Travel and gardens have been lifelong passions for Monty Don, and in this video, he reflects on five gardens that have left a lasting impression after a lifetime spent visiting gardens around the world. He explains that each represents a different approach to garden making and a particular moment in cultural history.
Watch the video, above, to hear about Monty’s favourite gardens.
Monty’s five favourite global gardens
- Rousham: He begins with Rousham in Oxfordshire, designed by William Kent in the 1730s. Monty highlights its simplicity, its close relationship with the surrounding landscape and its importance in the early development of the English landscape style. Little has changed since its creation, it offers a clear insight into 18th-century ideas of beauty and design.
- Ninfa: In Italy, Monty turns to Ninfa, a garden created among the ruins of a deserted medieval town between Rome and Naples. Developed in the early 20th century, it combines planting with churches, streets and walls, creating a distinctive landscape shaped as much by history as by horticulture.
- Kyoto Gardens: For Japan, Monty avoids selecting a single garden, instead recommending time spent visiting Kyoto’s temple gardens. He describes them as an opportunity to understand how cultural and spiritual ideas are expressed through space, materials and restraint, offering a different way of seeing gardens.
- Vaux-le-Vicomte: France’s Vaux-le-Vicomte represents the formal tradition. Designed by André Le Nôtre in the 17th century, it predates Versailles and demonstrates the use of symmetry, long views and water to impose order on the landscape.
- The High Line: Monty concludes with the High Line in New York, citing it as a contemporary example of how disused urban infrastructure can be transformed into accessible public garden space.
