Matthew Biggs, the long-serving Gardeners' Question Time panellist and gardening broadcaster, died on 21 May aged 65 after living with cancer since 2020. He made what he and the programme knew would be his final appearance last week, bringing to a close a run on the show that began in 1994.
For generations of listeners, Biggs was one of the most familiar voices in British gardening. He trained at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, later appeared on Channel 4's Garden Club and directed Grass Roots for ITV, and wrote books including Garden: Exploring the Horticultural World and A Home for Every Plant: Wonders of the Botanical World. Over the years, he became widely known not just for plant knowledge but for linking gardening with wellbeing and mental health.
Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya said everyone at Radio 4 was deeply grateful to Biggs for everything he had given to Gardeners' Question Time over the years, and described him as an extraordinary contributor and a true ambassador for Radio 4 in the horticultural world. Dan Cocker said listeners loved to hear his passionate advice and knowledge, and said Biggs volunteered in a sympathetic and purposefully conscious tone that appealed to the everyman home gardener.
That appeal helped make him more than a panel regular. Biggs worked on projects promoting the mental-health benefits of gardening and supported healthcare environments, treating the garden as a place of comfort as much as cultivation. While undergoing treatment at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Hertfordshire, he organised a group of people to help design, fund, plant and inspire a new garden for other patients to enjoy.
His final broadcast reflected that outlook. It included a special feature about his life in gardening and the strength he drew from it during his illness. In an earlier statement, Biggs said that by sharing his story he hoped he could offer both guidance to others facing illness and encouragement to listeners of all ages.
Gardeners' Question Time has been one of radio's most cherished programmes since 1947, and Biggs helped shape its modern voice for more than three decades. He is survived by his wife Gill and his daughters Chloe and Jessica.
His death closes the chapter on a broadcaster who spoke to gardeners as a fellow enthusiast, not an expert on a pedestal. For many listeners, the lasting image is likely to be his warmth on air and the quiet conviction that a garden could help carry people through hard times.
