Monty Don has said he may have to let go of his gardeners after leaving BBC's Gardeners' World, revealing that the corporation has been paying part of their salaries to keep his Herefordshire garden camera-ready.
For 15 years, viewers have looked in amazement at Monty Don's beautiful Herefordshire garden, known as Longmeadow, as he hosted the show Gardeners' World from his own back yard. But now the BBC presenter, who announced earlier this month that he was leaving the show, has said he may have to let go of the gardeners who have kept the space beautiful and broadcast-ready.
BBC contribution to gardeners' wages
Speaking for the first time since announcing his departure, Don revealed that the BBC had paid part of the salaries of two full-time gardeners to tend to Longmeadow ever since he began hosting the show from his garden in 2011.
“I have had two full-time gardeners, and have had them since I have been on Gardeners' World, and from day one it's been in my BBC contract that I have to have two full-time gardeners,” the 71-year-old said during an event at the RHS Malvern autumn flower show.
Answering questions from the audience during a session hosted at Three Counties Showground, he said this was because the garden had to look camera-ready at all times. “If I'm off filming in the Rhine or India or somewhere like that, somebody has got to be getting it ready,” he said.
Future of the garden team
“The BBC pays a contribution towards their wages. Not enough, but they do pay something, which is great. Obviously, that contribution is going to go.”
His current team of two gardeners, a propagation expert and a landscaper have been with him for 10 years, he said. “They are a great team and we all work together really well. I will have to think of ways – I can't afford it unless we earn money from it, so I am going to think of ways of earning something from the garden, but I can't do that until the middle of next year at the earliest.”
The presenter has said he would not open the garden to the public as it was a private space, and organising parking in the area would be too difficult.
Longmeadow's history and Don's departure
Don and his wife, Sarah, created the 2-acre garden in the village of Ivington in 1991, at which time it was a neglected field with one hazel tree. It is now split into four gardens: the cottage garden which is filled with shrub roses, the jewel garden with its bright, multicoloured flowers, the Islamic-inspired paradise garden, and the vegetable garden, which provides produce almost year-round.
Don said he was leaving the show, which he has hosted along with his dogs, after 23 years because it was “the right time for a change”. He will continue working with the BBC on other programmes, as well as pursuing his own projects, such as writing books.
The final series hosted by Don will continue to be broadcast from Longmeadow until later this year. It is understood he will shortly begin filming a travel programme for the BBC, named Island Gardens.
