Broadcaster and newsreader Fiona Bruce is one of the BBC’s most prominent faces. Since starting out as a researcher on Panorama in 1989, she has appeared on programmes ranging from the News at Ten and Crimewatch to Question Time and the Antiques Roadshow. She and her husband Nigel Sharrocks have two children, and 12 years ago, they bought a farmhouse in Oxfordshire where something else started creeping up her news agenda – her garden. It has taken her on a rollercoaster journey of joy and heartbreak, dreams and disasters, but she refuses to give up.

Where do you live and what type of garden do you have?

We have an old farmhouse with a garden that covers two acres and overlooks the Chiltern Hills. When we bought it 12 years ago, we could see that the garden was completely run down. A huge area was covered with mile-a-minute, and a big flower bed was infested with couch grass, which took a year to kill off. Some of the trees had already collapsed and were covered in ivy, but we also had a very old walnut tree, which had bifurcated at the base. The previous owners had fitted a shed into the top of it to make a tree house, which our two kids loved. But one night, there was a terrible gale and the whole thing came down. The tree was rotted inside with honey fungus, and we realised five or six other trees were in the same state. They all had to come down. It was heartbreaking.

What are some of your more successful stories?

After that whole episode, we asked our friend, Sheila Jack, who’s a garden designer, if she’d help us come up with a plan for the garden that we could work on in stages. We loved her ideas so much we decided to do them all at once. The colour scheme for the borders was blues and whites, with touches of pink and yellow. Now, every spring we have an abundance of tulips, then camassias and euphorbias.

By May, the wisteria hangs down over the pergola, followed by a white rambler called ‘Wedding Day’. In June, the rest of the roses are out, including the Gertrude Jekylls and white Icebergs, which are bombproof. Then come all those wonderful summer blues – Russian sage, salvias, ‘Johnson’s Blue’ geraniums and Eryngiumbourgatii ‘Picos Blue’, which has a Klein-blue intensity to it. In my humble opinion, if you’re going to have one eryngium, this is the one to have.

Do you grow any fruit and veg?

My husband and I both wanted a veg garden, which has been up and running for some time now, but I have to say, we still haven’t cracked some of the basics. Cut-and-come-again lettuce bolts before we cut it, our greenhouse tomatoes are never that good and the asparagus is a disaster. Beetroot and corn on the cob do well and we’ve got quite a few fruit bushes, plus lots of strawberries.

The funny thing is it never occurred to me there were different varieties! I just thought a strawberry was a strawberry. It was only when we happened to buy two different types that I realised one was delicious, and the other one wasn’t. Annoyingly, we then lost the labels, so we didn’t know which was which.

What else was on your garden wish list?

From day one, we wanted a small wildflower meadow, but having seen dozens of them at stately homes, I knew how hard they can be to grow. So, for the first year, we used Wildflower Turf and the results were amazing. Second year, slightly less amazing. Monocultures had already kicked in so there were lots of pink champion and wild carrot, not to mention grass, docks and hogweed.

To rectify this, we bought hundreds of plugs, including poppies and cornflowers, but only three came up. I added Verbena bonariensis, industrial quantities of yellow rattle too. It didn’t work. This June, we cut it all right back to see what would happen. If we end up with wild carrot up to our hip, at least our 13-year-old Irish terrier, Molly, will love it. You fight a constant battle with wildflowers; ironically, a battle with nature to create something that looks like nature.

Did you have a garden as a child?

My parents moved around quite a bit for work when I was young. I was actually born in Singapore, and they went back there again when I was a student, so I’d visit them every summer. They had these amazing rambutan trees, which have hairy-looking red fruits, and I can remember picking bananas and mangos straight from the trees. My father wasn’t remotely interested in gardening, but Mum loved it and tried many times, unsuccessfully, to impart her passion to me.

Their last house was in the West Country, where they had a wonderful mature garden and traditional veg patch. I feel terrible saying this, but I never stopped to look at it. I never said: “God, the garden looks great, Mum.” I just wasn’t interested; neither were my brothers. Mum died some years ago now and I just think how much she’d have loved conversations about the garden. I was very close to her… I loved her very much. It’s such a shame.

So, when did your love of gardening start?

It’s only in the last 10 years that my interest has really grown. When we were living in London we did have gardens, but our kids were young, so the gardens were mostly an area for them to play in. However, in our last London house, we had this huge Magnolia grandiflora. A terrace ran along the back of the house and the tree stood on the lawn, covered with the most glorious flowers every spring. Whenever we talk about the house, it’s the magnolia we miss. When we came here, I planted one in memory of Mum, but sadly the soil doesn’t suit it, so that was another disaster. But we did plant an avenue of crab apple trees and they’re marvellous. I think I’m becoming obsessed with all of it – trees, bulbs, seeds, digging, planting, pruning, weeding. I may be a relative newcomer, but I have the zeal of the converted. The garden is my pride and joy.

Do you visit other people’s gardens?

I am a perennially nosey person. It’s probably why I do the job I do. And that nosiness extends to gardens, which is why I became a member of the National Garden Scheme. It gives you this brilliant opportunity to go around other people’s gardens, see what they’ve done and talk to the owners. They’re always so keen to share their knowledge about what works and what doesn’t; they’ll often put on a little tea, too. The whole experience just seems to tap into our national psyche. When the NGS asked me to become an ambassador, I leapt at the chance. I’ve picked up so many tips, but sometimes you just want to stop and stare at something truly amazing. That happened not long ago when I saw this large peony hedge. Imagine. I still find myself dreaming about it.

With so much going on in your professional life, has the garden become your retreat?

Two things: first, there are times when I look at the plants and flowers in my garden and I think I am surrounded by beauty. It is balm for the soul. Secondly, there is something about the cycle of nature… the changing seasons, the pace of time through the prism of the garden. Of course, I get frustrated by all the failures, but I’m also beginning to learn that there are two things at play here: my own ineptitude and the realisation that there’s a limit to how much I can control. I have learned to roll with it, to let things go, to just relax. That’s a good thing for me. In my work life, I’m not like that at all.