Gardeners' World star Joe Swift has opened up about the time he visited the legendary Alan Titchmarsh's garden - and was given a stern warning by the BBC gardening icon Get the latest entertainment news sent straight to your inbox with our weekly Showbiz newsletter We have more newsletters Get the latest entertainment news sent straight to your inbox with our weekly Showbiz newsletter We have more newsletters Garden designer Joe Swift has let slip how he received a firm caution from Gardeners' World icon Alan Titchmarsh about not treading on his flowerbeds during a shoot in his garden. In the high-pressure world of horticulture, few tasks are as daunting as gardening in Alan Titchmarsh's own patch. National treasure Alan, with over four decades in the spotlight, is the UK's treasured gardening expert, and filming for Gardeners' World often takes place within his personal green haven.
It was therefore with a sense of nervous anticipation that Joe joined Alan's garden to film for the programme. Speaking to Monty Don on the BBC Gardeners' World podcast, he revealed that Alan is quite particular about making sure no evidence of the crew's presence is left behind. Joe recalled: "Alan did say if you'd trodden on a flowerbed, you had to flick it over with fork and leave it nice and tidy, or you get a bit of a telling off.
So there weren't footprints or compacted soil and all that sort of thing." However, Joe is no stranger to pressure — he likens the frenetic pace at the Chelsea F.