Monty Don has shared the latest headache from his cherished Longmeadow garden — an invasion of hungry rabbits leaving his plants almost as quickly as they emerge.
The 70-year-old Gardeners’ World favourite told listeners on the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine podcast that changing weather has created a perfect storm for wildlife trouble. “One of the really annoying things about floods is that the rabbits all come in from the fields,” Monty explained. “They’ve got nowhere to go, especially in spring, and if it’s a cold, wet March, they eat everything in sight.”
Thankfully, the problem isn’t permanent. Monty revealed that once the weather warms and grass begins to grow, the rabbits usually leave, preferring fresh lawn to his carefully tended plots. “It all comes back to water — too much or too little makes a difference,” he said.
The gardening icon also reflected on how Longmeadow first brought him fame. On the Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? podcast, Monty recalled an Elle magazine feature in the 1980s that turned the spotlight on his home and garden. “They looked out the window and said, ‘Wow! Who did that garden?’ And I thought, we did it all ourselves!”
Monty admitted the photos still make him blush. “They even took a topless shot of me… I genuinely can’t imagine why!”
That early exposure eventually opened doors to writing commissions, laying the foundation for his celebrated career as one of Britain’s most beloved gardeners.
