How Britain's best gardeners are coping in the drought: Ground Force team Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh suffer under hosepipe bans

By AIDAN RADNEDGE, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 00:01, 21 August 2026 | Updated: 00:08, 21 August 2026 There were the three expert gardeners who became household names and led part of a home and outdoor improvements boom on British TV. Yet gardens belonging to Ground Force's Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh look to have suffered similarly to many others during the UK's record-breaking drought and heatwaves this summer. They were the trio fronting the show since it was first broadcast by the BBC back in 1997 – winning an audience of 12million viewers at its peak.  Titchmarsh and Dimmock would appear on the show as gardeners, while Walsh used his building expertise to lay patios and fit decking.  Their own well-tended homes are now among those now seeing grass parched yellow and brown, despite benefiting from some cover by lush green trees.  Titchmarsh, 77, has his home in Farnham in Surrey, while 60-year-old Dimmock's is in Romsey in Hampshire and Walsh, 69, lives in Hackney, east London.  All three areas are currently covered by hosepipe bans. And photos suggest even some of the nation's best and best-loved gardeners are not immune to the effects of this summer's five heatwaves and resultant restrictions imposed across much of the UK, especially the south of England.  Charlie Dimmock's home in Romsey, Hampshire, has areas shrouded by lush green trees but grass beneath as well as surrounding fields have gone yellow and brown Alan Titchmarsh's property in Farnham, Surrey, has also been affected although similarly has an array of surrounding trees still staying a healthier green Garden grass has gone yellow where Tommy Walsh lives in Hackney, east London Professional gardener Titchmarsh was already an established broadcaster on magazine show Pebble Mill at One and Gardeners' World when Ground Force launched. But his two new colleagues joined him in becoming household names as they took on garden makeover challenges across the country on Ground Force. He left the show in 2002, but it ran for another three years before being cancelled.  Shortly after leaving Ground Force, Titchmarsh also stood down as presenter of fellow BBC show Gardeners' World – succeeded by Monty Don in 2003. Titchmarsh started out as an apprentice gardener after leaving school aged 15 in 1964, with one O-level, before progressing to study and work at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, south-west London then going into gardening journalism.  Dimmock, a keen gardener since childhood, studied horticulture before getting a TV break in 1992 when building a garden for ITV's Meridien region show Grass Roots. After Ground Force ended in 2005, she has since presented programmes including The Great British Garden Revival on BBC2 and BBC1 daytime show Garden Rescue which has run for more than 150 episodes since 2016. Walsh, who worked as a builder before finding fame on Ground Force, has gone on to feature on other shows such as Challenge Tommy Walsh, Tommy's DIY survival and Homes Under The Hammer.  Charlie Dimmock, Alan Titchmarsh and Tommy Walsh drew audiences of up to 12 million at the height of Ground Force's fame, after the BBC show began broadcasting in 1997 The Herefordshire home of Titchmarsh's Gardeners' World successor Monty Don has appeared in a healthy condition, with green trees and shrubs enclosing his two-acre estate named Longmeadow near the market town of Leominster.   While hosepipe bans have been imposed in various parts of the country, Severn Trent Water which covers parts of Herefordshire has not done so. Welsh Water, serving other territory in the region, has only done so in areas in Wales.  Broadcaster and writer Don, 71, has owned his Longmeadow property with his wife Sarah since 1991 – and has lovingly curated an array of differently themed areas across the estate.  He is among the celebrities who have managed to keep their gardens looking healthily green in contrast to sprawls of parched and yellow neighbouring fields. Rock legend Sir Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster's Essex home has appeared lush in defiance of this summer's heatwaves, as has outside Jeremy Clarkson's Farmer's Dog pub in the Cotswolds. Don has previously written in the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine and shared photos of his treasured home where he plays host on Gardener's World, the BBC programme he has presented since 2003. The two-acre space is divided into several areas, including the Cottage Garden, the Jewel Garden, the Islamic-inspired Paradise Garden, the Spring Garden, the Wildlife Garden, the Writing Garden and the Vegetable Garden. Broadcaster Monty Don's garden estate remains green despite this summer's heatwaves parching many of the surrounding areas, turning them yellow and brown Monty Don, pictured in March this year, has been presenting Gardeners' World since 2003 - he is pictured here in his Cottage Garden at Longmeadow, Herefordshire, in June 2024 A bird's eye view of Monty Don's garden and it's 'zones': 1. Spring Garden; 2. The Jewel Garden; 3. The Damp Garden; 4. The Wildlife Garden; 5. The Writing Garden The horticulturist's Longmeadow garden in Herefordshire is well known to green fingered enthusiasts as a setting of BBC show Gardeners' World He wrote in 2021: 'The way that I have designed my garden is, as a friend of mine only half-jokingly described it, "like a series of allotments".  'It means there are a number of different areas, all quite separate and usually hidden from the rest. 'I make no apologies for this and enjoy the surprises and sense of enclosure that it brings. Inevitably this means that different sections of the garden have their own character.  'We also try to treat each separate area as though it were the only garden that we had. 'This means that each section has to stand up to the strictest scrutiny and aesthetic standards.' Amid differing looks to Britain's gardens this summer, Wessex Water earlier this week became the latest authority to announce a hosepipe ban, its first since the 1976 heatwave – affecting 1.4million customers across areas in Bath, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. More than 27million people across England have now had hosepipe use restricted in their area.  Yet some areas have since Tuesday experienced their 'first meaningful rain for a long time', as the Met Office put – and while people were also told to brace for floods. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. On Monday night parts of London, Kent, Essex and Sussex saw light or patchy rain after all being declared in drought at the end of last month. England and Wales had their driest July ever recorded while southern England had its driest month ever, according to records going back almost 200 years.  But Wisley, in Surrey, broke its 62-day dry streak – the longest of any area in the UK – with 1.6mm falling in the early hours of Wednesday. The Met Office has predicted showers, 'some heavy and thundery', on Friday – with temperatures 'near average to cool', though they should lessen on Saturday.  The change comes after the UK’s fifth heatwave of the summer, during which the hottest day of the year was recorded in Kew Gardens, London, on August 13 when temperatures reached 38.1C. Recent conditions have taken their toll on many fields, parks and gardens, turning them from green to yellow or brown. But pictures told a different story last week at the lush grounds around 81-year-old Sir Rod's Grade II-listed, 18th-century Essex mansion he bought for £4.65million in 2013. Sir Rod's property is supplied by Affinity Water, which introduced a hosepipe ban across its central region, including Essex, on July 17 due to the weather conditions. Sir Rod Stewart's Grade II-listed mansion has very green gardens despite the dry weather Grass outside Jeremy Clarkson's Cotswolds pub looked surprisingly lush on Monday as the presenter revealed his tactic for accessing water Eight other water companies have brought in bans, which mean customers are legally banned from using hosepipes to water gardens or wash cars, patios or boats. There is no evidence Sir Rod has breached a ban, given there are many workarounds for watering grass such as using a watering can. He may also have an exemption. Former Top Gear host Mr Clarkson has also explained how the ex-Faces frontman could have kept his gardens green – as he explained the approach used at his pub. Aerial images from above Mr Clarkson's pub on Monday showed much of the grass remaining green while some patches and neighbouring fields were parched brown. Mr Clarkson wrote in his Sun column: 'Could it be, perhaps, that Rod, here with wife Penny, probably has a borehole? 'You dig a hole maybe 100m down into the ground, put a pump in it and water comes out. Water that’s not subjected to any kind of government interference. 'That’s what we did at my pub, which is why the lawns there are also weirdly verdant.' Another rock star Sir Paul McCartney appears to be adhering to a hosepipe ban at his home and grounds in Peasmarsh, near Rye in East Sussex.  Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney's 160-acre East Sussex estate shows signs of the heatwave Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Images of his Sussex estate have shown a green herb garden but also swathes of yellow and brown grass.  A hosepipe ban for the area was imposed last month by South East Water, with the restrictions covering not only Sussex but also Berkshire, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire. Meanwhile, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's lawns are greener than most thanks to a large private lake just a stone’s throw from the back of his Essex mansion. The star has installed hosepipes between the pond and his garden, which is markedly greener than the parched countryside that surrounds it. Water taken from a privately owned source – such as from a lake, pond, spring or well on a property – is exempt from the hosepipe ban. Oliver has lived at the Grade I-listed 12-bedroom property since purchasing it for £6million in 2019, and the pond sits within its 70-acre site. Faring perhaps less well is 82-year-old Keith Richards's West Sussex home, with a small garden circled by buildings – but with other grass on his estate just as brown and dry as the surrounding fields. With no visible private water source, Richards cannot rely on a handy nearby lake to get around restrictions, which came into place in the county on July 25. Keith Richards' home in West Sussex has a small green patch at the centre, but other grass on the property is struggling Chef Jamie Oliver's lawns are rather more green than most - helped by having a large personal lake just a stone's throw from the back of his Essex mansion A Thames Water boss warned on Friday that its own hosepipe ban – affecting 10.1million people – is likely to remain in place until the end of this year.  Nevil Muncaster, strategic water resources director at the firm, told Times Radio on Friday: 'I think realistically, it's going to be towards the end of the year before that comes off. 'That's something that we need to make sure we do just to protect the environment.' He added that when temperatures surpassed 25C (77F), customers tended to use 25 per cent more water than usual. When they go above 30C (86F), as they frequently have this summer amid five heatwaves, customers use up to 50 per cent more water. Mr Muncaster said that despite some rainfall, more dry conditions are expected in the near future. 'The Environment Agency forecast is that it will be drier than normal for the next few months, but we'll wait and see,' he added. Thames Water, Britain's biggest water company, is £19.5billion in debt, with creditors in the process of trying to arrange a bailout deal – as ministers recently rejected the latest proposal. On average, the firm loses 569 million litres of water per day, down from 654 million litres a day one decade ago.