“End-of-Life Confession” – Alan Titchmarsh Makes Huge Late-Life Decision After Poignant Admission Leaves Fans Emotional and Reeling\

Alan Titchmarsh made a poignant confession about ageing (Image: BBC)

Gardening legend Alan Titchmarsh made an emotional confession about reaching the end of his life as he admitted he has to downsize his home as its garden will be too large for him to look after in his advancing years. The £3.9million Georgian mansion he shares with wife Alison has been on the market since September, and now the horticulturalist has opened up about the real reason behind the decision.

Alan, 76, bought the incredible property in 2002. It lies in Holybourne, near Alton, Hants, and dates back to 1960 – though over the years, Alan has carried out extensive renovation work. He explained to BBC Gardeners’ World magazine: “So why go? Well… it’s time. Time to downsize – a little – as those of us in relatively senior years are regularly told we would be wise to do.”

Alan admitted that though they had “no plans to move”, he and Alison are now “knocking on a bit”. He joked: “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.”

But he wants to take care of a smaller garden before his age means he cannot take care of the larger one any longer.

Alan said: “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 is downsizing from his £3.9million mansion (Image: Getty)

Alan insisted he is not retiring and will “miss” his old garden, explaining: “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.”

He acknowledges that the new owners of his property will “do their own thing” with the garden – as they must.