INTERVIEW
Rachel de Thame
In her 25th year as a Gardeners’ World presenter, Rachel de Thame, 62, talks about the healing power of her garden and a mad dash to buy a hat to meet the Queen
What are your first memories of gardening?
Growing up on the edge of North London and Hertfordshire, our Edwardian house had a fairly sizeable rectangular garden. With three younger brothers, dogs and cats, ours felt like an outdoor life. My parents were keen gardeners and on family walks round the local streets we’d look at the gardens and discuss the plants. I’ve been captivated by them for as long as I can remember.
Tell us about your garden in the Cotswolds.
We have a large plot which almost bleeds into the surrounding countryside. So as well as ornamental beds filled with flowers there are areas around the edges where I allow wildflowers to grow, many of which some might consider weeds. These can be beautiful and successful plants and I admire their resilience. I’m happy to have ‘messy’ areas, where the grass can grow longer and things like nettles and dandelions, both of which are important for pollinators, are allowed to do their thing.
You have four children, Lauren, 34, and Joe, 32 [from Rachel’s first marriage to photographer Stephen Colover], and Emma, 20, and Olivia, 18 [from her present marriage to filmmaker Gerard de Thame]. How hard was it to juggle such a big family with your career?
I first became a grandmother when my two youngest children were at primary school. Now my eldest daughter, Lauren, has four sons under ten. We’re often told we can ‘have it all’ but as every working mother knows, there are compromises to make and it can be a huge juggling act.
I often felt guilty that I wasn’t giving enough time to my family or work. I try to keep the plates spinning but a lot of those plates fall!
You were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. How are you now?
I’m ticking along and I try to focus on just getting on with life. My oncologist says that nowadays they don’t tend to say you are completely clear. But I’m well and working, although in some respects, post treatment I can’t look after my garden as I used to and need a bit more help for heavier work. When I was in the middle of chemo, my children were very careful around me and on their best behaviour. Now they are back to being normal kids and it feels good to be taken for granted. One of the reasons I talked about having cancer at the time was the hope it might normalise the experience and help anyone dealing with something similar by saying, ‘I’m going through the same thing, so I understand you’re frightened’. It was a way to ensure something good could come out of it. I had no family history of breast
