Monty Don has named the one tool that he “never goes into the garden without”. Monty, 70, has had a lifelong passion for gardening and would pick weeds from his family strawberry patch as a young child.
By the time he approached his teenage years he was skillful at managing a vegetable garden and would pluck chickens and chop wood at his family home. He later found himself working in Aix-en-Provence, France, as a gardener in his late teens. After returning to England, he met wife Sarah and the pair eventually settled in London. Monty says it was “very unusual” for a couple of twenty-somethings to maintain an impressive plot at the time.
His garden caught the attention of a photographer and set Monty on the path to fame. Now, as the presenter of Gardeners’ World, Monty regularly shares his tips and tricks of the trade with budding horticulturalists.
In a video on the Gardeners’ World YouTube channel, Monty says he is a “tool obsessive” who feels “underequipped” if he has “less than 30 tools”. And there is one tool in particular that Monty won’t go out without.
He said: “Every gardener has to have a pair of secateurs. These are Japanese, they’re very beautifully made and they’re very sharp, which is important.
“I never go into the garden without a pair of secateurs, so it’s got to feel comfortable, they’ve got to be small enough so that you can put them in your pocket or in a holster, but big enough so that you can cut.
“The one thing I’d say about secateurs is, don’t overgear them. They need to be just enough to do the job. Don’t try and force it, sometimes you need more than one, a light pair and a heavy duty pair.”
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Elsewhere the expert says that a spade would be an “easy” choice for his top five tools. He has had his own bespoke spade since 1990 that he says he “won’t let anyone else touch”.
He added: “I’ve been using this for 35 years and I’m sure it will see me out. A good spade will last, I plant everything with it, I dig everything with it, it’s the most useful thing in the garden.”
He says he had his fork made in the same way. And while Monty’s is stainless steel, he says it is “good but not necessary”.
In a similar manner, Monty recommends investing in a good trowel. His favourite trowel has a flat blade instead of a traditional blade and is “used all the time”.
Monty explained a good pair of shears are a “delight” in the garden. The tool has “gone out of fashion” for a while but has seen a surge in popularity, he said.
Monty will return to screens with Gardeners’ World from 8pm this evening (April 24). This week Monty will be adding a dash of the Mediterranean by planting lemons in pots.
He will also be planting in his woodland garden and potting his summer bulbs. Meanwhile Sue Kent will be sowing tender crops.