Gardening legend Alan Titchmarsh names two plants he would 'ban forever'

Alan Titchmarsh is renowned for his passion for plants, but there are two garden favourites he'd gladly see banished forever.

When quizzed by Talking Gardens podcast presenter Stephanie Mahon about which plant he'd cheerfully consign to the compost heap, Alan didn't hesitate: "Pampas grass."

The gardening guru reckons the plant - famously linked to suburban swingers - "looks like a collection of feathered dusters sticking out of a mountain of grass". What's more, he warned that once you've planted it, getting shot of the stuff becomes a proper nightmare.

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He said: "If you ever want to get rid of it, you've got a real task ahead of you." Alan's second bugbear is large flowered gladioli, though he admits they can be "very good in church."

The TV favourite clarified it's only the bigger, showier varieties he can't stand, reports the Express. "I like little gladiolus Byzantine," he revealed to Stephanie.

"That's the one that grows in the hedgerows and in Cornwall." Alan's late mate Beth Chatto was apparently rather partial to pampas grass, but Alan told her: "You keep it in your garden, Beth, and I'll be happy."

She also created the popular "Unusual Plants" display at the Chelsea Flower Show. Alan reckons some of the Chelsea exhibits have become rather excessive lately.

He continued: "I begin to worry when gardens start to cost six figure sums, a quarter of a million and more to make a garden for a week."

He's now more drawn to witnessing smaller, more personal displays, such as the Royal Windsor Flower Show where the expertise of the cultivator truly takes centre stage. He went on: "When I went there first, the weather was lovely, which is always a plus.

"Windsor Great Park is the most beautiful landscape and it was a classic village fête atmosphere for all the right reasons."

He noted that the Windsor exhibition operates on a more modest scale than Chelsea, but boasts a wonderful ambience, explaining: "Beautifully done but friendly. Lots of different growers,there, with little stands ... it's a bit like portrait miniatures. You don't always need enormous great, massive paintings to impress.

"It's so intrinsically British and it's what we all remember from flower shows as a child. The skills are there, but so too is the friendliness. I think often on a small scale, you get the charm, the magic that is lost on the grander scale."

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