Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don has kept the grounds of his home looking strikingly green, even as parts of the UK endure a record-breaking drought.
For a horticulturalist of Don’s experience, it is perhaps no surprise that the gardens at his Herefordshire property — well known to viewers of the long-running BBC gardening programme — still appear healthy and carefully tended.
Hosepipe bans have been introduced in several areas across the country, but Severn Trent Water, which supplies parts of Herefordshire, has not imposed one.
Welsh Water, which serves other parts of the region, has brought in restrictions only in areas of Wales.
Don, 71, the broadcaster and author, has lived at Longmeadow, near the market town of Leominster, with his wife Sarah since 1991. Over more than three decades, the couple have transformed the property into a series of distinctive garden spaces, each with its own character and theme.
He is one of several well-known figures whose gardens have remained noticeably green while nearby fields and open land have turned dry, yellow and scorched by the summer heat.
Sir Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster’s Essex home has also appeared lush despite the heatwaves, while the exterior of Jeremy Clarkson’s Farmer’s Dog pub in the Cotswolds has similarly stood out against the parched landscape.
Don has previously written for Our News Outlet’s Weekend magazine and shared photographs of Longmeadow, the much-loved home and garden from which he has presented Gardeners’ World, the BBC series he has fronted since 2003.
Broadcaster Monty Don’s garden estate remains green despite this summer’s heatwaves parching many of the surrounding areas, turning them yellow and brown
Monty Don, pictured in March this year, has been presenting Gardener’s World since 2003
The two-acre space is divided into several areas, including the Cottage Garden, the Jewel Garden, the Islamic-inspired Paradise Garden, the Spring Garden, the Wildlife Garden, the Writing Garden and the Vegetable Garden.
He wrote in 2021: ‘The way that I have designed my garden is, as a friend of mine only half-jokingly described it, “like a series of allotments”.
‘It means there are a number of different areas, all quite separate and usually hidden from the rest.
‘I make no apologies for this and enjoy the surprises and sense of enclosure that it brings. Inevitably this means that different sections of the garden have their own character.
‘We also try to treat each separate area as though it were the only garden that we had.
‘This means that each section has to stand up to the strictest scrutiny and aesthetic standards.’
Amid differing looks to Britain’s gardens this summer, Wessex Water became the latest authority to announce a hosepipe ban, its first since the 1976 heatwave, and affecting its 1.4million customers across areas in Bath, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.
More than 27million people across England have now had hosepipe use restricted in their area.
Broadcaster and writer Monty Don, 71, has owned his Longmeadow property, outside the market town of Leominster, with his wife Sarah since 1991
A bird’s eye view of Monty Don’s garden and it’s ‘zones’: 1. Spring Garden; 2. The Jewel Garden; 3. The Damp Garden; 4. The Wildlife Garden; 5. The Writing Garden
The horticulturist’s Longmeadow garden in Herefordshire is well known to green fingered enthusiasts as a setting of BBC show Gardener’s World
Yet some areas will soon see their ‘first meaningful rain for a long time’, the Met Office forecast – and people have been told to brace for floods.
Last night parts of London, Kent, Essex and Sussex saw light or patchy rain after all being declared in drought at the end of last month.
England and Wales had their driest July ever recorded while southern England had its driest month ever, according to records going back almost 200 years.
But a rainy front will begin to sweep down from Northern Ireland and Scotland towards southern England and Wales from today to begin a wetter week with cooler conditions, the Met Office said.
Temperatures are likely to fall to levels closer to average for the time of year and heavy showers expected on Thursday could mean surface flooding in particularly wet areas, the weather authority added.
Recent conditions have taking their toll on many fields, parks and gardens, turning them from green to yellow or brown.
But pictures told a different story last week at the lush grounds around 81-year-old Sir Rod’s Grade II-listed, 18th-century Essex mansion he bought for £4.65million in 2013.
Sir Rod’s property is supplied by Affinity Water, which introduced a hosepipe ban across its central region, including Essex, on July 17 due to the weather conditions.
Sir Rod Stewart’s Grade II-listed mansion has very green gardens despite the dry weather
Eight other water companies have brought in bans, which mean customers are legally banned from using hosepipes to water gardens or wash cars, patios or boats.
There is no evidence Sir Rod has breached a ban, given there are many workarounds for watering grass such as using a watering can. He may also have an exemption.
Former Top Gear host Mr Clarkson has also explained how the ex-Faces frontman could have kept his gardens green – as he explained the approach used at his pub.
Aerial images from above Mr Clarkson’s pub on Monday showed much of the grass remaining green while some patches and neighbouring fields were parched brown.
Mr Clarkson has now written in his Sun column: ‘Could it be, perhaps, that Rod, here with wife Penny, probably has a borehole?
‘You dig a hole maybe 100m down into the ground, put a pump in it and water comes out. Water that’s not subjected to any kind of government interference.
‘That’s what we did at my pub, which is why the lawns there are also weirdly verdant.’
Another rock star Sir Paul McCartney appears to be adhering to a hosepipe ban at his home and grounds in Peasmarsh, near Rye in East Sussex.
Grass outside Jeremy Clarkson’s Cotswolds pub looked surprisingly lush on Monday as the presenter revealed his tactic for accessing water
Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney’s 160-acre East Sussex estate shows signs of the heatwave
Images of his Sussex estate have shown a green herb garden but also swathes of yellow and brown grass.
A hosepipe ban for the area was imposed last month by South East Water, with the restrictions covering not only Sussex but also Berkshire, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire.
Meanwhile, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s lawns are greener than most thanks to a large private lake just a stone’s throw from the back of his Essex mansion.
The star has installed hosepipes between the pond and his garden, which is markedly greener than the parched countryside that surrounds it.
Water taken from a privately owned source – such as from a lake, pond, spring or well on a property – is exempt from the hosepipe ban.
Oliver has lived at the Grade I-listed 12-bedroom property since purchasing it for £6million in 2019, and the pond sits within its 70-acre site.
Faring perhaps less well is 82-year-old Keith Richards’s West Sussex home, with a small garden circled by buildings – but with other grass on his estate just as brown and dry as the surrounding fields.
With no visible private water source, Richards cannot rely on a handy nearby lake to get around restrictions, which came into place in the county on July 25.
Chef Jamie Oliver’s lawns are rather more green than most – helped by having a large personal lake just a stone’s throw from the back of his Essex mansion
Keith Richards’ home in West Sussex has a small green patch at the centre, but other grass on the property is struggling
Following the fifth heatwave of the summer, this week is forecast to be wetter with cooler conditions that are much closer to average for the time of year, the Met Office said.
Showers were expected on Tuesday in the north of the country, particularly in the North West, and another area of rain would move into the South West by the evening, according to the Met Office’s deputy chief forecaster Mike Silverstone.
This would then likely spread east across the South, bringing the first spell of widespread rain to areas in need the most, he added.
Mr Silverstone said: ‘Thursday will be a day of heavy showers across much of the UK, while some of these will be heavy some areas will miss them altogether.
‘As some of these showers could be intense, there is a chance of some surface water flooding as the rain falls on very dry and hard ground.’
Conditions are expected to turn drier once again by Friday and through the weekend before more rain is forecast next week.
The change comes after the UK’s fifth heatwave of the summer, during which the hottest day of the year was recorded in Kew Gardens, London, last Thursday when temperatures reached 38.1C.
