Monty Don, the beloved presenter of Gardeners' World, has debunked the myth that he is a perfect gardener, admitting he makes mistakes 'literally every day'. The 71-year-old gardening icon shared his struggles with growing sweetcorn this year, which failed to germinate despite his decades of experience and previous successes.
Speaking to the i, Don explained: 'I know how to do it – I've done it hundreds of times with success. Last year, they were fantastic. This year, they've not germinated. I don't know why, because they were perfectly good seeds. But something has gone wrong.'
The Golden Rule for Growing Sweetcorn
Despite Don's current difficulties, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) offers clear guidance for growing sweetcorn successfully. The key rule is to plant sweetcorn in 'blocks' rather than single rows to prevent wind from blowing pollen away. The RHS recommends the following six steps:
- Wait for warm soil, consistently at least 15°C.
- Prepare the site by digging in a generous amount of compost or manure in a spot with full direct sunlight.
- Sow seeds about 1 to 1.5 inches deep, spacing them 12 to 15 inches apart in a grid formation.
- Water and weed regularly.
- Top up plants with high-nitrogen organic fertiliser once they reach 12-18 inches tall.
- Test for ripeness before harvesting.
Gardening Tips for July
Don also offered advice for July gardening. He said: 'Early flowering perennials such as oriental poppies, delphiniums and hardy geraniums such as G. phaeum, should all be cut back to the ground to encourage fresh regrowth and repeat flowering in a couple of months' time.'
On his blog, Don wrote about the joys of July: 'The days are long and there is none of the slight weariness in the garden that can shadow August. It is the month of school holidays, and the garden flows and swells with both floral and edible harvests.' He noted that roses are still looking good at the beginning of the month, and clematis transition from early summer blooms to late-flowering varieties. Tender annuals like cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, and tithonias hit their stride, while summer-flowering bulbs such as crocosmia, agapanthus, lilies, and dahlias enrich borders.
Learning from Failure
Don also reflected on a discovery he made while interviewing head gardeners for a book he wrote 45 years ago. He said: 'I interviewed around 20 of them around the country, all in their eighties, and they all said the same thing: they didn't really begin to get good at gardening until they'd had some serious failures.' He added: 'Because if you succeed at something, you stop working out how you do it. Whereas if you fail, you really have to think: what am I doing wrong?'
