She confessed to being a ‘novice’ when unveiled as the new chairman of BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time last month.

Now Kathy Clugston has revealed that her gardening experience is limited to ‘houseplants and the odd window box’.

And the Radio 4 continuity announcer admitted she was so surprised to be asked to take over from Eric Robson that she had to ask the show’s executive producer, Darby Dorras, to repeat himself when he approached her with the offer.

Asked how handy she was with a trowel, she said: ‘As an itinerant freelancer for 25 years, I’ve rented, and it’s been houseplants and the odd window box.

Radio presenter Kathy Clugston who has had to deal with a life long lost sense of smell

‘I lived in a flat in Islington [north London] and used to put nice things such as geraniums and primroses in the box, which I bought at the nearby market, and I grew a little bit of rocket and some herbs.’

Describing the moment Mr Dorras suggested she become the programme’s first female chairman in its 62-year history, she told The Sunday Times: ‘I had to ask him to say it again. He says he will never forget my face.

'The first thing I blurted out was, “I don’t know enough about gardening”.’ His response was: ‘That’s what the panel are for.’

Radio 4 newsreader Kathy Clugston, who has been unveiled as the new chairwoman of Gardeners' Question Time

In the interview, Miss Clugston, 49, who also reads the shipping forecast, addressed concerns about the fact that she has no sense of smell because she lacks an olfactory bulb, a structure located in the brain.

‘It doesn’t play a huge part on the radio,’ she said. Last month, former GQT chairman Professor Stefan Buczacki accused the BBC of ‘dumbing down’ after her appointment was announced.

Miss Clugston will host the show for the first time on Friday.