Collection Magazine - Issue 1 - Autumn/Winter 22/23 - Magazine - Page 95
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“I think the passion for gardens was always there, although I never
gardened much before Highgrove,” he says. “As a child at Buckingham
Palace, my sister and I were allowed a little plot at the back of a border
to grow vegetables. But it wasn't until I had somewhere of my own that
I really became interested, because I wanted to make it my own — and
this place was a blank canvas. I had to start from scratch.”
He began his quest with the south-facing Sundial Garden. “I started
there because we had no seclusion around the house. Reporters would
turn up at the bottom of the garden with long lenses; there was simply
no privacy,” explains the King.
So, using reclaimed wrought-iron gates that lead into the Wildflower
Meadow and high, clipped yew hedges with windows cut into them to
display carved busts, the King has produced a secluded garden area
that blends formal and natural elements — and protects the house.
With the advice of some of Britain’s finest garden designers, including
the Marchioness of Salisbury, Rosemary Verey, Miriam Rothschild,
Roy Strong and the dedicated assistance of the garden staff, the King
has added his own unique vision and ideas, creating highly individual
gardens within the Garden, many of which have now reached maturity.
He is a pioneer who has stuck to his guns and proven that his visions
have been right when others have cast doubt.
It is a garden that surprises in that it is intimate, not grand. It is not a
garden that is overly preened and managed, nor clipped and trimmed to
within an inch of its life.
Lime avenue leads to wildflower walk, thyme path to lily pond,
kitchen garden to woodland glade. Keeping the balance, so that it does
not become either too laid back or too severe, is an art. It reflects not
only the King’s gardening interests and his adherence to organic and
sustainable methods which encourage both plants and wildlife to thrive,
but his personality, his ideologies, and his nature.
Today, it is fashionable to garden and farm organically. But in the
1980s, the King's ideas were considered outlandish, and criticised —
something that bewildered him at the time — but he was adamant that
his private garden should be completely organic.
“Even in the 1960s, when I was a teenager, I hated what was going
on — the endless tearing up and pulling down of all the wild places, many
of which had taken hundreds of years to grow — were being destroyed
in one day. It takes forever to recreate lost habitats. I also felt the chemical
approach to farming and gardening was not something that could ever last.
To me, it was just not sustainable in the long run. We have to rediscover the
vital importance of working with nature.”
