“Beechwood, hazel coppice, fields waving with soft green barley and the glassy flints that pocked the chalk defined normality,” he continued.
“Around the same time I was considered old enough to contribute to the onerous business of running a large garden I was sent away to boarding school.
“Although, a mere 18 miles away, the soil there was thin, sandy and very acidic.
“From it grew rhododendron, heather and pines and my homesickness was as much a deep longing for the chalk landscape of my village as for my family. But gardening came to me when I was about 17.”
Published at Sun, 11 Apr 2021 08:52:35 +0000
Gardeners’ World host Monty Don admits he sees gardening as a ‘chore’
