INTERVIEW

Monty Don: ‘Plastic grass is an aberration. If I were king, I would outlaw it’

Gardens are all about mankind’s relationship with nature — so it’s no to artificial plants and tangles of twigs and weeds, Monty Don tells Alice Thomson

Monty Don at home in Longmeadow, Herefordshire
Monty Don at home in Longmeadow, Herefordshire
The Times

It’s only 24 hours until the Chelsea Flower Show and Monty Don has been struggling. First, he tested positive for Covid and then he has been coping with the third anniversary of the death of his dog, Nigel, the golden retriever who was the real star of Gardeners’ World. But it’s May, his favourite time of the year in Longmeadow, Herefordshire. The rain has abated, he has pruned the perennials and clematis, checked the lily leaves for red beetles, divided the grasses and primroses and aerated the compost.

Chelsea should be heavenly for a gardener but the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship show, once the preserve of rambling roses, delphiniums and kneeling pads has become contentious: secateurs are drawn. Only this week Alan Titchmarsh, Don’s