Homegrown GEMS

MONTY DON on celebrating British gardens great and small

- TESS LAMACRAFT, ELAINE REILLY

Monty Don is delighted to be exploring some of our nation’s finest outdoor areas in his latest horticultural showcase for BBC2.

‘From gardens on a barge on the River Thames to those on rooftops and by the sea, the series covers every kind of garden and tells us about the British people and who we are,’ enthuses the Gardeners’ World presenter as he joins TV Times for an exclusive interview.

Beginning on the rugged north-west coastline of Scotland, five-parter Monty Don’s British Gardens will also take the green-fingered star to Northern Ireland and Wales, before his journey of discovery concludes in Cornwall.

Here, Monty, 69, who has previously helmed shows celebrating paradise gardens as well as Japanese, American, Adriatic and Spanish green spaces, tells us more…

You’ve visited glorious gardens across the world, Monty. Why were you keen to make a show on home soil?