There are a healthy number of estates whose gardening staff are a vital part of their continued existence — Alan Titchmarsh pays tribute.
Of all the job titles going, few come with a more intimidating provenance than that of head gardener. Perhaps it is something to do with our literary as well as our horticultural history. As children, the first head gardener most of us were introduced to came courtesy of Beatrix Potter in The Tale of Peter Rabbit. As a result, we…