Alan Titchmarsh has admitted he is downsizing from his £4million home because he is ‘knocking on a bit’ and worries he won’t be able to look after its huge garden.
Titchmarsh, one of the country’s most esteemed gardeners, 76, said it is ‘time’ to focus on a smaller garden after 23 years of tending to his sprawling four-acre plot in the countryside.
Speaking candidly for the first time about why he is moving, Titchmarsh said he is conscious of his age and doesn’t want the large grounds to become ‘overwhelming’.
He revealed he and wife Alison have found a new ‘modern’ property – set in one and a half acres to satisfy his green fingers.
Though he says he will ‘miss’ his beloved garden, his new patch offers him the chance to grow rhododendrons – something he hasn’t been able to do for over 50 years.
Titchmarsh and his wife put their home in Holybourne, near Alton, Hants, on the market in September for £3.95million.
The couple bought the Grade II-listed Georgian manor in 2002.
The stunning property dates back to 1690 and Titchmarsh has carried out significant renovations.
‘So why go?’, he wrote in BBC Gardener’s World.
‘Well… it’s time.
‘Time for a new challenge.
‘Time to downsize – a little – as those of us of relatively senior years are regularly told we would be wise to do.
‘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.
‘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.’
He said he wants to move on before age means he can no longer stay on top of the garden.
‘”Are you retiring?” I am asked. “Er, no!” Consolidating more like.
‘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.’
He said his daughters found his new home which is ‘long, low, and modern’ and is a ‘complete contrast’ to the Georgian farmhouse he’s been used to.
Titchmarsh said his new home is ‘set in an acre and a half’ and is mostly woodland filled with rhododendrons and azaleas, camellias and pieris.
Excited, Titchmarsh said he hasn’t been able to grow any rhododendrons since he was 20.
He added: ‘After making the decision, I hummed and haa-ed about the wisdom of it all.
‘But once sound reasoning convinced me this was not giving in and winding down, but simply taking on a new challenge – a challenge that was do-able in the long term – the apprehension was replaced by excitement.’
Titchmarsh says he will ‘miss’ his old garden.
He said it is now someone else’s duty to care for it.
‘Whoever takes on my garden will want to do their own thing – and they must.
‘Gardens cannot be preserved in aspic; they are living breathing, developing things that never stand still.
‘They [the new owner] must make of this piece of Hampshire earth a sanctuary that fulfils their needs and – hopefully – that of the wildlife that has made home in our organically run haven.’
