Gardener’s World presenter Monty Don has made a bold statement in his recent column, revealing that plants are not essential for a garden.
Instead, the broadcaster and horticulturist makes the point that gardens should be tailored to suit the person enjoying them.
In fact, he adds that some of the world’s most cherished gardens do not draw attention to plants at all.
Monty says: “A garden can be anything you want it to be, even if — and I know that this is heresy to many people — it does not include a single plant.”
He goes on to further explain his point, referencing a beautifully sculpted garden – which is not purely plant-focused – located at Stowe.
Speaking of the garden, as designed by Lancelot “Capability” Brown, a gardener, landscape architect and person of note in the history of the English garden style, Monty adds that it does “not involve any particular interest in the specific plants used.”
He also recalls a visit to the home roof garden of Luis Barragán, a noted Mexican architect, stating: “It consisted of pink-painted walls, terracotta walls and nothing else save the sky — which Barragan insisted was an essential part of the garden.”
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Despite being a renowned gardener himself and having a plant-filled outdoor space – shared of course, with his beloved dogs Ned, a golden retriever, and Patti, a Yorkshire terrier – it seems that Monty Don enthusiastically embraces all types of gardening.
He adds: “We in Britain tend to have such a fixed idea of what a ‘good’ garden might look like.
“I have a garden happily filled to overflowing with plants. I love the physical process of raising and tending plants, but I also love visiting gardens that explore all the subconscious and spiritual possibilities that gardens can evoke and enrich.”
Earlier this year, Monty shared a touching message grief and the comforting power of the natural world. Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he said: “One of the things that has always moved me, and this has often been said by people who are grieving, is that the rhythm of the seasons is a huge comforter.
“In the bleakest midwinter, you trust that spring will come, that the blossom will appear.
“You sow a seed and you trust that it will flower. Now, sometimes it doesn’t. I mean everything is complicated and nothing is linear like that. But underneath it all, there is that rhythm of nature.
“And I think more than ever we need that. Everybody needs it always and always has done.”
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