Monty Don's 'wayward' past and epiphany that saved him from rock 'n' roll life
Horticulturalist Monty Don is best known for presenting BBC Two's Gardeners' World from his very own back garden, but the celebrity gardener didn't always have his sights set on sowing seeds and weeding. The 68-year-old had a rebellious streak when he was a teenager and lived a 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' lifestyle.
Monty was brought up in the countryside and his family would all muck in with the daily chores outside, from turning compost to chopping wood, but he didn't ever imagine it would one day become his career. After being expelled from a few schools, rebellious student Monty had an epiphany in his garden and suddenly felt 'grounded'.
Monty went through a rebellious rock 'n' roll phase as a teenager before he fell in love with gardening (BBC/Richard Hanmer)Speaking on podcast Dish to hosts Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, Monty explained: "I'd been expelled from a few schools and I was sort of fairly wayward, and I remember coming home from school, having a cup of tea, and going out into the garden and I remember I was sowing carrots, and I had this incredible, ecstatic moment of feeling the sunshine, of smelling the earth, of holding the seed in my hand, and it was a kind of beatific experience of just knowing that this was everything I had ever wanted, this was the whole world in this moment."
It was a turning point for Monty. "I was sort of thinking, 'Well that's a bit strange', because up until then sex, drugs, and rock and roll were very high on my list, and gardening was not on there," he said. "That night I went to bed and I dreamt that my fingers, my hands, grew like roots into the earth... And I woke up feeling completely calm and sort of satisfied. Ever since then, that connection with the earth - all the words we use - rooted me, grounded me, you know, got me back down to basics. And that's true."
Despite falling in love with gardening, Monty embarked on a completely different career as a young adult. Back in the 1990s, Monty and his wife, Sarah Erskine, ran a fashionable jewellery store named Monty Don Jewellery, which specialised in costume jewellery. It was stocked in Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Liberty, shared in Vogue and loved by the likes of Boy George and Michael Jackson, while Princess Diana herself was said to be a customer.
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Sadly, everything changed after the Wall Street financial crash of 1987, and the entrepreneurial couple lost everything. In their joint 2004 autobiography The Jewel Garden, Monty opened up about their bankruptcy, remarking that they felt "like lambs to the slaughter" when their fortunes changed, left to sell "every stick of furniture" they owned at Leominster Market.
Sarah remembered: "A bad situation got worse every day. The banks wanted their money and started to bounce our cheques whilst simultaneously adding their charges - and interest on them - to the tally. Of course, it could not go on. Something had to give. As it turned out, that something proved to be our shop, our business, our savings, our furniture - and our home."
Monty and wife Sarah once ran a very successful jewellery business together that was loved by Princess Diana (Popperfoto via Getty Images)Monty's personal and financial difficulties took a toll, and it was after this turning point in his life that he began to suffer from what he described as "unhealable depression". Monty's depression became so severe that Sarah also became worried about the wellbeing of their children, who had started to ask: "Why is daddy always crying?"
Explaining how he managed to seek help during this painful period, Monty recalled: "[In the end] I went to see a healer. I can't remember if he was an herbalist, acupuncturist, homoeopath or white-coated faith healer, but I liked him. He had me abstain from tea, coffee and alcohol and described my various symptoms with unerring accuracy... After a few months of this puritanical regime they told me I was unhealable."
The healer advised Monty that the best way to find happiness once more would be to find solace in the natural world, a pursuit that has since blossomed into a very fruitful career. Opening up about his mental health struggles during an interview with the BBC, Monty said: "I have for many years, suffered from depression, which comes and goes but tends to be something that is worse in winter. And, touch wood, it's been much better for the last few years.
"But for me, the benefits of nature are all about the physical connection with the rhythm of the natural world. Some of that rhythm is bleak – winter is cold. And yet even if inside you are bleak and grey and cold, if you believe that spring will blossom inside you, as well as outside in the garden, that's powerful. So that's how it works for me."
Monty has now been married to Sarah for 40 years and they have three children together, Adam, Freya and Tom. He has presented Gardeners' World from his own two-acre garden in Longmeadow since 2011 - though has made it clear that the set is also his home and no visitors are allowed. Outside of the show, he writes and has published many horticultural books.
If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email [email protected] or visit their site to find your local branch.
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