Monty Don Says BBC Wage Support for Longmeadow Gardeners Will End
Says he may have to let go of the gardeners who keep his Longmeadow garden ready for Gardeners’ World after BBC support for part of their salaries ends. He is…
For viewers, Longmeadow has been the familiar garden behind Monty Don’s years on Gardeners’ World. Now, as he prepares to leave the BBC programme, Don says he may have to let go of the gardeners who keep the Herefordshire garden ready for filming because the corporation’s contribution to their wages will end.
Don disclosed the arrangement for the first time since announcing his departure earlier this month, speaking at an event during the RHS Malvern autumn flower show. The BBC has paid part of the salaries of two full-time gardeners since he began presenting the programme from his own garden in 2011.
The change could affect the team responsible for maintaining a garden that has appeared on screen for 15 years. Don said he cannot afford to retain the team without finding a way for the garden to generate income.
“I have had two full-time gardeners, and have had them since I have been on Gardeners’ World, and from day one it’s been in my BBC contract that I have to have two full-time gardeners,” Don said during a session at Three Counties Showground.
Why Monty Don’s garden needs a full-time team
Longmeadow has to remain ready for filming even when Don is away. He said the gardeners prepare the space while he is working elsewhere, including on filming trips.
“If I’m off filming in the Rhine or India or somewhere like that, somebody has got to be getting it ready,” he said.
The BBC contribution covered only part of the wages. Don described the support as helpful, but said it would stop after he leaves the show. “The BBC pays a contribution towards their wages. Not enough, but they do pay something, which is great. Obviously, that contribution is going to go.”
His current team includes two gardeners, a propagation expert and a landscaper. Don said they have worked with him for 10 years and described them as a close, effective group.
“They are a great team and we all work together really well,” he said. “I will have to think of ways – I can’t afford it unless we earn money from it, so I am going to think of ways of earning something from the garden, but I can’t do that until the middle of next year at the earliest.”
That leaves the team’s future tied to an income plan that Don says cannot begin soon. The garden will not be opened to visitors: he has said it is a private space, and arranging parking in the area would be too difficult. For the local team, the end of the BBC contribution could therefore mean a direct change in employment, while the garden’s continued upkeep depends on what Don can make financially viable.
Longmeadow after Gardeners’ World
Don and his wife, Sarah, created the 2-acre garden in the village of Ivington in 1991. The site was then a neglected field with one hazel tree. It has since been divided into four gardens: a cottage garden with shrub roses, a jewel garden of bright, multicoloured flowers, an Islamic-inspired paradise garden and a vegetable garden that produces food almost year-round.
Don said he was leaving Gardeners’ World after 23 years because it was “the right time for a change”. He will continue working with the BBC on other programmes and pursue personal projects, including writing books.
The final series hosted by Don will continue to be broadcast from Longmeadow until later this year. The Guardian reported that he is expected to begin filming a BBC travel programme called Island Gardens.
Don’s current team has been with him for 10 years.
Source: theguardian.com
