HE has so far enjoyed a 25-year broadcasting career, ranging from breakfast telly and gardening programmes to presenting this year's Last Night at the Proms live from the Albert Hall.

But when Alan Titchmarsh passes to the great allotment in the sky, he wants a remark by the Queen engraved on his headstone. When she gave him his MBE, she said: "You have given a lot of ladies a lot of pleasure."

At 55, Titchmarsh admits he is an unlikely heart throb, but his easy-going manner on and off-screen has won him legions of fans.

He first took an interest in gardening as a child in Yorkshire, and despite leaving school with only one O level - art - he went on to study horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

After two years of supervising staff training there, he started editing gardening books and became deputy editor of Amateur Gardening magazine.

Television appearances followed on Nationwide and Pebble Mill, from where he presented three-minute live gardening segments from 1987. "I made all my mistakes in little slots and learnt my trade as a broadcaster," he said during a book-signing visit to Borders in Bournemouth to promote his novel Rosie.

His career blossomed, with appearances on Breakfast Time, Songs of Praise and hosting the quiz Ask the Family.

In 1996, he took over Gardeners' World, and the following year began presenting Ground Force - the garden makeover programme that became second only to EastEnders in the BBC's ratings.

The first of his five novels was published in 1998 and his autobiography came out in 2002. That year he brought out the first series of How to be a Gardener - and quit both Gardeners' World and Ground Force.

"I had done it for six years and designed 67 gardens. I thought 'That will do'. I don't like going stale. I don't like outstaying my welcome'," he explained.

After achieving such huge success, he now finds himself in the enviable position of being able to pick TV projects.

He has just spent 18 months filming a wildlife series called British Isles: A Natural History, which will be going out from September 29.

He has also signed up for a series next year called Collectibles from the 20th Century, which will feature anything from Edwardiana and Art Deco to Star Wars characters, Pokemon cards and Beanie Babies. "It will be like Antiques Roadshow, but less ... sedate," he said.

"I have never played safe in my life. I've never had a career plan. I'm proud of being a gardener, but I'm interested in a lot of things, and the ones I'm interested in I can tackle passionately. Why should I fit somebody's idea of a stereotype?"

His own collections include photographs of theatrical knights and dames and seashells. "When we moved house two years ago, we got rid of 40 boxes of books, but I still collect them," he admitted.

"I really enjoy design, both in the garden and in the house, but you've got to live in it and it has got to reflect you. Sometimes I look rather wistfully at examples of minimalism in interiors magazines, but they're not homes."

He writes every day, either for newspapers and magazines or for his next novel. "I won't stop writing fiction when people tire of my face on the box," he said.

"One does become more aware of perception, that people might think: 'Here we go, it's him again', but I'm on this planet to enjoy what I do. What people don't know is what I've turned down. I say 'no' quite a lot."