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Monty Don fans brought to tears by sweet tribute to his late dog Nigel

The Gardener's World star lost his dog Nigel earlier this year

Monty Don has shared a heartwarming tribute to his late dog Nigel.

And dozens of his fans noticed the sweet tribute. Some were even brought to tears by the nod.

Monty, 65, posted a snap of his stunning cottage garden.

Amongst the flowers is a dog topiary that strongly resembles his late golden retriever’s silhouette.

When did Monty lose Nigel?

monty don
Monty Don lost his beloved pooch Nigel in May (Credit: YouTube)

He shared the touching snap in view of his 598,000 Instagram followers.

Simply captioning the post “the cottage garden”, fans rushed to leave comments.

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One user commented: “The Nigel topiary brings a tear to my eye,” and another user shared: “And there’s the much loved and missed Nigel.”

A third user posted: “Lovely garden but all eyes are at dear Nigel obviously,” and yet a further user gushed: “Topiary Nigel, brought a tear to my eye. A loved and very much missed special boy.”

Monty lost his beloved golden retriever Nigel this May.

Nigel had become a favourite with viewers on Gardener’s World.

One of several dogs of Monty’s, Nigel always seemed to find a way onto the screen.

Monty explained in a past episode: “When Nigel first started to appear on Gardener’s World, it was only because he was there.

“There was no plan. Then I realised he was a complete media tart, and would choose the best position, and just hit the light, and all the rest of it.

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Monty Don was left heartbroken when Nigel died (Credit: BBC)

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“And before long, he had taken over. And then by popular demand, he had to appear.”

He shared the devastating news back in May on Instagram.

The BBC star penned: “I am very sorry to announce that Nigel has died.

Nigel helped Monty through his depression

Monty’s dogs appear in his shows (Credit: BBC/YouTube)

“To the end he was happy, healthy and his usual calm, lovely self.

“But he was suddenly taken ill and he slipped quietly away with no pain or suffering and is now buried in the garden with lots of tennis balls.

“Rest now old friend. See you in the sweet bye and bye.”

He has said that owning dogs has helped him get through bouts of depression.

Speaking on Radio 4 earlier this year, Nigel said: “I think that if you suffer from any kind of mental illness, whether it be depression or anxiety or whatever, having someone to look after who returns that attention with completely unqualified love, is very powerful.

Monty Don on Nigel, Nell and other four-legged friends

“It’s powerful medicine Even just the basics. If you have a dog you have to take it for a walk, which means you have to go outside, put your boots on and put a coat on.

“As anybody who is listening knows that when you are depressed you don’t do any of that.

“You don’t get out of bed, you eat badly, you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, you don’t do what you want to do because you don’t want to do anything.

“And so on and so forth. So having a dog you have to give food and water and walk and attention, and who just loves you, is extraordinary.”

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor