The presenting star and wife Sarah married in 1983 and they’ve been together ever since. They’ve also lived at their Nottinghamshire home, Longmeadow, for over four decades
13:31, 07 Nov 2025Updated 13:32, 07 Nov 2025
Monty Don revealed he has a “philosophy” when it comes to cutting back(Image: Jeff Spicer, Getty Images)
Monty Don and his long-standing wife Sarah once found themselves “penniless”, following a catastrophic setback. Prior to gaining celebrity status, the Gardeners’ World host and his partner operated a costume jewellery enterprise in London.
Employing 20 full-time staff alongside numerous freelance workers, they successfully supplied merchandise to prestigious stores including Harrods and Harvey Nichols.
Nevertheless, by the close of the 1980s, monetary troubles compelled the venture to shut down, leaving the pair with no choice but to “sell everything”.
(Image: BBC)
Looking back on the lessons his celebrated Jewel Garden had imparted, the 70 year old revealed: “It began as a kind of celebration and sort of to confront a situation whereby Sarah and I had a jewellery business in the 80s. At the end of the 80s, the business collapsed because of huge interest hikes.
“We lost dollars in America and so we wound it down and in order to wind it down, we basically had to sell everything we had, and I mean everything we had.”, reports the Mirror.
“So, we were penniless and eventually, for a combination of circumstances, we got enough money to buy a ruin and an empty field which is Longmeadow.”
Following that pivotal moment, Monty explained that he and Sarah focused their efforts on converting the dilapidated property into a dwelling and establishing a garden they could cherish. Once they had made themselves at home, he disclosed on the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine podcast: “We thought we should celebrate what was great about the jewellery business and there were a lot of good things, you know, we did a lot of stuff with pop music, rock, film and opera. The 80s in fashion was a a very sort of interesting, exciting time.
(Image: Getty)
“So, we began this garden and we explored the idea. That’s what taught us about colour and colour schemes and how when you’re gardening you need to have defined parameters with colour, you can’t just chuck everything [in] it looks terrible!”.
Discussing how he and Sarah created their ideal garden as a partnership, he explained that he mainly manages the “design, structure and physical planting” elements, whilst his wife excels with the finer touches.
“I’ve learnt [about] colour from her,” he admitted. “She has perfect pitch when it comes to colour which is quite a rare thing.
“So, she can see a colour of any sort and go into another building and if there are thousands of swatches of fabric, she’ll choose exactly that colour and it’ll match.”
Due to this ability, the horticulture specialist noted it has allowed them to develop an appealing colour palette with their plants – as audiences observe on the BBC show.
Furthermore, Monty quipped that whilst Sarah’s accuracy is “really annoying”, it has enhanced their creative output. “I planted a hedge, you know a socking great hedge, and she was out and she came back and I said, ‘What do you think?’ and she looked and she does this thing where she’ll go, ‘It needs to be moved one foot that way’. And she was right,” he added.
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