this month’s book

This month’s book, The Complete Gardener, is written by my favorite gardening personality, Monty Don.

Monty is the author of a number of gardening books and the host of numerous TV gardening programs. He has been the lead presenter of “Gardener’s World” since 2003 and the program has been broadcasting from his home at Longmeadow in Herefordshire, England since 2011. For Americans, the program can be watched on Britbox every Friday evening, March through October.

I’ve been watching “Gardener’s World” for at least five years, and between the show, and reading Monty’s books, I have learned more about gardening than all the rest of my life combined. He is an abundant wealth of gardening information, and he generously shares it with his readers and viewers.

This book covers every gardening topic you can imagine. Whether you’re interested in growing vegetables or fruit, the information is all in this book.

His vegetable gardens are massive, with every vegetable you can think of. He supplies page after page of instructions for growing veg from seed, crop rotation, soil prep, and even crops for early winter.

He has a garden solely dedicated to spring flowers. This garden is a feast for the eyes as it heralds in spring with snowdrops, hellebores, primroses, tulips, euphorbias, and fritillaries growing in wild abandon.

There are formal areas of his garden and in the book he gives advice on design, structure, paths, walls, and fences.

Every type of flower is grown and discussed in this book, including annuals, biennials, and perennials.

Beautiful photos make this book a delight. But even if your climate is different from England’s, Monty’s vast and endless knowledge make this book an invaluable gardening resource.

Monty gives information regarding the necessary tools to own, composting, and growing organically. His approach, wisdom, and philosophy on gardening are always a pleasure to read.

This book was published in 2003, and can still be purchased on Amazon. It is a fantastic value to have so much gardening information available at your fingertips.

If you are not familiar with Monty and love gardening, I highly recommend subscribing to Britbox for his weekly show, “Gardener’s World”. With his delightful, down-to-earth, easygoing personality, the show is a peaceful pleasure to watch. It is how I love to spend every Friday evening. And if I’m feeling lazy, and don’t feel like gardening, all I need to do is turn on an episode, and I’m ready to go outside.

Monty Don is truly an English treasure.