Monty Don has long been the gentle, reassuring voice of British gardening, guiding viewers through seasons of growth, pruning, and quiet reflection on Gardeners’ World. At 70, the beloved broadcaster could easily settle into a well-earned rhythm of familiar routines at his beloved Longmeadow garden in Herefordshire. Instead, he has chosen reinvention. In early January 2026, Monty returns to BBC Two with a brand-new three-part series titled Monty Don’s Rhineland Gardens, a project he describes as the most personal journey of his career. The announcement, shared across social media and echoed in interviews, carries a tone of quiet determination: “I’m starting again.”

The series follows the mighty River Rhine on its epic 800-mile course from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea, crossing six countries—Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France, and the Netherlands—and tracing how the river has shaped extraordinary gardens along its banks. Premiering on Friday, January 16, 2026, at 8 p.m. on BBC Two, the program marks Monty’s first major travelogue-style exploration since his acclaimed British Gardens series. Yet what sets this apart, he explains, is its deeply reflective quality. The journey along one of Europe’s most historic waterways becomes a metaphor for his own stage of life—renewal after challenge, finding purpose in change, and embracing passion with fresh eyes.

Monty has never shied away from sharing personal struggles. In recent years, he has spoken openly about battling Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a condition that once became so severe his wife Sarah considered leaving to protect her own wellbeing. The darkness of winter lows led him to spend time abroad during colder months, seeking light and respite. Those experiences, he says, have informed this new project profoundly. Traveling the Rhine—through dramatic alpine valleys, romantic vineyard-lined gorges, historic cities, and industrial heartlands—allowed him to witness how gardens adapt, thrive, and reflect the people and places around them. “Gardening is always an art form,” he noted in a BBC Radio 4 appearance, “but each country does it a little differently. This river shows how landscape, history, and culture intertwine with horticulture in ways that feel very personal to me right now.”

The first episode begins at the Rhine’s source high in the Swiss Alps, where Monty explores gardens sculpted by extreme mountain conditions—resilient plantings that mirror his own resilience through tough seasons. He meets local gardeners who have cultivated beauty in harsh environments, drawing parallels to the patience required in both horticulture and life. As the series progresses into Germany, viewers join him amid fairy-tale castles, medieval towns, and the Lorelei rock with its legendary siren tales, where vineyards climb steep slopes in defiance of gravity. Monty delves into how these landscapes have inspired centuries of garden design, from formal baroque parterres to romantic English-style plantings that crossed borders.

In the industrial Rhineland, the tone shifts to reveal gardens reclaimed from post-war devastation or factory sites—powerful examples of renewal that resonate with Monty’s own narrative of starting again. He visits the Landschaftspark in Duisburg, a former steelworks transformed into a vast public garden where nature has reclaimed rusted machinery, creating a haunting yet hopeful space. The final episode carries him through the Netherlands’ flat, water-managed landscapes to the North Sea delta, where innovative Dutch gardening meets the river’s end. Throughout, Monty reflects on how the Rhine’s constant flow—sometimes turbulent, sometimes serene—mirrors the cycles of life, loss, and rebirth.

What makes the series feel intimate is Monty’s willingness to weave personal insight into the travelogue. He speaks of rediscovering joy in exploration after periods of introspection, of finding renewed purpose in sharing knowledge, and of the quiet passion that keeps him digging, planting, and filming despite the years. Fans have long admired his authenticity—whether discussing the death of beloved dogs, the rhythms of seasonal depression, or the simple pleasure of a well-turned compost heap. This project, he suggests, is an extension of that openness: a chance to show where he stands now, not as a distant expert, but as someone still learning, still growing.

The timing of the return feels poignant. Gardeners’ World wrapped its 2025 run in December, leaving viewers anticipating the traditional spring revival. Instead, Monty offers this winter bridge—a journey that celebrates gardens in colder months, under snow-dusted peaks and frost-kissed vines. The series airs in the Friday 8 p.m. slot, going head-to-head with other popular programming but drawing loyal audiences eager for his calm presence amid winter evenings. All episodes are available on BBC iPlayer shortly after broadcast, allowing viewers to savor the landscapes at their own pace.

Critics and fans alike have praised the visual richness: sweeping drone shots of alpine meadows, close-ups of delicate alpine plants clinging to rock, and golden-hour vistas over Rhine gorges. Yet the heart lies in Monty’s narration—measured, thoughtful, occasionally wry. He avoids sentimentality, letting the gardens and their stories speak for themselves while gently threading in reflections on renewal. “This isn’t about slowing down,” he has said. “It’s about starting again—with curiosity, with energy, with the same wonder I’ve always felt for plants and places.”

For longtime viewers, the series offers familiar comforts: Monty’s trademark enthusiasm for the overlooked, his respect for historical context, his gentle encouragement to try new things. For newer audiences, it provides an accessible entry into European horticultural heritage. Beyond gardening tips, it delivers something rarer—a meditation on midlife reinvention, on finding meaning in movement and change. In an era when many feel stuck, Monty’s quiet declaration resonates: it’s never too late to begin anew.

As the Rhine flows on screen, so does Monty’s journey—through borders, through seasons, through personal chapters. He ends not at a destination, but at a continuation: more gardens to tend, more stories to tell, more life to live. For a broadcaster who has spent decades helping others nurture growth, this series feels like his own careful tending—a personal gift to viewers who have grown alongside him.