The 70-year-old, who presents the long-running BBC programme from his Longmeadow home in Herefordshire, has previously released advice on how best to prolong the life of Christmas trees.
Monty has advised that the most popular species, including Norway spruce, the Nordman fir, and the Colorado spruce, have “specific virtues” and cast last past the Christmas season if looked after properly.
“All three will also grow in most gardens if they are bought with healthy roots and planted carefully as soon as possible after Christmas,” he added.
The Norway spruce grows “very fast”, and will thrive in damp and cold winter gardens and in cool summers, potentially reaching over 200 feet tall.
The species is “very resistant to cold and frost-hardy”, though the expert horticulturist warns that it will not thrive when grown on chalk or limestone.
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If you’re on the hunt for a tree which is more uniform, Monty advises that the Nordman fir can come complete with a more compact shape and dense branches, and will thrive in moist, cool, and slightly acidic conditions.
“My favourite Christmas tree is the Colorado, or Blue, Spruce, picea pungens,” Don said.
“Although it comes from the southern states, it originates from a high altitude, so is very hardy and grows into a tall, very straight, rather beautiful tree, with glaucous blue needles the colour of cardoon or artichoke leaves.
“The high altitude and bright mountain light gives it a rather stiff habit which is one of its main attractions as a Christmas tree.
“If you do plant one in the garden it will grow much stronger if given maximum sunlight.”
Don, who has lived in the county for over three decades, was recently hit by floods, and branded one of his fields a “monochromatic water world”, whilst his ‘Damp Garden’ area of Longmeadow had also been hit by murky waters, with Don saying the “irony is that under the flood water is the pond”.
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