Monty Don Unveils Britain's Finest Gardens in New Book British Gardens

From the Arctic Circle to the Australian outback, and from the Amazonian jungle to Japan's cultivated landscapes, gardening expert Monty Don has journeyed globally exploring diverse horticultural traditions. Yet, as he films the latest series of Gardeners' World from his Longmeadow garden in Herefordshire, the reality of television production starkly contrasts with the tranquil image viewers might imagine.

"I want people to think that the camera just turns up and follows me pottering around the garden, then we pop off to look at Adam Frost or Carol Klein doing something else, then after an hour we say bye bye," Don explains. "The reality is it's quite a big production team. It takes weeks to prepare – two days to film, six days to edit. It's full on. In-between filming, which we do two days a week, we then have to prepare the garden for what we're filming thereafter." He adds, "I brace myself. For the crew and I, it's like going back to school."

British Gardens: A Celebration of Horticultural Excellence

Despite this demanding schedule, the acclaimed broadcaster and author has authored British Gardens, a substantial coffee table book that accompanied his BBC series last year. The volume delves into the breadth of British horticulture, from grand estates to intimate private plots, showcasing the subtle artistry and sheer spectacle of the nation's most outstanding green spaces. Covering gardens from the Scottish Highlands to the Cornish coast, Don seeks to uncover what truly distinguishes British gardens.

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"The first is simply climate. We have the best weather. And although we complain about the weather all the time, it's actually perfect for a wider range of gardening than any other country in the world," he asserts. Our inherent love for gardening, he believes, is a close second.

"Napoleon said we're a nation of shopkeepers. He got it wrong. We're a nation of gardeners," Don continues. He highlights the enduring connection Britons have with their gardens, even as homeownership becomes more challenging for younger generations. "Even today, when more and more people under 30 or even 35 are finding it hard to have their own home and therefore their own garden, I think the figure is 83 per cent of the population has access to a garden." While acknowledging a slight decline from over 90 per cent in the last 25 years, he stresses, "it's still very, very high. It's still a dramatically large majority of the population." For Don, gardening serves as a powerful unifying force: "That process of gardening cuts across class, race, gender, age and unites us and is a common bond."

Featured Gardens from British Gardens

Here, Don shares some of the remarkable gardens featured in his book:

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Birkhall, Cairngorms National Park: "It has to be the King's garden. It is private and was therefore a privilege and an act of friendship, almost, to let us film there," Don recounts. Having met the King and Queen on previous occasions, he notes, "I wouldn't suggest that we're friends but I've had doings with them over the years." He describes them as "keen gardeners, proper gardeners and they love it. To have insight into the private world of probably the most public figure in the country was momentous." The garden itself is a "curious mixture – it's a royal garden, beautifully gardened with great big kitchen gardens, lawns and woods, but it feels domestic, private."
Scampston Hall, North Yorkshire: The walled garden at Scampston Hall is a masterpiece designed by Dutch nurseryman Piet Oudolf, who ingeniously created a series of compartmentalised spaces within the 4.5-acre enclosure. Don expresses a preference for Oudolf's earlier work, noting, "It includes his use of structure and hedges and space in a way that he abandoned 15 or 20 years ago. I like his early gardens better than his late gardens." The garden offers a rich tapestry of styles, featuring "prairie planting, incredible hedges, the mound, it has the water and it's beautifully restored and looked after." Subdivided by hedges into ten distinct "rooms," each area presents a unique and captivating vista.
Wollerton Old Hall, Shropshire: Don describes this as a "'wow' garden," embodying the quintessential British garden aesthetic. With two of its four acres dedicated to woodland, it features interconnected areas rather than small, separate rooms, linked by sight lines and paths. "They all interlink but they all have their own character," he explains. Crucially, it operates "very much on a domestic scale, not a great big grand house." This remarkable garden is the culmination of over 40 years of dedication by Lesley and John Jenkins, who began transforming a simple field when their family was young. Don enthuses about their partnership: "They make a perfect team. The quote she says is, she uses plants and he grows plants. So what you have is that she designs it, chooses the plants, thinks of the colour scheme. And he will produce the perfect variety to achieve that effect, that loves the soil and loves the conditions and makes sure it's looking its very best." He concludes, "Between them they have established one of the most magical gardens ever made."
Balmoral Cottage, Kent: Topiary, according to Don, is an indispensable element of the British garden, and this particular example was meticulously crafted by Charlotte and Donald Molesworth, who took over the overgrown site in 1983. "When they got married she only asked for two presents. One was cuttings and seedlings of yew and box and the other was curtains," Don recounts. "She grew the cuttings and seedlings on and made this topiary garden." Today, visitors can stroll along a brick path flanked by towering box hedging, adorned with box balls and an array of topiary forms that integrate seamlessly with the surrounding garden. The topiary ranges from figurative birds and animals to cloud pruning and geometrically shaped hedging. "It's a cottage, not huge, in a village in the country but is the most charming, quirky, eccentric but tasteful epitome of the very British garden. It's just magical," he says.
Rousham, Oxfordshire: "This is one of the greatest gardens ever made," Don declares, hailing Rousham as a landscape garden and "undoubtedly the finest survivor of the landscape movement, better than any of Capability Brown's gardens." Created in the 1730s, a quarter-century before Brown began his work, the garden remains remarkably preserved. "No change could improve it," Don states. While open to the public, its access policies are notably idiosyncratic. "There's a big sign saying 'No dogs, no children (under 15),' which some people get very cross about but you take it as it is." The garden is characterised by its "entirely evergreen with lots of statues and water."