BBC Gardeners’ World viewers have commented on scenes shot in Monty Don’s garden at Longmeadow
Monty Don has explained why certain scenes on Gardeners’ World are so noisy (Image: PA)
Viewers of BBC’s Gardeners’ World have noticed that scenes filmed at Monty Don’s garden at Longmeadow feature lots of birdsong, and for some viewers it’s simply too much. But the veteran gardener has reassured viewers that it’s all completely genuine.
He explained on the latest edition of the Gardener’s World podcast that viewers can’t believe the birds are so noisy, Gloucestershire Live reports.
He said: “We’ve had a number of letters along the lines of, ‘I watch Gardeners’ World and I really enjoy it, but it’s spoiled for me by the fact that you impose this bird song which is so unrealistic and so over the top… why don’t you just record the natural sounds?’
“And the answer is; ‘I hate to disappoint you, but that is the natural sound’.”
Monty’s garden is a haven for birds (Image: undefined via Getty Images)
The TV presenter even admitted that sometimes it’s even too much for him. He said:”It is really loud. And occasionally when we’re filming, we delay filming because the bird song is so loud, that even to us it feels a bit odd and unnatural.”
Monty and his wife Sarah bought their family home in October 1991. At the time, the the garden consisted of a rather bedraggled-looking two-acre field and a much smaller area to the front of the house that hadn’t been looked after at all.
But, because Longmeadow is situated in the middle of a large expanse of farmland, it’s become a refuge for an extraordinary community of wild birds. Monty explains that modern agricultural practices make the fields very unwelcoming for birds, with pesticides and herbicides depriving them of most of their food sources.
“So Longmeadow is like, literally an oasis surrounded by not-so-good,” he said. “We have great density of blackbirds and song thrushes and blackcaps and all kinds of songbirds.”
All those birds can kick up a tremendous racket, Monty says: “Round about the first or second week of June, the Dawn Chorus starts about quarter past four in the morning.
“We have a fabulous Dawn Chorus that rises to its peak at about five and then it’s gone and died down by half past five.”
The birdsong on the show is completely genuine (Image: undefined via Getty Images)
But that’s by no means the end of the birds’ singing, with a second “Dusk Chorus” building up around sundown: “It’s about birds establishing their territory before nightfall,” Monty says.
“So you have one blackbird singing really loudly, then another will pick it up and challenge it, and then another in another part of the garden.
“And that will go through and that takes you into the dark, and then in the night the owls will call.”
Monty adds that if you want to make your own garden a welcoming haven for birds, the important thing is not to over-manicure your lawns and hedges, explaining: “If you want birds in your garden, the biggest thing you can have is cover, trees, hedges, and shrubs.”
He says that if there’s long grass, perhaps a few rotting logs, and a pond, those things will attract insects which, in turn, will attract the birds that feed on them.
He adds: “Once you’ve got that, you don’t have to do very much at all. It’s there. We feed the birds in winter, but that’s it.”
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