The Jewel Garden

I'm a fan of the British program Gardeners' World, hosted by Monty Don. Each episode offers wonderful tips any gardener can use, even one in the Santa Cruz mountains! I've enjoyed Monty Don's garden, tips and his down-to-earth style, so much so that I wanted to learn more.A search revealed several books, one of which is The Jewel Garden, a journal written by both Monty and his wife Sarah. Subtitled A Story of Despair and Redemption, it tells about their meeting at Cambridge, their first successful jewelry design company and devastating financial reverses. Finally, it tells about their love of gardening, their devotion to each other and how these loves order their lives. The trade paperback has a number of lovely photos showing the Dons in their London days and the transformation of an old listed Herefordshire house on two acres into one of the country's amazing gardens.The Dons are self-taught gardeners: they grow what they like with a preference for an informal look and the inclusion of vegetables that find their way to the table.From Sarah: "Over the years life has become more comfortable and the happiest time that we spend together is in the garden. The energy has now gone from making it to sustaining its rhythm."From Monty: "We have made this garden together; there is nothing in it that is not a result of that partnership. From the mess and joy of our past and present we have created a place that is intensely personal, yet lives quite separately from us. It is this precious thing that we are making out of life's muddle."The above two observations epitomize the substance of this delightful memoir. If you love gardening, you will thoroughly enjoy The Jewel Garden by Monty and Sarah Don.First published by Hodder and Stoughton, 2005. 179 pages.

Book came as advertised, so no issues with the product.I bought this one for the purpose of reading the backstory of Monty Don. However, the way this book is written, switching from his point of view to Sarah's, made this difficult to get into. The last part of the book is specifically about the design and redesign of their garden and of less particular interest to me (since I don't have their land size or their English climate). So this one is not going into my permanent library and will be donated.

I liked their story of hardship & success, and also their teamwork, perseverance, love, sacrifice & hard work for their gardening passion & each other! A true inspiration!

I really love Monty Don as a national gardener and his lyrical storytelling voice. I wanted to know more about the life he hand Sarah have lived - and this book did scratch that itch. You get to hear from Sarah in her own narrative voice and get a feeling for her part in shaping Longmeadow and Monty. But the book is written sometimes in a journal style and is more a collection of thoughts and experiences rather than a cohesive narrative. I did enjoy it until it became a lot of descriptions of plants I had never heard of. That portion should have been accompanied by more photos to help tell that part of their garden’s story. But overall I did like it and I did like hearing Sarah’s narrative voice.

Anyone familiar with Monty Don and his gardens at Longmeadow will not be disappointed. Nature beautifully heals the soul.Book arrived on time and in better condition than stated. Very pleased with the seller.

Living in Pennsylvania U.S.A...I can only dream about a beautiful garden in the English countryside....This book let me do a little more than that..It gave me a personal peek into not only how the garden was made and is cared for but who the people who made it really are. I totally enjoyed this read.....and came away so inspired. I doubt that I would ever attempt to make such an involved garden, but there were so many helpful hints as to good plants to use and how to start a hedge from cuttings, how they plant their sweetpeas etc. etc......But it was the authors personal stories about how they came to make their garden after some challenging life twists, that raised this book a notch above your usual garden read.

I love Monty Don books , especially this one I read it in one day I recommend it !

This was a very honestly written story of the life of Monty and Sarah Don from the time they met and how they kept true to their love and mission thru all adversary and created the Jewel Garden. Extremely well written. Monty Don is a professional writer who has a passion for gardening. I am already on my second read thru. Very enjoyable.

I guess that watching Gardeners World every Friday that viewers think that Monty Don has a great life, who wouldn't like to spend their days in the garden? It was fascinating to read about their early life together, the jewellery business, Month's depression, the family and his they struggled through some really tough times. Above all this book is life affirming and shows that with hard work and determination that amazing things can happen. It's a beacon of hope for everyone, dedicated gardener or not.

I bought this book looking forward to reading about how Monty and his wife set up the jewelry business and how they went from that to Long Meadow and presenting Gardeners World and this is all in the book. Unfortunately it's in the first half of the book and it's not a huge book. The 2nd half of the book is really just a description of what's in their garden (or rather, was in their garden when the book was written) and how it changes through the year. While this might be interesting for some, I was more interested in their history and could have read a lot more about that. This is not as good as his book about Nigel but it does contain a map of the garden at Long Meadow - something the Nigel book would have benefited from.

Many of us have been there and wished we were somewhere else, or had sudden successes that went wrong, discovered that what seemed to be good idea was not, have grown weary of working to put things right, and have struggled with physical and mental health burdens. Some of us have learned, adapted and grown as result but many more have not been able to overcome the setbacks; many have succumbed to self-pity. This book encourages a productive approach that accepts the past and the inevitable for what it is and shows how determination and small but steady steps build a new life. A fascinating and honest insight into the a life which TV tends to suggest is one of easy privilege - a wonderfully warm read.

I read several posted reviews before purchasing The Jewel Garden. It was very factual and easy read, but at times, I wasn't aware that Sarah was a keen gardener as well, so wasn't sure whether it was Monty or Sarah quoting different parts to the 'story'. I would love to read a more in depth version of Monty's life, as he has so much to offer the reader. In particular, his episodes of depression and how he managed to cope with the highs and lows and trying to keep 'on top of things', plus bringing up three young children with his supportive wife.

Crisp and heart warmingly honest account of Monty Don's life. Very interesting and inspiring story of emergent adulthood.Some sections, denoted by typeface, are Monty talking and some Sarah - make sure you get used to which typeface denotes which.