Alan Titchmarsh makes 'heartbreaking' find after returning home with wife

Edinburgh Live

12 hours ago

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Like many green-fingered enthusiasts, Alan Titchmarsh finds joy in the wildlife that frequents his quaint Hampshire garden. However, he admits that inviting nature into your backyard comes with its own set of challenges.
Alan, who will be gracing our screens this Sunday on ITV's Love Your Weekend, shares that while he didn't anticipate larger creatures like otters visiting the wildlife pond he dug about 15 years ago, he was hoping for more manageable visitors: "Newts and dragonflies, damselflies and perhaps the odd kingfisher."
In a chat with BBC Gardeners' World Magazine, Alan revealed that for a time, he did have a bustling community of mini-beasts skimming over the pool's surface – until something extraordinary occurred.
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"But then, from somewhere," Alan remembered, "probably on the webbed feet of a visiting duck, roach arrived."
Roach are robust freshwater fish, capable of growing up to 14-inches long, and can survive even in challenging conditions. Scientists have noted that roach tend to be one of the last species to vanish when rivers or lakes become polluted, reports Gloucestershire Live.
However, along with their resilience, roach possess a voracious appetite: "Thinking it was just another form of wildlife to gleefully add to my list, I bought some fish food," Alan confessed.
"Whenever I sprinkle it on the water, " Alan shared, "the surface morphs into something akin to that scene in the James Bond film where the villain is devoured by piranhas. The once clear pool becomes a frothing whirlpool for a full 30 seconds before all the food vanishes."
Regrettably, the roach weren't satisfied with Alan's sporadic fish food feasts and have significantly reduced the insect population that initially brought him so much joy when he first established his pond.
In an attempt to restore nature's equilibrium, Alan has even fostered the growth of an alder over the pond, making it easier for any passing kingfisher to spot the roach hiding in the depths.
However, Alan's most heart-wrenching wildlife encounter, he reveals, was the devastation of his cherished cherry blossom.
"My modest but now 20 year old plantation of the pure-white 'Shirotae' cherry typically elicits gasps in early April," he recounts.
"This year we went away for the weekend just before it was due to bloom. We returned and eagerly strolled around the back of our barn to soak up the expected view.."
But the sight that met Alan and his wife Alison was "pathetic," he laments. "The abundance of buds had been ravaged by wood pigeons."
He clarified that the only blossoms left were the tiny ones at the very ends of thin branches that couldn't support the weight of a ravenous wood pigeon: "Heartbreaking," he concluded.