Gardening god Monty Don entertained a packed house at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this evening (and not all the audience were female, it must be said). He was there to talk about his latest book The Road to Le Tholonet: A French Garden Journey
He described his early visits to France where he was beguiled by the potent mixture of modernity and "Edwardian naughtiness" he found there, and then in his 20s he discovered French gardens "to be relished". Through this falling in love with a foreign culture he came to understand the differences between the French and British approach to gardens and gardening: the British are a practical race who ask "how?" as in "how shall we plant this hedge, with what shall we feed it, when shall we cut it?" and so on, while the French probe the meanings of things and ask "why?" - "what does this hedge mean?" While we get on with the job, our gallic counterparts will come to a beautiful conclusion about existential questions of hedge-laying, and then get someone else to do the work ....
Asked about the French gardens he particularly loved - and which have stayed with him since researching the book and making his BBC series - he mentioned two: La Louve in the south, full of subtle colours and soft structure relating to the landscape in which it is set, "like a Bach fugue"; and the newer Le Jardin Plume in the north - all "order, spatial awareness, rhythm and flow".
Informed and informative on the specifics of French gardens, Monty Don is considered and inspiring when it comes to gardens in general. He believes that "they hold traces of every footfall there has ever been there", and if a visitor is open and receptive they will "hear the whispers". It's a bit like dowsing, he says, sensing 'something', the thing which makes the place unique. In his own garden he would like to leave behind him "a layer of delight".
The conversation moved on to the poetry of a garden and the importance of seclusion and retreat, and then to questions such as Monty's view of gnomes: "I like a gnome ...", and which garden implement he would like to be - a much-loved spade was toyed with, but in the end our hero plumped for the compost heap, that "very beautiful symbol of rebirth which teems with life and energy". If he could choose one tree what would it be? A yew or an oak. Yews are ancient and magical, oaks appeal for their beauty, symbolism and the ecosystems they support.
The final question of the evening was about the real star of Gardeners' World, Monty's dog Nigel. "He hogs the show and I have to fight him for airtime," Nigel's man says, and he goes on to talk about the fan mail his canine companion receives, the Bonios and chews which come in every post; "he has achieved stardom and the adoration of 3,000,000 viewers by way of golden tresses and a nifty way with a potato."
And with that we had to end, and the audience went away happy.
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