enough so that you can put them in your pocket or in a holster, but big enough so that you can cut.
“The one thing I’d say about secateurs is, don’t overgear them. They need to be just enough to do the job. Don’t try and force it, sometimes you need more than one, a light pair and a heavy duty pair.”
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