BBC Gardeners’ World star Monty Don is known for his love of dogs, and has several furry friends during his time on Gardeners’ World.
Currently, the main canine star of Gardeners’ World is golden retriever Ned. However, Monty also has another pet, named Patti, who is rarely shown on camera.
Two of Monty’s other famous dogs have been Nigel and Nell.
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The beloved golden retriever Nigel died five years, with an emotional Instagram post from Monty reading: “I am very sorry to announce that Nigel has died. To the end he was happy, healthy and his usual calm, lovely self. But he was suddenly taken ill.”
Nell, also a retriever, died in October 2023, with Monty opening up a year after her death and saying: “I remember her not with sadness but gratitude for the way she enriched my life”.
Monty has recently been involved with a project to create a dog-friendly garden, inspired by his love for the animals, ahead of the Chelsea Flower Show.
A page dedicated to dogs on his blog says: “I have lived with dogs all my life and so it is absolutely natural to me that wherever I am in the garden I should be accompanied by a dog or two. It is their garden as much as mine or any other members of the family.
“Something that I take for granted is that, by and large, they do absolutely no damage and respect the garden completely. They (rarely) dig holes or crash through the flower beds. They do treat the long paths as bowling alleys down which they career in chase of the ball that we are obliged to throw, but it is harmless enough.
“The coppice holds the graves, marked by headstones, of Beaufort, Red, Poppy and Barry, as well as the two cats Stimpy and Blue. They all enriched our lives immeasurably, and are now all a permanent part of the garden that they loved.”