Carol Ann Klein (born 24 June 1945) is an English gardening expert, who also works as a television presenter and newspaper columnist.
Early life
Born in
Walkden
Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Salford, and of Manchester.
Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire, Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture.
In 2014, ...
, Lancashire, in 1945, Klein attended
Bolton School
Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including sixth fo ...
but left school when she was 15. Interviewed for ''
Lancashire Life
''Lancashire Life'' is a British monthly regional magazine, first published in 1947, devoted to the English county palatine of Lancashire. The magazine is part of Archant Life Ltd. It covers lifestyle topics including motoring, property, food, ar ...
'' in 2014 she recalled: "I think I was quite close to being chucked out. I loved art and biology but in those days you had to choose between the two subjects. I was fed up about that." She wanted to go to art school but her father would not allow it and she ended up selling buttons and stockings at the
Kendal Milne department store in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. Her love of gardening was inspired partly by her grandfather, whose allotment she enjoyed, and partly by her mother.
Klein trained as an art teacher and taught in schools in
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, i ...
, London before moving to
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. There she lectured at
North Devon College and taught art at
South Molton
South Molton is a town in Devon, England. It is part of the North Devon local government district. The town is on the River Mole. According to the 2001 census the civil parish of South Molton had a population of 4,093, increasing to 5,108 at the ...
Secondary School and
Community College
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
before setting up her own plant nursery, Glebe Cottage Plants. She exhibited at more than 200
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
shows and began exhibiting at the annual
Chelsea Flower Show
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...
in 1990, where her displays won a total of six gold medals.
Television
Klein made her television debut on ''
Gardeners' World
''Gardeners' World'' is a long-running British gardening programme, first broadcast on 5 January 1968. The 2022 series is the 53rd. Its first series was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Up until 2020 most of its e ...
'' in 1989 and has since presented other gardening programmes such as ''Real Gardens'' and ''Open Gardens''.
Projects include ''Life in a Cottage Garden with Carol Klein'' which followed a year in the life of Klein's garden at Glebe Cottage in North Devon, and ''Grow Your Own Veg''. Each week the programme looked at a different group of crop plants or techniques suitable for home gardening. Both programmes were made for
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
. She has been a permanent presenter of ''Gardeners' World'' since 2005.
Klein has been described as having a "weather-beaten face, forthright manner and fruity accent – mainly West Country but with hints of her native Manchester.."
In 2013 she was a joint presenter for two episodes of BBC's ''
Great British Garden Revival
''Great British Garden Revival'' is a British documentary television series that was first broadcast on BBC Two on 9 December 2013. The series was presented by Monty Don, Carol Klein, Joe Swift, Rachel De Thame, James Wong, Tom Hart Dyke, Chr ...
''.
Writing
As well as television work, Klein has written a number of best-selling books for
Mitchell Beazley
Mitchell Beazley Publishers Limited is a British book publisher which is particularly specialised in atlases, reference books, natural history books, cook books, garden books and wine books.
History
The London-based company Mitchell Beazley was ...
and writes for gardening publications such as ''
BBC Gardeners' World
''BBC Gardeners' World'' is a monthly British gardening magazine owned by Immediate Media Company, containing tips for gardening from past and current presenters of the television series ''Gardeners' World''.
History and profile
''BBC Gardeners ...
'' magazine as well as a column for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. She writes a weekly column, syndicated through the
Trinity Mirror regional's newspaper publishing business, which appears in the "Saturday Extra" magazine given with regional newspaper titles such as the ''
Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...
'' and ''
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
''.
Personal life
Klein is married to Neil Klein and has two daughters, Annie and Alice. Annie lives in California and Alice lives in Lewisham and has two children.
In 2011 Klein's nursery business, Glebe Cottage Plants, based at her home at
Chittlehamholt
Chittlehamholt is a village and civil parish in North Devon district, Devon, England. In the 2011 census it was recorded as having a population of 169.
The neighbouring parishes are Satterleigh and Warkleigh to the north, King's Nympton to th ...
near
Umberleigh
Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it becam ...
, which took orders from all over the UK, was forced to close after a dispute with her neighbour.
In 2016 she was voted the nation's favourite gardener in a poll for ''Yorkshire Women's Life Magazine'' over her ''Gardener's World'' colleague
Monty Don
Montagu Denis Wyatt Don (born George Montagu Don; 8 July 1955) is a British horticulturist, broadcaster, and writer who is best known as the lead presenter of the BBC gardening television series ''Gardeners' World''.
Born in Germany and raised ...
.
In March 2018 Klein was awarded the
Victoria Medal of Honour
The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society.
The award was established in 1897 "in per ...
by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Bibliography
*''Plant Personalities: Choosing and Growing Plants by Character'' with Jonathan Buckley (Cassell Illustrated, 2004)
*''RHS Grow Your Own Veg'' (Mitchell Beazley, 2007)
*''RHS Grow Your Own Fruit'' (Mitchell Beazley, 2008)
*''RHS Grow Your Own Veg Journal'' (Mitchell Beazley, 2008)
*''Cook Your Own Veg'' (Mitchell Beazley, 2008)
*''Making a Garden'' (Mitchell Beazley, 2015)
References
External links
*
A firm favourite– article in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 28 July 2007
Portraitby
Tessa Traeger
Tessa Traeger (born 1938) is a British photographer. She is known for her still life and food photography, and has worked as an advertising photographer. Her work has been published in two books of her own; included in a number of books with othe ...
at the
National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...
(2002)
Life in a Cottage Garden–
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
television programme
Biography and careerat curtisbrown.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Carol
1945 births
Living people
People from Walkden
People educated at Bolton School
English gardeners
English garden writers
English television presenters
English television personalities
Television personalities from Lancashire