A Visit to Prince Charles' Highgrove Garden
by Bonnie Alter, London on 06.12.08
No photos allowed at Highgrove House--Prince Charles' country house and organic garden. Its 37 acres are a showcase for HRH's interest in traditional and organic growing methods. Special organised tours are allowed in order to see it under a strict no photo policy, and what a place it is. HRH bought it in 1980 and has been planting and planning it since then. He has engaged the creative minds of the greatest gardeners in England and has come up with a changing, organic garden that reflects his many interests.
The Prince uses all organic materials in his gardens, he recycles water, has dug bore holes and has a reed bed system for grey water. Sheep are brought in from a neighbouring farm to graze and cut the meadow. Overhanging trees are trimmed by cows brought in to eat the bottom branches. No cement is used in the paving, instead there are bits of earth or wild thyme in between the paving stones so that insects can eat there. All workmen and craftsmen used are local to the area.
The Prince loves trees and has planted 10,000 of them across the 37 acre property, along with 9 miles of hedgerows. In one area there are japanese maples, in another laurel trees, in another the national collection of beech trees. He built a stunning tree house to commemorate the loss of a favourite Cedar of Lebanon, and new sprouts are growing out of the original old stump.
Each of the gardens has a different theme. They start out quite wild and become more formal as they come closer to the house. In the Woodland Garden there is a stumpery. This a Victorian notion--a pile of old tree roots, in this case sweet chestnuts, which are stacked up and held in place with steel rods. The end result looks like drift wood when in fact it is the bottom of the trees. It is a perfect habitat for ferns and insects and looks very sculptural.
At the back of the house is a long path of topiary, made of yew. The balls are each about 6' high and round and plump. They are designed by the gardeners, to whom the Prince gives free rein to create the shapes. The gardens just go on and on; there is an Islamic garden which won a prize at the Chelsea Flower show, there is a southern hemisphere garden with ferns, tree ferns, palms and eucalyptus. There is an azalea garden, a black and white garden (with white lupins and peonies and black grasses), italian gardens and another focussed around a sundial. The wildflower meadow is 4 acres and has poppies, camassia and every other wild flower imaginable.
The Prince has received many many gifts and these are incorporated into the gardens. There are busts of famous people (including the president of the Soil Association) placed on top of a high wall, a Serbian window embedded in a wall and sculpture by his favourite designers, the Bannermans, dotted around. All in a very special place, reflecting the personality of a dedicated environmentalist. :: Highgrove
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Prince Charles does it again, he really doesnt get enough credit here in the Uk press for his work. His Duchy Originals brand produces some of the best food products in the World!
had no idea the Prince was into gardening nonetheless the Highgrove Garden from the pictures above is beautiful. I imagine myself walking barefoot taking in the scenery :)
That's a pretty nice place. It must be hard work to become a prince, how does one get that job anyway? I'll see if there are any job openings.
Come on! Yes it is beautiful, but has he even gotten his finger nails dirty out in it? I doubt it. How nice it must be to hire garden designers and then hire workers to do it all.
In my opinion, not the true essence of gardening. A bit jealous? Possibly, but 37 acres is a bit excessive. I would be more impressed if he personally gardened a 10 by 10 plot and grew tomatoes.
Voting up as this is a perfect example of environmentalism in action. Perfect little (I should say huge) rolling gardens owned by the elite and wealthy, done the proper way by hordes of underpaid workmen. Of course, nothing else will be allowed, so the rest of us will starve as yields fall.
Reminds one of the Monty Python bit about ...
"That must be the King"
'Ow do you know?"
"Well he hasn't got s**t all over him"
Perhaps the moodern aristicrocy doesn't mind s**t as much as they used to...
Good on you YRH!
I don't care if it isn't him the one getting his hands dirty, he's still the one making it happen. None of all the people working there would be if it wasn't for his initiative or financing.
I think it is very commendable that he spends on that and actually enjoys creating such things. It makes one think he will do even other things that are as creative, nice and environmentally sound as these.
Yes, HRH does actually get his hands dirty. He has many obligations, as one would expect, so his time to work in the gardens is limited. I've followed the story of Highgrove for several years now and happily, Charles does get dirty.
Don't be so quick to judge just because one is hugely rich and famous.
Whether he did it with his own hands or not, it shows he cares. Would it be better for him to focus on less environmentally friendly projects?
Don't be so quick to judge just because one is hugely rich and famous.
Whether he did it with his own hands or not, it shows he cares. Would it be better for him to focus on less environmentally friendly projects?
Well, have you tasted his beer that he produces from his estate (100% organic)? Fantastic!
Makes him good in my book!
But the point is, if he can do it so can we, right? BTW, I am trying to produce a great 100% organic homebrew and am growing my own hops for it!
Cheers
Fab garden BUT... He is still married to a woman whose favourite passtime is bloodsports - shooting stags and ripping foxes apart for fun (and don't tell me they've stopped doing it). His sons have also killed animals as sport. Being green, surely, is to do with a whole ethic, not just picking out the bits you like, as Charles seemingly does. It's no good refusing to use slug pellets or pesticides of any kind, but still having the mindset that human beings are 'top dog' so to speak, and have the right to inflict suffering on other creatures. How could a person actually shoot and kill a stag but profess to be 'green'?
As for the Dutchy products, they are nice, yes, but they are totally overpriced and Charles does not pay a penny of tax on profits, as far as I am aware (or on the rents from the Dutchy itself).
I am a garden designer myself and my own garden is totally organic. I'm not wealthy and it's a lot of hard work. It's slightly annoying to see Charles praised so much when many of the ideas and a lot of the really hard work are not actually his. Yes, good on him for doing his bit. But he has the rest of a very ungreen royal family to make up for, including his own spouse, and I wouldn't mind a four acre wild-flower meadow myself, thanks. Let's not get carried away here. The place is certainly beautiful, but it is not all to the Prince's credit.
HRH's Highgrove garden is beautiful - a national treasure, surely - an inspiration which shows us what can be achieved. I am keen to incorporate as many of Prince Charles' 'green' ideas in my own garden where I can,
What a pity some people, through jealousy, attack our prince's unrelated interests, such as fox-hunting. Not a hunter nor a rider, though I live in hunt country, home to many foxes.
Hounds do not rip apart foxes these days - they follow the scent. Foxes are shot. If I had a gun I would shoot the foxes that break into the enclosure in my garden. Has anyone seen pet goslings, chickens, rabbits,etc., that have their heads nipped off and are left uneaten where they were caught? (fox sport apparently). Then we are told to rear free-range ...
I have started planting wild thyme in the cracks between paving stones. It 'takes' very easily - and smells nice when walked on.
When pruning roses and other spiky bushes does his Royal Highness retain the stalks (unless they are diseased)? I have found them useful for staking up plants that require support, or laying them round the base of plants as a deterent to slugs and snails.