{"id":2391406,"date":"2026-04-27T14:03:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2391406"},"modified":"2026-04-27T14:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:03:28","slug":"judi-dench-reveals-the-unexpected-reason-she-cant-do-gardening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/judi-dench-reveals-the-unexpected-reason-she-cant-do-gardening\/","title":{"rendered":"Judi Dench reveals the unexpected reason she can&#8217;t do gardening"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-4f7f9018-8c83-4431-9936-77842a2512df\">Shakespeare sonnets. The world\u2019s biggest stages. Numerous James Bond villains. All a breeze to Dame Judi Dench. But the one thing she is frightened of? Worms. And that\u2019s why she&#8217;s never been able to get stuck in with the gardening.<\/p>\n<p>Despite having some of the most enchanting <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/garden\/\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/garden\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/garden\/\">gardens<\/a> and woodlands in her Surrey estate, Judi made a surprising confession to Jo Whiley on the RHS Roots visual podcast, telling Jo, &#8220;I don\u2019t like gardening at all&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-4f7f9018-8c83-4431-9936-77842a2512df-2\">Her oasis of trees, woodland and sprawling <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/life\/dame-judi-dench-reveals-garden-provides-hope-and-joy\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/life\/dame-judi-dench-reveals-garden-provides-hope-and-joy\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/life\/dame-judi-dench-reveals-garden-provides-hope-and-joy\/\">gardens brings &#8220;hope and joy&#8221; <\/a>to the acting titan as she faces deteriorating eyesight and health in her 90s, but Judi\u2019s fear of worms has always meant the garden maintenance has been outsourced.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-3a4f390f-27d2-48ce-935d-470de782b2c9\">She tells Jo, &#8220;I don&#8217;t like gardening at all\u2026 I can&#8217;t do gardening because the only thing I&#8217;m frightened of is worms.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It comes from being at my kindergarten school in York. I jumped in the garden in wet weather and a worm jumped into my sandal and I couldn&#8217;t get it out&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>For Judi, &#8220;That was the equivalent of a snake coming&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, over the years, the likes of her late husband, actor Michael Williams, and now her gardener Joe, have been able to create an idyllic wonderland that Judi can enjoy, without having to handle any worms.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-ztT4GzatRjBULzfdEfH8Uf\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-ztT4GzatRjBULzfdEfH8Uf slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Sign up to our free daily email for the latest royal and entertainment news, interesting opinion, expert advice on styling and beauty trends, and no-nonsense guides to the health and wellness questions you want answered.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"elk-80590005-351a-4c51-ae53-2bbf543ebc35\">A myriad of mighty trees define Judi&#8217;s Surrey estate, and she revealed she has some pretty noteworthy additions, including one of the sycamore gap trees and she&#8217;s been offered an oak from Sherwood Forest.<\/p>\n<p>As well as the trees, Judi revealed she has something called the White Garden \u2013 where everything planted is white &#8211; as well as a swimming pool and an old barn.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"elk-8c171432-8c68-4079-93d1-e249c2f6db94\">\n<blockquote class=\"vanilla-quoteblock\">\n<p>&#8216;That&#8217;s my very first memory &#8211; just lying looking up at trees.&#8217;<\/p><figcaption><cite>Dame Judi Dench<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"elk-ecd008a4-ae40-45f1-8d8a-56b2d09fdda4\">Elsewhere in their chat, the Oscar-winning icon revealed that, fear of worms aside, for most of her life, the outdoors has been a true happy place for her.<\/p>\n<p>From memories of raking pears off the tree next door as a child, to being outdoors &#8220;all the time, only ever outside\u2026&#8221; swimming in lakes, roller-skating and cycling, Judi\u2019s love of nature has stayed with her all these years.<\/p>\n<p>She still recalls fondly the Lily of the Valley that would grow in her parents&#8217; garden as a child, with Jo and Judi bonding over that shared experience where scent can unlock memories.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s even more remarkable is that nature seems to be the thread tying Judi\u2019s past and present together.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout \" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"elk-cadd97f6-1719-45f3-be66-792aa0ac04da\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1920px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Bo5KQenEEgHbDPENHqcfiG-1920-80.jpg.webp 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Bo5KQenEEgHbDPENHqcfiG-1600-80.jpg.webp 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Bo5KQenEEgHbDPENHqcfiG-1280-80.jpg.webp 1280w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Bo5KQenEEgHbDPENHqcfiG-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Bo5KQenEEgHbDPENHqcfiG-768-80.jpg.webp 768w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Bo5KQenEEgHbDPENHqcfiG-415-80.jpg.webp 415w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Bo5KQenEEgHbDPENHqcfiG-360-80.jpg.webp 360w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Bo5KQenEEgHbDPENHqcfiG-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 710px) 670px, calc(100vw - 30px)\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>(Image credit: \u00a0Guy Bell\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"elk-8f15a25c-ea7e-4b02-835c-36eaa3a97795\">Today, she plants a tree in memoriam of lost friends and family, with the likes of the late Dame Maggie Smith having a crab apple tree planted in her honour. What makes this extra special and heartfelt for Judi is that her very first memory involves a tree.<\/p>\n<p>She told Jo, &#8220;Something I do remember, that I think people would dispute with me, but I remember being wheeled out in a pram under a tree<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This used to happen probably every day. That&#8217;s my very, very first memory &#8211; just lying looking up at trees.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-collectionwidget-48ec1336932fbb926cdac5fbf1b63c21\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"product-container horizontal-product-container\">\n<div class=\"product-block-row\">\n<div class=\"featured_product_block featured_block_horizontal\" data-id=\"d366a8aa-bf7c-4032-bcbc-84b3530ec7b5\" id=\"elk-d366a8aa-bf7c-4032-bcbc-84b3530ec7b5\">\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/target.georiot.com\/Proxy.ashx?tsid=107649&amp;GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2FEngraved-Personalized-Memorial-Stainless-Adhesive%2Fdp%2FB099KMRPL7%2Fref%3Dsxin_14_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dwomanandhome-gb-9015832648635911718-21\" data-model-name=\"SINYUDUN Personalised Memorial Plaque\" data-model-brand=\"SINYUDUN\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Engraved-Personalized-Memorial-Stainless-Adhesive\/dp\/B099KMRPL7\/ref=sxin_14_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" rel=\"sponsored noopener\" data-hl-processed=\"hawklinks\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" data-placeholder-url=\"https:\/\/target.georiot.com\/Proxy.ashx?tsid=107649&amp;GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2FEngraved-Personalized-Memorial-Stainless-Adhesive%2Fdp%2FB099KMRPL7%2Fref%3Dsxin_14_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-21\" data-merchant-name=\"Amazon UK\" data-merchant-id=\"1027\" data-merchant-network=\"Amazonuk\" data-merchant-url=\"amazon.co.uk\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"product-image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" style=\"padding-top:100.00%\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-1920-80.jpg.webp 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-1600-80.jpg.webp 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-1280-80.jpg.webp 1280w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-768-80.jpg.webp 768w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-415-80.jpg.webp 415w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-360-80.jpg.webp 360w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 710px) 670px, calc(100vw - 30px)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU.jpg\" alt=\"2.5&quot; H X 6&quot; W, Custom Elegant Engraved Plate, Personalized Memorial Plaque, Brushed Stainless Steel or Brass Laser Engraved Name Plates With Adhesive Backing or Screws, Notched Corner (silver, Gold)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-1920-80.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-1600-80.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-1280-80.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-768-80.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-415-80.jpg 415w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-360-80.jpg 360w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU-320-80.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 710px) 670px, calc(100vw - 30px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/SpJG3TmZFBXRm6ZhV4WoGU.jpg\" class=\"rounded-[var(--image--border-radius,0)] featured_image\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"featured_product_details_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"featured_product_title_wrapper\">\n<span class=\"featured__label horizontal__label\">Brushed Stainless Steel or Brass <\/span><\/p>\n<p>SINYUDUN<\/p>\n<p>Personalised Memorial Plaque<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.womanandhome.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shakespeare sonnets. The world\u2019s biggest stages. Numerous James Bond villains. All a breeze to Dame Judi Dench. But the one thing she is frightened of? Worms. And that\u2019s why she&#8217;s never been able to get stuck in with the gardening. Despite having some of the most enchanting gardens and woodlands in her Surrey estate, Judi [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2391407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2391406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Judi-Dench-reveals-the-unexpected-reason-she-cant-do-gardening.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2391408,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391406\/revisions\/2391408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2391407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}