Book Recommendation: ‘My Roots: A Decade in the Garden’ by Monty Don
About the Author
Monty Don is a gardening hero for many across the globe, and that certainly includes me. While probably best known for being the lead presenter of the BBC's Gardeners' World program, he is actually a prolific and gifted writer. Listed on his homepage are three roles the he is publicly known for, but the order they are presented in tells you how he views himself and perhaps the importance he places on each: writer, gardener, broadcaster.
From Monty's website:
"Monty Don O.B.E. is the UK's leading garden writer and broadcaster. He has been making television programmes for over thirty years on a range of topics, spanning travel, craft, outdoor living and, principally, gardening. He has been the lead presenter of the BBC's Gardeners' World since 2003 and since 2011 the programme has come from his own garden, Longmeadow, in Herefordshire."
"A prolific horticultural journalist, Monty Don was the Observer’s gardening editor from 1994 until 2006. He now contributes a regular column for Gardeners’ World Magazine and has also previously written a weekly column for The Mail from 2004 - 2023. Monty’s numerous books include Fork to Fork, The Jewel Garden (both with Sarah Don), Around the World in 80 Gardens, The Complete Gardener, The Ivington Diaries and his bestsellers Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs and Down to Earth. Monty’s most recent books include The Gardening Book, The Sunday Times Bestseller, My Garden World: the natural year and Venetian Gardens which like his books American Gardens, Paradise Gardens and Japanese Gardens, was created with the acclaimed photographer Derry Moore."
Overview
My Roots: A Decade in the Garden is, like many of Monty's other books, a personal view into his gardening life and, to some extent, his personal life. Monty has a way with words, both spoken and written. As any skillful author can, he draws you into the topic or scene he is writing about, he paints with words, and you are carried away into his world. I feel like this book reveals a bit more of the real Monty, especially in the 'My Roots' sections that are like glimpses of entries from his journal.
The book is organized into sections for each month of the year with selections, all chosen by Monty, from the Observer gardening columns he wrote as gardening editor from 1994-2006. It also includes selections from his 'My Roots' "500-word extra bit" (to quote Monty) he wrote each week from 1998-2004 that covered what he had been up to in the week prior. Also included throughout the book are footnotes that have been added to provide updated commentary about certain lines he wrote in the articles.
The book is filled with gardening wit and wisdom, personal and professional stories centered in the garden, and rich prose. I think a single line on the back of the book captures it perfectly: "By turns intimate, poetic, down-to-earth, funny and charming, they [the collection of articles] express the very particular outlook of a writer for whom gardening and life are one and the same thing."
Purchasing This Book
You can purchase this book on Amazon.
Book copyright 2005 by Monty Don. First published in Great Britain in 2005 by Hodder and Stoughton.
