Charlie Dimmock talks to Woman’s World about Ground Force, volunteering and autumn planting. Woman’s World caught up with television gardener Charlie Dimmock before she headed off to the US to film her regular gardening slot on the CBS Early Show. 

“They like to have the anchor (woman) involved so that there is a bit of chat between us. Can you imagine? All these network presenters are so glamorous – their hair never moves, but mine’s all over the place!” But, then, that is what we all loved about Charlie Dimmock and the rest of the Ground Force team – they and particularly Charlie – seemed completely natural both in a garden and in front of the camera.

Charlie’s face is now a familiar one during the BBC’s coverage of the Chelsea and the Hampton Court flower shows. About the time Woman’s World comes out, she will be on screens in the Meridian TV area doing a second series of River Walks. Meridian covers the south, below the M25 – mainly Kent, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset. “I talk about the architecture and the people who live near or by the river – it’s a real treat to do and viewers like it because it’s a gentle, easy-on-the-eye programme where you learn a little bit about the local countryside.”

It will be very different from her next stint on Celebrity Masterchef. “I’m panicking about this one because I’ve just seen what I have to do! My agent is convinced I can do it, no problem, and she’s trying to calm me down.” In fact, Charlie enjoys cooking but while she’s away she has to eat out, so she begins to miss home-cooked food. “When I get back I love to tuck into mash and gravy, real comfort food. When it’s hot, I love a nice country salad with a bit of crunch in it – you seldom get one of these in a restaurant.”

Thirty-nine-year old Charlie still lives in the New Forest where she grew up. “I love it now but at the age of 15 or 16 I was bored, there was nothing to do. Yes, I have a garden but because of my work commitments I seem to be either constantly catching up or getting ahead of myself.

I planted out my pumpkins too early last year because I was going to be away, working on a cruise ship, and my father phoned me to tell me that the frost had got them all. In the summer I have to have someone mow the lawn for me because it gets too long while I’m away for events such as Chelsea.”

Growing up in the New Forest, where everyone including her grandfather had a garden, may have influenced Charlie to choose horticulture as a career. “I dropped out of school before my A levels (my parents weren’t pleased!) and went to work for the nursery where I’d been working weekends. Then I thought I should go back to college, but there weren’t all the choices then that are available today.

“I went into amenity horticulture where you got to do a bit of everything – you were able to go to work afterwards for parks departments or the National Trust or private gardens. Commercial horticulture was the only other option, which meant you were going to run a garden centre or nursery and I didn’t want to do that.”

Does she consider gardening to be a good career for girls?

“Well I think so, especially if you’re like me and don’t like shuffling bits of paper around in an office. I once changed places with a nurse and I thought I would go crazy not having access to the outdoors. Horticulture is very satisfying but you won’t make a fortune! “You get a great sense of achievement getting things to grow how you want them to – even out of mowing a lawn. I also think gardeners are keen on wildlife and are environmentally-aware people. Obviously it isn’t for everyone, but I’ve talked to people who started out in other careers and made the switch.”

Most of us remember Charlie from Ground Force, as the strapping lass with the Titian hair and lack of supportive underwear who could stand her ground with good humour against the programme’s other unlikely stars, Alan Titchmarsh and Tommy Walsh. “We had good fun making those programmes (we did 156 gardens altogether) and because we were together so much we became more than a team, more like a family. So we would talk to each other like members of a family, squabbling or disagreeing, saying ‘That’s a load of rubbish!’ or whatever. There were a lot of in-jokes, which happened off camera and continued on-camera.

“It is impossible to say which one of the gardens was my favourite, but one of the prettiest was in Scotland – it was shaped like a long, narrow triangle with a little stream or burn running thorough it. That was my kind of garden, with birch trees and rocks – lovely! I love meadows, wild gardens, something cottagey, but they are a nightmare of hard work. I loved it when we went abroad, to South Africa and Jamaica – it was amazing to be planting orchids outside!” Even more amazing was meeting Nelson Mandela who famously told Charlie that she looked like a Spice Girl. (If you missed some of the Ground Force makeovers, you can see the series again on UKTV.)

As a humble horticulture student Charlie couldn’t have imagined she would one day lead a celebrity life. While filming at Chelsea she bumped into her head of house at college who proceeded to ask if he could have his picture taken with her. “I felt so silly, it was bizarre!” It is only fairly recently that Charlie has had a television of her own, but even now she hardly watches it, preferring instead to listen to Radio 4.