The famous TV presenter may have just finished his 26-date UK tour, An Audience with Monty Don, in December, but gardening fans won’t have to wait much longer to get another glimpse of him. His latest, much-anticipated television show, Monty Don’s British Gardens, begins this Friday 10 January; the first of five one-hour episodes exploring some of Britain’s best gardens.
Monty visits 60 gardens up and down the British Isles in the series, starting in Scotland and Northumberland in episode one, before travelling across the north of England and Northern Ireland, then from Wales to Norfolk, and throughout London and the home counties. The series concludes with a trip across the South West in episode five.
On his travels, Monty sets aside familiar names such as Sissinghurst and Great Dixter, to instead explore some of the country’s lesser-known choices. He includes everything from grand, historical gardens to residential plots and community spaces - many of which are thriving in challenging climates. Monty also visits some of King Charles’ private gardens at Birkhall, part of the Balmoral estate.
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When we interviewed Monty in November about his latest book, Spanish Gardens, he revealed this new TV show has “been one of the hardest things [he’s] done”. While the Spanish gardens he visited were very diverse due to their often extreme climate conditions, this is not the case in the UK.
He explained, “The difficulty of a British garden is that it's homogenous. All British gardens share similar characteristics, and that's partly to do with our climate, partly to do with the fact we have a certain style and we can grow so many plants.
“There's barely a good British garden that isn't full of all kinds of perennials, ranging from Knepp to Wollerton Old Hall. When you start looking at them, as I have done the last 12 months, there's a lot of similarity. To craft a five-hour narrative was a bit more tricky. But I think we've done it, and it’s been fascinating.”
Monty Don’s British Gardens airs on BBC2 on Fridays at 8pm, from Friday 10 January. Watch it live or on demand on BBC iPlayer.
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