Monty Don's French Gardens

In this new series Monty Don visits some of the most famous and interesting gardens in France. In this first programme he tells the stories behind important historic gardens. These include elaborate walled gardens designed to please the mistress and then the wife of a King, magnificent displays of flowers and fountains that involved thousands of soldiers moving tracts of land and incited violent jealousy in another monarch and a modern day chateau garden that came close to bankrupting its owner. Monty sees how throughout history the French have used gardens as a public expression of money, power and passion.

In this new series Monty Don visits some of the most famous and interesting gardens in France. In this the second programme , he turns to the French love of food and finds out how this has influenced their gardens. Monty travels to some of the most famous ‘potager’ or kitchen gardens, where vegetables and flowers are planted together in elaborate and beautiful displays .He talks to gardeners about this style of planting which has been copied the world over. He also visits allotments, learns to pick asparagus, enjoys some of the best produce from the land and learns about the importance the French attach to the soil.