Born in Exeter, Devon, Buckland was brought up in the coastal towns of Dawlish and Kingswear. He trained as a nurseryman at Blyth's Devon Nursery and later Whetman's in Devon before studying horticulture, first at Bicton College, Budleigh Salterton, Devon and later Hadlow College of Horticulture and Agriculture, Hadlow, Kent where he trained in Landscape and Amenity management. During that time he spent a year as a horticultural trainee at the University of Cambridge Botanic Garden as a woodland supervisor. He also worked as a gardener for the author Tom Sharpe and built a garden for the Poet LaureateAndrew Motion. Toby Buckland is married to Lisa, a gardening writer, and has three children. They live in Dawlish. Buckland has now opened a nursery at Powderham Castle, located in Devon.
Television
Buckland's first job in TV was in 1996 as a horticultural researcher for Brian Lapping Associates working on Channel 4's Garden Party. In 1998 he then joined the Granada Breeze channel as a gardening presenter which led to TV roles designing and building gardens on shows including Home Front in the Garden, Real Wrecks, Carol Vorderman's Better Homes on ITV and BBC1's Garden Magic. He took over from Monty Don as the main presenter on the BBC flagship gardening programme Gardeners' World in August 2008. The format of the programme changed in various respects. In December 2010, the BBC announced that they would not be renewing Buckland's contract. Three years after recovering from a stroke, Monty Don returned as lead presenter of the show in March 2011. On 31 December 2010 he appeared on BBC One's Celebrity Mastermind answering questions on Father Tedand 22 overall with 2 more Passes, coming fourth. He donated his fee to the memorial garden which he designed for 45 Commando Royal Marines. In May 2011 he appeared as a presenter of the BBC's coverage of the Royal Horticultural SocietyChelsea Flower Show. In 2013, he presented two episodes of Great British Garden Revival.
Other projects
Buckland has supported a variety of charities including Perennial, Greenfingers, Thrive and Hospiscare. He has recently designed a memorial garden for 45 CommandoRoyal Marines.
