Alan Titchmarsh apologises to Gardeners' World co-star after criticism

Selecting which plants to feature in your garden comes down to individual preference, according to Alan Titchmarsh, although he couldn't help taking a playful swipe at fellow Gardeners' World presenter Joe Swift whilst discussing garden colour palettes.

Writing for Scribehound, Alan jokes that Joe's aversion to pink blooms likely stems from "being frightened by pink and green floral wallpaper in the smallest room of someone else's house" and suggests that the Newcastle-born designer's anti-pink bias might be remedied with "a session in the psychiatrist's chair." He later said: "Sorry Joe; only kidding."

However, Alan admits he's "not immune to current fads and fancies" himself, noting that he would invariably opt for a shrub rose over a hybrid tea rose when choosing roses for his own garden.

Referencing celebrated garden designers from history, including Vita Sackville-West with her famous blend of green, silver and white plantings in the "White Garden" at Sissinghurst, Alan maintains that there's no reason to exclude - or favour - any single colour.

Such restrictions are "whims, fancies, prejudices," he argues, "all often based on nothing more than a need to impress one's fellow gardeners."

Alan admits he's utterly baffled by garden designers who confess to being colourblind. "It leaves me feeling as bewildered as Strictly champion Chris McCausland," he remarks.

"He told me that when he was almost blind he got down to the last 30 out of a group of 2,000 hopefuls who applied to join MI5. The prospect of becoming the UK's first blind spy was," Alan adds, "great source material for a comedian."

Alan believes that a sense of fun is vital in a garden. "When walking down a street, I encounter a front garden whose badly placed lumps of granite are billowing with clouds of aubrieta and arabis, snow-in-summer and mossy saxifrages, I cannot help but smile at their joyful exuberance."

Any garden that brings joy to its owner is a success, he says, whether it's a "tasteful" one-colour creation in the style of Sackville-West or a playful riot of colour.

However, there are some gardening faux pas he simply can't overlook - pampas grass has no redeeming features. And for Alan, the greatest garden sin of all is having no garden at all.

"A sea of concrete that requires nothing more than a stiff yard broom should make your heart sink more than a riot of supposedly unfashionable colour," he says.