Cavendish, Lucy (8 March 2013). "Monty Don: My garden has come into itself, for better or for worse". Radio Times . Retrieved 14 March 2014. a b Raven, Sarah (1 March 2003). "The likely lads". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 8 February 2016. a b c d e Garfield, Simon (6 April 2003). "And quiet hoes the Don". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 May 2020. Marsha and I have worked together for many years for various publications including the following books: The Complete Gardener Gardening at Longmeadow The Home Cookbook

Natural World: Cork – Forest in a Bottle". The NatureWatch. 2008. Archived from the original on 6 March 2009 . Retrieved 22 December 2008. Leonard, Tom (30 September 2002). "Monty Don adds a little muscle to Gardeners' World". The Telegraph . Retrieved 12 August 2020. However climate chaos is affecting us gardeners in unpredictable ways - which is, I guess, one of the definitions of chaos. Here in the UK our Spring weather is getting more erratic with very warm and very cold weather running hard into each other. Last April we had snow and 20 days of frost yet hardy plants by and large cope with this. Kellaway, Kate (8 March 2009). "The interview: Monty Don". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 13 May 2010. 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 ]Longmeadow is also not a feasible garden for the vast majority of people to emulate anyway. First, it depends highly on having two acres to grow on in Herefordshire, which I guess is close enough for most readers in England, but really not useful for me at all here in the American Midwest (and with a much smaller piece of property). For example, Don mentions several times that he has roses climbing up his apple trees, and as far as I can tell, these are multiflora roses. He speaks of them glowingly, but I know that here in Ohio, they are a noxious invasive species, and that planting them to grow on your apple trees would probably be a bad idea. When they are large enough to handle and move you simply lift a clump with a trowel and transplant them with plenty of soil attached to their roots, water them in well and they will scarcely notice the relocation. I am all for mowing as little as possible. That will mean different things to different people but long grass is one of the best environments for a huge diversity of wildlife in the garden, and long grass with flowers from bulbs, perennials and annuals is as beautiful as anything else you might grow. Everybody is happy except perhaps the those that see tidiness as the prime aim of gardening and children wanting somewhere to play. To satisfy the clatter - very important - it is good to have a patch of mown grass where not only they can play but everyone can lounge and sprawl and enjoy the short grass between their toes. But try and restrict the mowing as much as possible. In our garden we have reduced it right down to mown paths in the long grass.

Don is a keen proponent of organic gardening, becoming "officially" organic in his own garden in 1997. [48] The practice of organic techniques often features in his published and broadcast work. The organic approach is most prominent in his 2003 book The Complete Gardener. This has led him into some controversy with those advocating non-organic techniques, with some criticising his position of influence presenting Gardeners' World and exclusion of non-organic solutions to pests and diseases in the garden. [56] The most old fashioned and familiar variety to many people is the Butterhead which are the one with rosettes of soft , cabbage-like leaves. They grow well in cold weather so can provide fresh leaves in winter, and butterheads like a good ‘Tom Thumb’, Is my favourite butterhead variety. It is very small and you need one per person but they are easy to grow and have excellent taste and texture. ‘All the Year Round’ is, as the name implies, hardy and adaptable enough to crop most of the year. Butterheads store badly so should be cut and eaten on the same day. 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’. a b c "Digging Monty Don: TV's favourite gardener on turning 60". Belfast Telegraph. 6 May 2015 . Retrieved 22 April 2016. I think I'm dying': Monty Don speaks for the first time of the stroke". 11 April 2012 . Retrieved 9 June 2018.How to grow fruits and vegetables with in-depth crop-by-crop explanations and which tried-and-tested varieties to choose from 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. Monty Don: There's a hole in our lives after death of beloved dog". Evening Standard. London. 13 May 2020 . Retrieved 13 May 2020. Whatever your grass-cutting inclinations, resist the temptation to scalp your grass down to its midsummer height. Set the blades high and just trim the grass for the first few weeks as much to even it out as to reduce it. Then, as the weather gets warmer and the grass starts to grow more strongly, gradually reduce the height over a few weeks but always keeping it slightly on the long side. This will result in a much healthier, greener sward. Join Monty in his garden at Long Meadow! Over half of the photos included in this updated edition were shot at his renowned personal garden over the course of a year. Discover how he created this beautiful garden, and how you can do the same in your own.

A structure chapter that shows you how to define space in your garden with hard landscaping and natural options, such as trees, hedges, and topiary In July 2006 he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, choosing an eclectic mix of pop and classical records; the Beatles' " A Hard Day's Night" was his favourite disc, his book choice was Collected Poems by Henry Vaughan and his luxury item the painting Hendrikje Bathing by Rembrandt. [79] Nigel was a male Golden Retriever dog owned by Don. Nigel made many appearances on Gardeners' World, sometimes with Nellie. The dog was chosen as a seven-week-old puppy from a litter in the Forest of Dean on 1 July 2008 [67] and was popular with viewers who were concerned when he disappeared from the programme in September 2012. He had injured himself after twisting sideways when jumping to catch a tennis ball and had ruptured an intervertebral disc in his spine. [68] Nigel recovered and resumed his television appearances. [67] If you are an amateur gardener like me, and interested in gardening even slightly, start here. Every sentence of The Complete Gardener is thoroughly enjoyable and life enriching as you learn. It’s a personal account of how to be a good gardener with rafts of real advice and guidance from one of our greatest gardeners and garden commentators.

Christmas Cards & Gift Wrap

Sow more seeds in early August for harvest from early September and right through autumn. Growing Salad Leaves In Containers