Does everyone have a decided view on Monty Don?.

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I remember not long after starting a job about 10 years ago my boss he was always a really really lovely man, for some reason we must have been talking about gardening, and he said he disliked Monty Don. I was shocked because for one thing that current boss was very laid back and didn't have any extreme views on anybody and secondly, because I have no extreme view on Monty Don.

Just seen another thread where someone dislikes him. What is there to dislike about Monty Don? He's just a gardener isn't he?

How can anyone have a strong view on him ?

People criticising him for having depression and wearing posh togs?! Oh give over!

Aw I love Monty Don! I want his garden too - and his dog.
I think I might want to be Mrs Don (or Mr Don? Not sure which way he goes tbh)

My grandpa didn't like Terry Wogan. Me and my dad (his son) were baffled as Terry seemed such an inoffensive person.)

@BluebellCrocus , I always thought TW was an act but he lived fairly locally and everyone says he was really lovely IRL.

@wishingonastar101 , he's been married to Sarah Erskine for 43 yrs.

Maybe he should get his clothes from JD Sports. Skinny fit joggers, sport sock, crocs and a hoodie.

In his autobiography he comes across as rather awful to his wife, which made me slightly dislike him. I suppose fair play to him for admitting it - he does talk about how close their marriage came to breaking down - but he does come across as one of these men who expects their path through life to be smoothed by other, lesser people.

I think it's silly when people object to him being self-taught and I do think there are (some) people who make a fetish out of qualifications when a lot of gardening is just about learning for yourself. But it really used to irritate me that he made a song and dance against people referring to themselves as 'horticulturalists' rather than 'gardeners,' as if the whole industry works in exactly the same context as him. I thought it was really rude, when horticulture as an industry includes lots of people who are not gardeners and who don't claim to be, not because 'horticultural worker' sounds poncier, but just because that's not actually their job. It made him sound like a bit of a dick.

The guy has golden retrievers (and wrote so beautifully about his last 2 when they passed away, I was in floods). What’s not to like about a guy that loves goldies?

My DH has bought one of the cotton canvas jackets and trousers he wears from a company called Darcy which make clothes for period films etc. its all made in UK in Lewes.

https://www.darcyclothing.com/collections/jackets/products/washed-cotton-drill-work-jacket-ja100

Not a fan. Another posh white bloke on telly, big whoop.

He keeps Golden Retrievers. Automatically makes him a good guy.

I like the way he dresses and his neck scarves. It's a bit different from the norm for men I'd say

Erudite, polite, classy man with a great marriage, still down to earth to wear the gardener's scrubs and has his hands dirty, handsome according to many women. To dislike such a man is simply acknowledging freely you are a complete idiot

I’m a gardener and I can’t bear him. He is insufferably elitist and has no idea about his privilege and how it comes across. It annoys me that the BBC keep paying him to essentially bray about his privilege (potting sheds, greenhouses, numerous plots) and now seemingly £10k for his dog! 🙄 And they send him round the world on lovely jollies to just pontificate in that stiff bumbling insufferable tone. Oh, and I bet he gets an extra big bung for enthusing about pretentious carbuncle non-gardens at Chelsea.

He has no idea how most people live and garden. And he looks like he wouldn’t sully himself either.

Carol Klein for me any day.

ooh classism and racism in one sentence. Poor Monty, to be disapproved of by such an intellect.

I hate everyone better looking, more intelligent, more successful, more well-spoken, better dressed, and from a more comfortable background than me.

Give me some inarticulate ugly thicko so I can identify with them.

He's my older man crush 😍

Did you ask your boss why he didn’t like Monty Don?!

To be fair though his garden is at the centre of the main gardening show on TV - sometimes it's nice to indulge in a bit of escapism and see a beautiful garden like Longmeadow (though I was stunned to find out it was his own personal garden at first 😂).

I enjoy the segments with people in their 'normal' gardens at home but I am not sure the show would hold people's attention if it was hosted from a much smaller, regular garden. The things that Monty does and advice he gives are still very much relevant to those with more normal gardens/allotments.

That would be fair enough if his imperious persona didn’t dominate the whole thing.

And yes, I’d happily present my aspirational weekly gardening if the BBC (and therefore licence payers) were going to fund a ‘Longmeadow’ project…But I didn’t go to Harrow and have all the benefit of the old boy network unfortunately.

There's a tv presenter who went to the same school as me. There's someone who used to be on a very well-known programme who also went to the same school.
They are both good at what they do.

If you don't like a presenter or programme, tell the BBC.

Well that's the thing @VillageMilton , he is known in the trade as having a big whoop. You can't share too much in the gardening profession as everyone knows of each other but I'll get to the crunch, I once gave Monty Dom (or Mighty Dong as he is known) a piggy back on my shoulders and carried him for 2 miles. Let's say no more about it.

I really like Monty and have worked with him in the past. He was always generous with advice, very professional, hands on and part of the team.

And you really cannot say that about lots of people on tv...

Have you got any teeny weeny tiny little suspicions on why they dislike him?

His wife fancies him.