Monty Don is quitting Gardeners’ World – and you’re right to be devastated about it

After 23 years at the helm, Monty Don has announced that he is leaving Gardeners’ World at the end of the series. All said, you are right to be distraught about it. Gardeners’ World is a show with a long history – it was commissioned by David Attenborough as a way to showcase the potential of colour television – but Don arguably did the show better than anyone.

Under his watch, the show and the host managed to mesh perfectly. He became it and it became him. Don’s strength was that he approached the show as a self-taught gardener.

This meant that it suddenly became more welcoming to newcomers and outsiders who had possibly been a little intimidated by the show. Previously, watching an episode could be like trying to download a horticulture encyclopedia all in one go, but Don – who always primarily viewed himself as a writer – was able to talk about gardening in more emotional and philosophical terms. Under him, the “why” of gardening became more important than the “how”.

Nevertheless, it took a while for him to bed in. After a minor stroke took him out of action after five years in the job, he returned having made the decision to present from his own home, Longmeadow in Herefordshire. It meant that, instead of seeing gardening happen in the abstract, we watched it happen to him.

Over the years, audiences saw Longmeadow develop season after season. Sometimes the garden flourished. But whatever happened, it strengthened the bond between viewer and host immeasurably.

A lot of this is down to Don’s presence as a host. Much has been made about how handsome and charming he is – when I met him last year, during the recording of an AI Michael Parkinson podcast that bewildered us both, there was no denying that he was either – but as he grew older, it was Don’s vulnerability that appealed the most. He became more used to silence, and was unafraid to express his uncertainties.