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Down to Earth
This is the distillation of 50 years of gardening experience. It has all the tips and essential pieces of knowledge that enable you to make your garden grow well, and it also shares my view that gardening is the secret to living well too.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
26 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Monty Don
32 books53 followersMontagu Denis Wyatt Don OBE VMH (born George Montagu Don) has been gardening on TV for over 25 years for ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC, and since 2003 has been the lead presenter on BBC TV's Gardeners' World which from 2011 has been filmed in his own garden in Herefordshire - Longmeadow.
He is a longstanding organic gardener and was President of the Soil Association from 2008 to 2017.
A prolific journalist and author, he was gardening correspondent for the Observer from 1994 to 2006 and has written a weekly gardening column for the Daily Mail since 2004. He has published 18 books, including his recent Sunday Times bestseller, Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs.
He is a longstanding organic gardener and was President of the Soil Association from 2008 to 2017.
A prolific journalist and author, he was gardening correspondent for the Observer from 1994 to 2006 and has written a weekly gardening column for the Daily Mail since 2004. He has published 18 books, including his recent Sunday Times bestseller, Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 21, 2024
love to feel like i have access to outdoor space by reading about gardening x
May 20, 2025
I was surprised at how wholesome and poetic this book is, what a delight to read. Monty has clearly articulated ideas that I’ve been pondering for years. Favourite quotes:
“You have to please yourself first and foremost or else you run the risk of pleasing nobody.”
“A lot of success in growing anything well is a blend of confidence and intuition. Have confidence in your intentions and build intuition by exercising it. Pay attention. Look carefully. Gradually, knowledge and intuition will combine to inform each other and make the next observation more meaningful.”
“Imbue your plot with your life, your loves, your quirks and foibles. Make it uniquely your own. Every garden must have its own personality, it’s own atmosphere and a real, tangible sense of not being anywhere else in the world.”
“We bring nothing into this world and take nothing with us - but leave something of yourself in your garden. Make it personal. Garden your own story. All gardens are made in layers, one on top of another, sometimes over many hundreds of years. They might be gossamer-thin or clumsily thick, but all build up over time like layers of an onion. You are just another layer. It will remain, perhaps overlaid by many others, but it will act like roots, like organic matter in the soil. It will feed the soul of all the garden layers to come.”
“What private gardens have to offer that trumps any kind of public space, however sensitively designed, is the way in which the sense of place merges into the sense of self of the gardener. The boundaries disappear. You become garden and garden becomes you.”
“Grow good roots and the rest will follow. Everything you see above ground - your entire garden - is determined by what happens below ground level. All your efforts and skills should go into creating a really root system and that will inevitably produce good foliage, flowers and fruit.”
“Make meals from what you gather rather than gather specific ingredients to complete a recipe. Check your edible garden daily with a basket over your arm as though wandering through a wonderful Mediterranean market, seeing what is best or what inspires you, checking it for ripeness and then working out how best to use what you have selected.”
“Break the cycle of boom and bust. Forcing any plant into vigorous unnatural growth by dosing it with feed like a sickly Victorian child will always cause more harm than good. The results cannot be sustained. Any plant forced to grow beyond its means will sooner or later go bust. This might manifest itself in an attack by aphids or fungi, by poor uptake of water or nutrition, by its inability to support itself, or in a dozen other ways.”
“Know the names and provenance of everything. The more you can find out about who made it, where it came from, how it was made and what materials were used, the better. Anonymity makes for easy irresponsibility.
Try and personalise everything you eat, wear and use.”
“All those Latin names! Do not be intimidated. There has to be some universal language that determines and labels all flora, and it might as well be Latin as any other language.”
“You have to please yourself first and foremost or else you run the risk of pleasing nobody.”
“A lot of success in growing anything well is a blend of confidence and intuition. Have confidence in your intentions and build intuition by exercising it. Pay attention. Look carefully. Gradually, knowledge and intuition will combine to inform each other and make the next observation more meaningful.”
“Imbue your plot with your life, your loves, your quirks and foibles. Make it uniquely your own. Every garden must have its own personality, it’s own atmosphere and a real, tangible sense of not being anywhere else in the world.”
“We bring nothing into this world and take nothing with us - but leave something of yourself in your garden. Make it personal. Garden your own story. All gardens are made in layers, one on top of another, sometimes over many hundreds of years. They might be gossamer-thin or clumsily thick, but all build up over time like layers of an onion. You are just another layer. It will remain, perhaps overlaid by many others, but it will act like roots, like organic matter in the soil. It will feed the soul of all the garden layers to come.”
“What private gardens have to offer that trumps any kind of public space, however sensitively designed, is the way in which the sense of place merges into the sense of self of the gardener. The boundaries disappear. You become garden and garden becomes you.”
“Grow good roots and the rest will follow. Everything you see above ground - your entire garden - is determined by what happens below ground level. All your efforts and skills should go into creating a really root system and that will inevitably produce good foliage, flowers and fruit.”
“Make meals from what you gather rather than gather specific ingredients to complete a recipe. Check your edible garden daily with a basket over your arm as though wandering through a wonderful Mediterranean market, seeing what is best or what inspires you, checking it for ripeness and then working out how best to use what you have selected.”
“Break the cycle of boom and bust. Forcing any plant into vigorous unnatural growth by dosing it with feed like a sickly Victorian child will always cause more harm than good. The results cannot be sustained. Any plant forced to grow beyond its means will sooner or later go bust. This might manifest itself in an attack by aphids or fungi, by poor uptake of water or nutrition, by its inability to support itself, or in a dozen other ways.”
“Know the names and provenance of everything. The more you can find out about who made it, where it came from, how it was made and what materials were used, the better. Anonymity makes for easy irresponsibility.
Try and personalise everything you eat, wear and use.”
“All those Latin names! Do not be intimidated. There has to be some universal language that determines and labels all flora, and it might as well be Latin as any other language.”
December 22, 2025
I enjoy the poetic descriptions and passion for gardening in Monty Don's writings, but I enjoyed this book less than his book about Nigel as a Minnesota based gardener. Though I gain tips and enjoy the dulcet tones of his narration, much of it doesn't apply without many caveats and translation to our zone 4-5 climate. Most areas of England are zone 8-9 so his recommendations based on calendar timing are all very off for our short growing season. Inspirational and enjoyable, it's a relaxing listen but does not get my highest praise for being unrealistic for the hobby gardener - if I did all the things he recommends are done, sometimes daily, I'd be working in my garden full time.
April 22, 2025
I listened to the audiobook version of this as I drove, and found it so useful I kept making voice notes of Don's tips so I could revisit them when I got home. Monty Don narrated the book, and the combination of his wisdom, wit, and unapologetic British-ness made for a wonderful journey. I feel much more prepared for this year's gardening season and look forward to revisiting Monty's work the next time I'm stuck!
November 3, 2023
Not going to lie, I didn’t completely finish this book because it seemed very basic and covered mostly stuff I already knew from experience. That said, it is an excellent introduction into sustainable gardening. I would recommend it especially for those in the UK, because some of the advice is more specific but there is plenty of good principle to the whole thing that all audiences will benefit.
May 8, 2023
Monty Don has one of those voices you could listen to all day. Relaxing, informative, inspiring. NB this book of gardening wisdom is British-focused but as an antipodean I still found enough to be of interest and use to me.
December 31, 2023
I listened to this as an audiobook and I tried to savor every minute of it! I took great comfort in just listening to Monty Don share his love of gardening. I feel like I should just put the book on repeat and lay down in my garden and, well, just be happy.
May 4, 2024
I borrowed this from the library, but as soon I was done, I ordered my own copy. It's that good. Because the focus is on gardening in England, and I live in Northern Ontario, I will follow all of his absolutely invaluable expert advice, but delay his gardening cycle by one month.
October 17, 2023
Beautifully written! Great gardening information in an almost poetic form! Loved it!
October 18, 2023
Very enjoyable read.
March 26, 2024
This is a basic gardening book but I learned a few new things.I did the audio version and Monty don does an excellent narration
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August 26, 2024Excellent, a complete year of practical garden advice
July 6, 2025
I learned so much! I love a gardening book that leaves me restless and eager to play in my garden, and this book did exactly that
July 14, 2025
It was a bit like having a hug inside my head listening to this.
September 9, 2025
A thoroughly good read by Monty. For years now I have watched his UTube channel, have learned heaps about gardening.
The book is very well articulated but with good commonsense ideas.
The book is very well articulated but with good commonsense ideas.
October 26, 2025
Plenty of great gardening advice, makes me want to have my own big garden.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews