Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don has given a rare insight into his family life and the struggles that have affected his marriage.
Monty, who battles seasonal affective disorder (SAD), spoke about how he’s sought ‘peace and solace’ in gardening alone.
Struggling with the shorter daylight during the winter months, the BBC star explained his coping strategy on the Gardeners’ World podcast, saying: “I now have a pattern whereby I try and spend one day a week on my own in the garden, which is obviously usually a weekend, one of the two weekend days.”
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But it was his wife Sarah, who he married in 1983, that proved the catalyst to seeking help for his depression, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The green-fingered expert has been married to his wife Sarah since 1983, and the couple share three adult children; Adam, Tom, and Freya. Monty has spoken candidly about his mental health struggles and how Sarah was the catalyst in his journey to seek help.
Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don -Credit:BBC
In a heartfelt conversation with Kate Thornton on the White Wine Question Time podcast, Monty, who shares three adult children; Adam, Tom, and Freya, with Sarah, explained: “It’s a lot to do with the greyness, the lack of light and the general sense of the world just pressing in on you and no energy.”
He recounted a particularly tough moment when Sarah confronted him about his wellbeing, saying: “Sarah said to me, ‘Look, I just can’t take any longer your moods and your black depression, you’ve got to do something about it because if you don’t, I can’t live with you – I’ll take the children and I’ll go’.”
Following this wake-up call, Monty sought medical advice and began taking anti-depressants. However, he eventually stopped using the medication and instead found solace in using a light box to ease the transition between seasons.
Monty, 69, has opened up about his preference of gardening separately from his wife Sarah at their Longmeadow garden. He said that while sharing gardening is important, he sought ‘peace and solace’ in doing it alone.
“It’s the peace and solace, actually, that helps quiet my mind,” he shared. Monty, who found getting back to gardening crucial after facing a particularly ‘dreadful’ October and November.
With his condition, that affects one in 20 people in the UK, he said: “It’s a kind of treat I give myself. But when I say share, I don’t necessarily mean gardening with other people, which actually, personally, I don’t like very much.
“Even my wife and I, who have always gardened together, we hardly ever physically garden together, we just were in the garden at the same time.”