For millions of viewers, Monty Don’s stunning Longmeadow garden looks like a peaceful paradise. But behind the picture-perfect flower beds, the beloved Gardeners’ World presenter has admitted he’s fighting an unexpected annual invasion that can undo months of hard work almost overnight.

The 70-year-old gardening expert has revealed that rabbits have become one of the biggest challenges at his famous Herefordshire home—especially after periods of heavy rain.

When Floods Drive Wildlife Into the Garden

Speaking on the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine podcast, Monty explained that extreme weather has a surprising knock-on effect.

After nearby fields become flooded, rabbits are forced to leave their natural habitat and head straight into Longmeadow in search of food.

“It’s one of the really annoying aspects of flooding,” Monty admitted.

“The rabbits all come in out of the flooded fields into our garden. We now have a big rabbit problem because the poor things have got nowhere else to go.”

Although he sympathizes with the animals, he confessed the timing couldn’t be worse for gardeners.

Plants Can Disappear Almost Overnight

According to Monty, the invasion is most noticeable during early spring, when young shoots are just beginning to emerge.

“If it’s a cold and wet March, they come in and they eat everything,” he explained.

The hungry visitors quickly work their way through newly planted flowers and vegetables, leaving gardeners watching their hard work disappear almost as soon as it begins.

Fortunately, the problem doesn’t last forever.

As temperatures rise and fresh grass begins growing in surrounding fields, the rabbits naturally return to their usual feeding grounds.

“They leave because the grass is much nicer than anything we can offer,” Monty joked. “Rabbits love freshly grown grass.”

Nature Always Has the Final Say

The television presenter said the experience is a reminder that gardening is constantly shaped by nature.

Whether it’s drought or flooding, every season brings new challenges that are often beyond a gardener’s control.

“All these things are to do with water—either there’s too little of it or too much,” he said.

It’s another example of why even one of Britain’s most experienced gardeners still has to adapt to whatever nature throws at him.

The Chance Moment That Changed His Life

Monty also reflected on the unexpected way he first became known as a gardening expert.

Appearing on the Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? podcast, he recalled that during the 1980s, fashion magazine Elle visited his home to feature its stylish interiors.

Everything changed when the magazine’s team looked out of the window.

“They said, ‘Wow! Look at your garden—who did that?'”

Monty laughed at the memory, saying he immediately defended the garden as entirely his own creation.

“I thought, that’s fighting talk. I said, ‘We did it. It’s our garden. We planted every single thing.'”

The magazine ended up photographing the garden instead—and unknowingly helped launch the career that would eventually make Monty one of Britain’s most trusted gardening voices.

Looking back, however, there’s one detail from the photo shoot that still makes him cringe.

“I’m ashamed to say, in it, I’m topless,” he joked. “I genuinely can’t imagine why.”

Today, decades later, Longmeadow remains one of Britain’s most admired private gardens—but as Monty admits, even the most beautiful garden isn’t immune from the occasional battle with nature.