108 Quotes by Monty Don

What I love about French gardens is the combination of formal elegance and intellectual questioning.

You get older, you slow down. Failure feels like less of a humiliation and more of a balanced return.

Any British household with a scrap of land has always grown herbs for the kitchen. From the superb monastic herb gardens down to the humblest cottage, a supply of fresh herbs would have been considered essential.

No apple is reliably self-fertile, so each tree needs a pollinator. A neighbour may well have an apple that will do that for you, but it is better to always plant at least two trees to be certain of pollination.

Apples hate strong wind and damp, cold soil so try and place them on well-drained, rich soil in a sheltered position.

I loathe nowheres - airports and bland hotels. I would rather be in an unpleasant, uncomfortable place rather than one just adrift, floating around.

My father was an army officer who left the forces when I was six and never really fitted back into civilian life. My mother had five children and a mother with Alzheimer's, who lived with us, so I imagined that she had a lot to do.

In my teens I wanted to be a rock star, I really did. At that time there was nothing I wanted more.

I live in the middle of country so I walk a lot.