Monty Don's Longmeadow garden has taught me these 3 things about maximising my small garden – how I've made his jewel garden and pot plant tricks work for my tiny space

It’s an emotional day for Gardeners’ World fans – tonight at 8pm, gardening presenter Monty Don will present his very last episode from Longmeadow on BBC Two.

Monty and his garden have been an inspiration for gardeners across the UK for 16 years, and I’ve gleaned so many tips from Longmeadow along the way. To celebrate his final episode, I thought I’d round up some ideas I’ve borrowed for my own garden this year. It has a small lawn and patio area, with limited border space, but with Monty's tricks, I'm turning it into a haven for wildlife, beautiful planting and even vegetable growing space.

There are so many golden tips on Monty’s Instagram account alone, I had to spotlight the ones that apply to small gardens like mine. Here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned from Monty Don’s Longmeadow this year.

1. A jewel garden is a beautiful *and* wildlife-friendly idea

Monty regularly posts about his jewel garden, and every time, I'm blown away by the abundance of colour and texture. Throughout the year, the garden is an explosion of gorgeous flowers (the cosmos and dahlias are my favourites).

Not only does it look good, but it’s also an invaluable wildlife garden idea, since bee-friendly plants like open-centred dahlias provide crucial nectar for pollinators. It’s the same reason I’m a fan of Monty’s grass borders – he gardens with wildlife in mind, planting a vast range of annuals and perennials that cater to insects, birds and small mammals throughout the seasons.

Better still? You don’t need a huge space to create your own jewel garden. A small corner is more than enough to plant up a colourful floral display that lends wildlife a helping hand. This year, I carved out a corner of my small vegetable garden for marigolds and nasturtiums and enjoyed pretty blooms as well as companion planting and wildlife benefits.

2. Pots always have their place in a garden

Monty’s Longmeadow is a lot bigger than the majority of UK gardens, but despite all of that ground planting space (which he does, of course, still plant up beautifully), he never forgets about pot plants.

A few weeks ago, Monty planted up terracotta pots with irises, muscari, chionodoxa, fritillaries and small daffodils. ‘Happiness!’ he wrote in the caption. Behind the potting bench, you can see stacks of empty terracotta pots on shelves, waiting to be filled with even more plants.

It’s a reminder that no matter what size garden you have, there’s always room for container garden ideas – and they have the potential to thrive and produce stunning flowering displays in all seasons.

I've got my eye on these Siena Ribbed Italian Terracotta Pots from Crocus.

3. You don't need ground planting space to grow vegetables

When we think of a vegetable garden, a patch in the ground is one of the first things that comes to mind – but if you’re trying to start a small vegetable garden, you might not have that space.

Monty Don’s vegetable garden at Longmeadow taught me that you don’t need a classic vegetable patch. His growing area is made up of raised wooden vegetable beds framed by paving, and actually, raised beds can provide even better growing conditions for your crops with bonus perks like better drainage.

In my old garden back in Essex, I started a small raised vegetable bed on a section of my lawn, giving me space to grow crops that I didn't have before. It was so successful – I grew everything from carrots to squash – and in my current compact garden in West London, I’m growing vegetables in a raised planter like the Elho Green Basics Grow Table (which you can buy from Amazon).

Get the Longmeadow look

There are so many lessons to learn from Monty Don's Longmeadow garden, and those are a just a few of my favourites from 2026.