Monty Don, who has become a firm favourite on our screens as a presenter on BBC’s Gardeners ‘ World, admitted he realises how “lucky” he was to have had a garden at a young age
Monty Don has opened up about feeling “lucky” to have his own garden, acknowledging that his own children “can’t afford” one.
The 69-year-old BBC Gardeners’ World presenter started honing his green-fingered skills as a teenager in Hampshire, where he and his brothers were often found mowing the lawn or picking strawberries from their family’s garden.
Before making his mark in the UK, Monty ventured to France, immersing himself in the art of gardening in Aix-en-Provence, only to return for further studies at the University of Cambridge. It was there that he crossed paths with his future wife Sarah and the pair eventually made their home in London.
In the capital, Monty and Sarah nurtured an impressive garden, something that Monty now describes as “very unusual” for the time.
His remarkable garden didn’t go unnoticed and attracted the attention of a photographer, leading to magazine features and Monty’s initial steps into the limelight. Reflecting on those days, the Gardeners’ World presenter feels fortunate to have been part of a generation where owning a garden as a young person was within reach, reports Yorkshire Live.
Back in the 1970s, the average house price in London started at about £4, 480, the equivalent to roughly £60, 500 in today’s money, and rose to around £19, 925 by 1979, approximately £96, 600 now.
Fast forward to 2025, and the average London home stands at a staggering £556, 000, with semi-detached properties hitting the £714, 000 mark.
Speaking on the V&, A Dundee podcast, Monty shared that his adult children – Adam, Tom, and Freya – are unable to afford the same privileges he had in his youth.
Monty said: “I don’t really feel that I suddenly got inspiration, in so much that I realised, as I got older, between the age of 17 and 27, that increasingly other things than being in the garden, were in the way of being in the garden, and I needed it. I don’t want to sound precious about it but I really needed it.
” It wasn’t a question of feeling inspired to go be creative, it was a question of going to the garden to save my mind. I was really lucky because I am of a generation where we could afford, in our twenties, to buy a house or rent a house and live on our own and have a garden. My children can’t afford to do that.
“I had a garden of my own at the age of 25 and so I think that now, we must find out what it is, if you love plants then grow plants. Although I enjoy constructing and planting spaces, the overall effect is less interesting to me.
Monty moved from London to Longmeadow in Herefordshire in 1991, which has since become a beloved setting for Gardeners’ World. Monty describes the two-acre garden’s cultivation process there with viewers.
