Monty Don has said he may need to find alternative ways to fund the upkeep of his Longmeadow garden after his departure from Gardeners' World, as the BBC's contribution towards the wages of two gardeners will end.
The 71-year-old is leaving the programme after more than 20 years as its main presenter. In an Instagram post earlier this month, he said now is "the right time for a change". His exit comes 23 years after he succeeded Alan Titchmarsh in 2003, and affects a garden he has cultivated since 2011.
BBC contribution to end
Speaking at the RHS Malvern show, Monty acknowledged that the BBC had been contributing towards the wages of two gardeners working on the two-acre site. The team had been engaged to keep the garden "camera ready" even during his absences filming other programmes.
Monty, who has lived at Longmeadow in Herefordshire with his wife Sarah since 1991, said: "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.
"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."
Continued BBC work
Monty announced his departure from Gardeners' World on September 8. He said he looked forward to continuing to work with the BBC on other projects, as well as following new avenues. "And of course, I will still be gardening, dog by side, here at Longmeadow," he added.
He recently appeared in Rhineland Gardens, which aired earlier this year. Monty has also expressed interest in visiting additional destinations, including South America and Scandinavia, while acknowledging that his television commitments can occasionally prove demanding.
Demanding filming schedules
During an appearance on the Good Food podcast, Monty discussed the long days he and his production team endure while making programmes such as Monty Don's British Gardens.
He said: "It's harder work doing that than Gardeners' World, for example. Very often leave the hotel early, at six or something like that. Film all day. Travel, as well. Get to our next location if we're lucky about half past six, seven, if we're unlucky, nine."
"Then all the kit has to be unloaded, the batteries charged, I have to do my research for the next day, we have to eat, you get to bed about midnight, up at half past five the next morning, and that's what we do."
Monty added: "There are no rest days. A lot of travelling which is tiring in itself. When we filmed British Gardens, which was shot over two years, there were five trips.
"Each trip, I personally drove 1,000 miles. Huge amounts of travelling around. When we did the Rhineland, one day we filmed in four separate countries on the same day."
Reflecting on the programmes as a whole, Monty acknowledged that while they involved "a lot of preparation" and "an awful lot of filming", they were ultimately a "labour of love".
