Monty Don Wife: Who Is Sarah Don? Their Marriage, Children and Life at Longmeadow

Monty Don’s wife is Sarah Don, formerly Sarah Erskine, the woman who has shared more than four decades of marriage with the much-loved British gardener, writer and television presenter. Long before millions of viewers knew Monty from Gardeners’ World, he and Sarah were already building a life together through design, business, family and, eventually, gardening.

The couple met while studying at Cambridge University and married on July 29, 1983. They have three grown children, Adam, Freya and Tom, and are now grandparents.

Sarah has generally preferred life away from television cameras, but her influence on Monty’s story is difficult to miss. She was the trained jeweller behind much of the creative work in their successful costume jewellery company, worked with Monty on books and gardens, raised their children through financially difficult years, and supported him during some of the hardest periods of his life.

More than 40 years after their wedding, Sarah remains one of the most important people behind the familiar public figure viewers know as Monty Don.

Who Is Monty Don’s Wife Sarah Don?

Sarah Don is a British designer, trained jeweller, author and longtime creative partner of Monty Don.

She was born Sarah Erskine and met her future husband while they were students at Cambridge.

Sarah trained in jewellery and architecture, giving her the design skills that would later become central to the couple’s first major professional venture.

Unlike Monty, she never developed much interest in becoming a television personality.

She has generally remained private even as her husband’s fame grew.

That does not mean she has simply watched his career from the sidelines.

Sarah has collaborated with Monty on writing projects, helped create the gardens connected with their family homes and played a major role in the business they ran together before gardening and broadcasting became his full-time world.

Monty and Sarah Met at Cambridge

Monty Don and Sarah Erskine met while studying at Cambridge University.

Monty attended Magdalene College, where he studied English.

Their relationship began years before television, gardening columns or the public persona that eventually made Monty one of Britain’s most recognizable gardeners.

He has spoken openly about falling deeply in love with Sarah when they were young.

In one interview, Monty described their relationship in simple terms, saying that meeting Sarah allowed them to become a team.

That idea of being a team appears repeatedly throughout their story.

They worked together professionally, raised children together and experienced financial success followed by a dramatic collapse.

The partnership survived all of it.

Their Proposal Was Far From Ordinary

Monty has shared an unusual story about how he persuaded Sarah to marry him.

During a trip in Scotland, the couple went out in a rowing boat on the Minch.

According to Monty, he told Sarah that he would not row back until she agreed to marry him.

She agreed.

They married only days later after returning home.

The couple’s wedding took place in 1983.

What followed was not the quiet domestic life that might now be associated with Monty’s peaceful garden at Longmeadow.

Instead, Monty and Sarah entered the fast-moving world of fashion jewellery.

Sarah Was the Creative Force Behind Their Jewellery Business

Before Monty Don became known for gardening, the Don name was associated with costume jewellery.

During the 1980s, Monty and Sarah established a fashion jewellery business together.

The company carried Monty’s name, but he has repeatedly acknowledged that Sarah was the stronger designer.

She was the trained jeweller and responsible for much of the creative direction.

Monty handled more of the selling and promotion.

At its height, the business became remarkably successful.

Their jewellery was stocked by major retailers and sold internationally.

Customers reportedly included Princess Diana, Michael Jackson and Boy George.

The couple operated a shop in Knightsbridge and expanded into international markets, including the United States.

For a period, life looked glamorous and financially promising.

Then everything changed.

Their Business Collapsed After the 1987 Financial Crash

The financial crash of 1987 badly damaged Monty and Sarah’s jewellery company.

America had become an important market for the business.

When retailers cancelled orders, the couple was left with commitments to suppliers and significant borrowing.

The consequences continued for several years.

Their company eventually closed around 1990.

It is sometimes reported that Monty and Sarah themselves went bankrupt, but the story is slightly more complicated.

They sold property and possessions in an effort to settle debts rather than declaring personal bankruptcy.

Monty later described losing their business, home and almost everything they owned as one of the most difficult periods of his life.

The couple had young children at the time.

Their financial situation became so difficult that Monty later recalled periods when there was enough food for the children but very little left for himself and Sarah.

Gardening Helped Them Start Again

The collapse of the jewellery business unexpectedly pushed Monty toward the work that would eventually define him.

Gardening had always been part of his life, but during the family’s financial problems it became increasingly important.

Monty and Sarah eventually settled in Herefordshire.

In 1991, they began creating the garden that would become Longmeadow.

At the beginning, it was far removed from the carefully structured garden now familiar to television viewers.

The land was neglected and needed years of work.

Together, Monty and Sarah gradually shaped it into a home and garden.

The experience also influenced their writing.

They later co-authored The Jewel Garden, which explored gardening alongside their experiences with business failure, family life and recovery.

Sarah Supported Monty Through Depression

Monty Don has spoken publicly for many years about experiencing depression.

The difficult period surrounding the collapse of the jewellery company made his mental health struggles particularly severe.

Sarah played an important role during that period.

Monty has acknowledged that living with his dark moods could be extremely difficult for his family.

At one stage, Sarah reportedly told him that he needed to seek professional help or she could no longer continue living with the situation as it was.

Monty eventually sought treatment.

He has since spoken openly about therapy, medication at different times and the importance of gardening in managing his wellbeing.

He has also repeatedly credited Sarah’s patience and support.

Rather than presenting their marriage as permanently peaceful, Monty has been unusually open about the pressures Sarah experienced while living beside his work habits and periods of depression.

Sarah Never Calls Her Husband “Monty”

One of the most interesting details about their marriage is that Sarah apparently does not call her husband Monty.

The television presenter’s name is more complicated than many viewers realize.

He is widely known professionally as Monty Don, but within his family he goes by Montagu.

In 2025, he explained that Sarah had never called him Monty.

His mother did not either.

At home, he is Montagu.

That small detail reflects the separation Monty has tried to maintain between his public and private life.

To millions of television viewers he is Monty Don, the familiar gardener walking through Longmeadow.

To Sarah, he remains the man she knew decades before television fame arrived.

Monty and Sarah Have Three Children

Monty and Sarah Don have three children, Adam, Freya and Tom.

All three are now adults.

The family grew up during a period when their parents’ circumstances changed dramatically.

Their early childhood included the aftermath of the jewellery company’s collapse and the family’s move toward a very different way of living.

Monty has admitted that his career sometimes took him away from his children more than he would now have liked.

Looking back, he has expressed regret that work occasionally received more attention than family.

The children themselves have generally remained outside the celebrity world surrounding their father.

Monty and Sarah have also become grandparents.

For Monty, home and family appear to have become increasingly important as he has grown older.

Sarah Is Also an Author

Sarah’s creative work did not end with jewellery.

She has worked with Monty on several publishing projects.

One of their best-known collaborations is The Jewel Garden, which combines memoir, gardening and the story of rebuilding their lives after financial collapse.

They also collaborated on food and home-related writing.

Sarah’s involvement makes sense given how closely gardening, food and home life are connected at Longmeadow.

She may not have the same public profile as her husband, but many of the ideas associated with Monty’s life have been shaped through a partnership rather than by one person working alone.

Longmeadow Is Their Shared Home

Longmeadow has become almost as famous as Monty himself.

Since 2011, it has served as the main filming location for his work on Gardeners’ World.

But Longmeadow is not a television set.

It is Monty and Sarah’s private home.

They began developing the garden in 1991, transforming what was essentially an unremarkable piece of land into the series of gardens viewers now recognize.

Sarah has been part of that process from the beginning.

The property includes areas such as the Jewel Garden, Cottage Garden, Paradise Garden and vegetable garden.

The Jewel Garden in particular carries echoes of the couple’s earlier career in fashion and design, using bold color in a way that recalls the visual instincts developed during their jewellery years.

Monty Is Leaving Gardeners’ World

The Don family is now approaching another major change.

In September 2026, Monty announced that he would step down from Gardeners’ World at the end of the current series after more than two decades as its lead presenter.

His departure does not mean he is retiring completely.

He plans to continue writing and working on other television projects.

However, the change will alter life at Longmeadow.

The BBC has helped support the professional gardening team needed to keep the private garden ready for regular television filming.

Once the programme stops being based there, Monty has acknowledged that he and Sarah will need to rethink how the garden operates financially.

Even after decades on television, Longmeadow remains first and foremost their home.

Sarah and Monty Remain a Team After More Than 40 Years

For anyone searching for Monty Don’s wife, Sarah Don is much more than the private spouse of a famous television gardener.

Their relationship existed before gardening made Monty famous.

They met as students, married in 1983, built an international jewellery company, lost much of what they owned when the business collapsed, raised three children and created a new life in Herefordshire.

Sarah has been a designer, jeweller, writer, mother and creative collaborator.

She was present through Monty’s financial struggles and periods of depression and helped shape the home and garden that later became familiar to millions of television viewers.

Their marriage has not been presented as perfect.

Monty himself has admitted that his work, moods and intense personality have sometimes made him difficult to live with.

Yet the partnership has lasted for more than four decades.

As Monty prepares to leave Gardeners’ World, one of the biggest chapters of his public career is coming to an end.

The more private story remains much the same.

At Longmeadow, away from the cameras, he is still Montagu to Sarah, the woman who knew him long before the rest of Britain knew him as Monty Don.