Monty, who lives at Longmeadow in Herefordshire where Gardeners’ World is filmed, admitted his latest project for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show “didn’t go to expectations”.
The gardening expert has been working on a dog-friendly garden design for the annual show, along with Jamie Butterworth.
The star unleashed his golden retriever Ned into the charity’s garden to help carve a path. But Ned, along with dogs owned by Jamie and RHS director-general Clare Matterson, ended up throwing a spanner in the works.
Speaking to the Times, he said: “We’ve been observing the way that they move around in order to plan the paths. It didn’t actually go according to our expectations. It meant that we had to rethink.”
Explaining the idea of the project’s “paths”, Monty said the dogs have had an influence on the garden’s layout.
“When they’re moving around, they’re sifting and going back to a sort of central point, like branches of a tree, then off sideways and see what’s happening and move a little bit around, and then retrace their steps,” he said.
He says the dogs created a “branching, curving system”.
Monty’s Chelsea creation will incorporate personal touches from his own Herefordshire garden, including brick paths, plant selections, and colour schemes, all complemented by furnishings like a dog sofa.
Monty says his innovative garden design is purely “for fun” and uses plants easily sourced from garden centres.
When the flower show concludes, the garden will find a new home at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. This will be the first time dogs, apart from assistance dogs, will actually step foot in the garden, due to rules at the flower show.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show will run between May 20 and 24.
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