Gardeners’ World star Monty Don branded ‘ignorant’ by furious fan after ‘unnecessarily rude’ putdown
MONTY Don has been branded ‘ignorant’ by a furious fan after their ‘rude’ putdown on social media when they disagreed with him on the merits of bracken.
The BBC Two presenter took to Twitter to agree with a nature lover who voiced their concern about how much bracken is growing in the hills in the Lake District.
The bird expert shared a video on the platform with the caption: “Too much bracken, way too much. Smothering everything. How can it be reduced? Near Keswick.”
Monty, 68, responded by sharing his techniques to reduce bracken when gardening.
He wrote: “My experience is that bracken nutures little and swamps almost everything.
“I have spent 20 years trying to reduce it by repeated and timely cutting and rolling to allow tree planting to succeed. It is working but a slow, hard process.”
But an angry fan hit out at the Gardeners’ World star, speaking passionately in defence of the plant.
They wrote: “No, it’s part of natural succession. However that process takes many decades.
“Man is just too impatient to see the changes happening. We usually interfere: either plant or use adaptive grazing depending which direction we require to effect faster.”
Monty Don saw the message and disagreed with the claims, saying: “You rarely get any succession of any kind following bracken.
“It remains the dominant species for centuries simply because it is such a successful plant.
“Thus it is inimitable with any kind agriculture, silviculture or horticulture.”
The fan was not happy with Monty’s response, and called his ecology ‘basic’, as well as branding the gardening expert ‘ignorant’.
The feud continued as Monty retaliated to the ‘rude’ comment, showcasing his expertise when it comes to working with fauna.
He responded: “Sidestepping the unecessary rudeness of that remark, I have farmed a bracken-covered hillside for the past 20 years, with and without sheep, with and without pigs, cattle etc.
“In that time we have planted about 7,000 trees but not one has grown naturally in amongst the bracken.”
The disgruntled Twitter user continued to argue with Monty, but the star stopped responding after that final statement.
The Sun previously revealed that Monty Don is a real heartthrob for some viewers, such as Hannah Verdier from London, who admitted she would ‘jump into bed’ with him.
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