In 2003, Don replaced Alan Titchmarsh as the lead presenter of Gardeners' World, only leaving the show between 2008 and 2011 owing to illness. Since then he has written and produced several garden series of his own, the most recent being Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens which aired in 2022. I think I'm dying': Monty Don speaks for the first time of the stroke". 11 April 2012 . Retrieved 9 June 2018. Don has suffered with depression since his mid-twenties. [48] He first wrote about his experiences with it, and its effect on his personal life, in a piece for The Observer in 2000. [16] His editor recalled that it "changed the way that people saw him" and Don himself said the article generated "a very immediate response" from readers. [9] Don recalled "great spans of muddy time" in his life and realised that gardening "heals me better than any medicine". [2] This quote served as the inspiration for William Doyle's 2021 album Great Spans of Muddy Time. [75] The time to plant out sweet peas into the garden is mid April in the south and towards the end of the month further north.

In 2012, shortly before he fell ill with his stroke, Don had launched the Monty Don Project, a charity to help persistent offenders and drug addicts heal themselves by working the land. [80] Honours [ edit ] Magically delivering on all of the components that make a great garden and doing it better than any of us in the process. Grounded in his own experience, Monty’s straightforward gardening advice is paired with extraordinarily beautiful photographs taken over the course of a year in his own Herefordshire garden, taking you on a tour of his flower garden, herb garden, kitchen garden, and more. Box blight has decimated most of the hedges and topiary pieces he was once so proud of, and some of the hundreds of trees he planted have grown problematically large in places. So it goes. The best-laid plans can be derailed, he says, and even the most experienced gardeners will sometimes get things wrong. But Don’s opinions have also changed. He has always been a passionate organic gardener, but where once he fetishised the cultivation of soil as a ‘measure of manhood’, he now embraces no-dig methods and more gentle interventions. Perhaps the most striking quote from this book is his observation that you need ‘the humility to accept that your garden is not necessarily more important than anything else’.Removing the withered flowers also reduces the risk of fungal infections and will increase next year’s flowering display. As well as doing the plant good it also removes unsightly dead flowers that can hang onto the shrub for days or even weeks. Harden Off Tender Plants Meet Monty Don". UKTV Gardens. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008 . Retrieved 22 May 2008. Although there are over 30 species of slug in the UK, there are 4 main garden ones and the biggest do not necessarily do the most damage. What you see is actually a tiny percentage of the population and slug activity and densities of over 250,000 per acre are common. a b c d e Garfield, Simon (6 April 2003). "And quiet hoes the Don". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 May 2020. In 2016 Hodder Books published an audiobook of Don's Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs, read by the author. [51] Style and reception [ edit ]

This last month we have reshaped and replanted the Damp garden and started to do the same with the Dry garden. These are not make-overs - the essence and planting palette of both gardens remains the same, but it has involved removing most of the plants and remaking and re directing paths. It is also one of the easiest of all plants grow and freshly harvested, home grown lettuce always tastes wonderful. Rodger, James (11 May 2020). "Monty Don announces death of dog – days after Gardeners World appearance". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 11 May 2020. Lettuce needs cool temperatures to germinate, and may become dormant if the soil is above 20 degrees. They like a rich soil with good drainage. The only slight frustration for us currently is that we have a patio in Clapham… and that’s it (our own fault). Herbs will find their way in. I’m now on the hunt for a nearby allotment or field to rent!In June 2020 Prospect magazine declared Don "the nation's gardener". [9] Comedian Joe Lycett has described Monty Don as a gay icon. [59] Personal life [ edit ] Family [ edit ] Don, Monty (13 August 1990). "Goodbye to all that". The Guardian. p.16 . Retrieved 6 May 2020– via Newspapers.com.