Monty Don wearing navy jacket and smiling
We take a sneak peek inside Monty Don’s garden, Longmeadow, to see what exactly the gardening guru’s been cooking up in his own garden ideas throughout the years – and his plans for when he returns from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
It’s no secret that Monty Don has been a go-to for all things garden advice and expertise, so it’s only natural that we would also grow inquisitive to know how he’s taken on his own advice in his outdoor space.
Inside Monty Don’s garden
Monty Don has taken to his website and Instagram to showcase the latest garden trends he’s partaking in, as well as serving as a beacon of inspiration for our own modern garden ideas alike.
The green-thumbed expert’s outdoor space, Longmeadow, was birthed after Monty Don bought his house in October 1991, with the garden consisting of a 2-acre abandoned field and only one hazel tree. After clearing up the garden, he began planting in Spring 1993 and has been doing so since.
The garden is divided into four smaller gardens: The Cottage Garden, The Jewel Garden, The Paradise Garden, and The Vegetable Garden – with their own smaller sections and intricacies within them.
Monty Don describes the Jewel Garden as the physical and spiritual centre of the entire garden. The garden was made as a celebration relating to their jewellery business in the 1980s, boasting beautifully coloured flowers and focal points that are rich, extravagant, and high maintenance.
Bringing colour into your outdoor space with plants and flowers you can maintain is an easy garden idea that can transform your space (even more so if paired with quiet luxury garden buys).
Initially spending its first 20 years as a dedicated vegetable garden, the Cottage Garden has now slowly evolved into a traditional, floral, cottage garden, filled with blowsy, soft colours. Boasting fruit trees, rhubarb, gooseberries, and some herbs, we can definitely take a tip or two for our own cottage garden ideas.
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Of course, who can forget to shed some spotlight on the beloved vegetable garden? Knowing how to grow your own vegetables is becoming an increasingly important skill set to adopt – and Monty Don has been growing his own since he was a child.
Growing their own fruit, veg, and herbs has always been an essential part of Monty Don and his wife Sarah’s life.
If you don’t have the space though, there are a variety of the best vegetables to grow in pots, as well as tips for growing vegetables in pots on balconies or a windowsill.
Alas, even gardening gurus feel the weight of the busyness of life, and Monty Don’s quiet corner is a garden seating idea that we think a lot of us ought to treat ourselves to in our own gardens.
We’ve also spotted a photo Monty Don posted on his Instagram of a rogue garden bench surrounded by long tufts of grass, and if we didn’t know any better, we’d assume the gardening guru was participating in No Mow May.
One notable thing we’re definitely taking away, however, is the gardening guru’s post-Chelsea Flower Show plans: frames he’s built and made ready for planting squashes upon his arrival back home.
Monty Don’s garden didn’t disappoint, and to be honest, we didn’t expect anything less than the best considering how he’s long been a core source of expertise when seeking gardening advice.
We look forward to seeing what he’s got in store for his outdoor space in the coming months – and the result of his post-Chelsea planting plans.