Fans have been left reeling with the news that beloved Gardener’s World presenter Monty Don is stepping down from the programme after more than 20 years. The BBC announced the news today (Tuesday 8 September) that the 71-year-old, who is the programme’s longest-serving head gardener, will leave at the end of the current series. For years, the broadcaster said, Don has “inspired and guided millions of viewers with his warmth, wisdom and passion for gardening” since joining Gardener’s World in 2003, replacing Alan Titchmarsh on the fellow presenter’s suggestion. Importantly, chief content officer Kate Phillips also acknowledged how Don has been open over the years about his personal struggles with grief and depression, advocating for “the power of the natural world to improve mental health”. Don recalls in his book The Jewel Garden, written with his wife Sarah, how in 1992 he hit rock bottom while dealing with the bankruptcy of their jewellery business in the 1987 stock market crash. “We were lambs to the slaughter and we lost everything,” he wrote. “We lost our house, our business. We sold every stick of furniture we had.”In a piece for the Observer in 2000, he elaborated that “the s*** hit the fan” as the couple – who had a two-year-old and a six-month-old baby – had to liquidate their business, while Don’s other TV and journalism work dried up. Gardener Monty Don with his dog Ned, a golden retriever (AFP/Getty)Don felt so hopeless that he went to a healer to try and get himself back on track: “He had been treating me for four months for the malaise that hung around me like a bad smell, and made me abstain from tea, coffee, alcohol,” he recalled. “The healer said I was unhealable. There was only one course of action: to give up my work and spend a year working the land.”Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 dayNew subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.Try for freeADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.Don had serious depression – which he had suffered from since his mid-twenties – as well as hallucinations. His depression peaked when he saw a horrific image in a newspaper from wartime Serbia that “disturbed [him] beyond measure” and gave him nightmares. With Sarah’s support, along with medication, he began to garden again at their home in Herefordshire. “Our new house had two acres of scrubby, abandoned field,” he wrote. “While the year-long repairwork to the house went on, I cleared it, wove a fence round the outside, designed the layout and started digging. Earth mended the hurt.”Monty Don said gardening ‘mended the hurt’ when he was suffering from serious depression (PA Wire)Slowly, Don began to receive more work, and the family were able to pay off their debts. After seven years, they had a garden that was “absolutely lovely”, he said, “this beautiful thing that we are making out of life’s muddle”. Don said that he needs at least one full day a week of gardening in order to “maintain [his] sanity… It works better than any pill, better than any medicine. Earth heals.” The presenter has maintained his message about the power of nature in healing throughout his career, including in an appearance on BBC Radio 4 in February last year. “One of the things that has always moved me, and this has often been said by people who are grieving, is that the rhythm of the seasons is a huge comforter,” he explained. “In the bleakest midwinter, you trust that spring will come, that the blossoms will appear. You sow a seed and you trust that it will flower. Now, sometimes it doesn’t. I mean everything is complicated and nothing is linear like that. But underneath it all, there is that rhythm of nature.”He continued: “I think more than ever we need that. Everybody needs it always and always has done.”Gardening, Don added, was something that everybody could relate to on the same terms: “Whether you have a tiny back garden or a windowsill, or whether you’ve got thousands of acres, you’re still talking exactly the same language. “And I think that is a really powerful social bond. In this country, it is really important – it’s on a par with football, or sport. Everybody can share that same experience.”Don has written more than 20 books about gardening and hosted various TV shows, including Around the World in 80 Gardens, My Dream Farm, Mastercrafts, Monty Don’s Rhineland Gardens, and coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show. “I have decided that the current series of Gardeners’ World is to be my last. I began hosting the programme 23 years ago, first at Berryfields and for the past 16 years here in my own garden, Longmeadow,” he said in his statement, announcing his decision to step down from the show.“Throughout that time – and around 700 programmes – I have had the privilege of sharing my own abiding passion for gardens and gardening with an equally passionate, and often equally knowledgeable audience.“That connection with millions, not just in Britain but across the world, who share a love of gardens, plants and the natural world is something I have always treasured and which I increasingly believe to be at the heart of a life well lived.”He added that he is looking forward to working with the BBC on other projects, as well as follow “new avenues”. “There are more books to write, more programmes to make,” he said. “And of course, I will still be gardening, dog by side, here at Longmeadow.”If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI) or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you