Prince Charles At Highgrove: His Love for Gardening and Organic Farming

His Royal Highness, Charles, the Prince of Wales, is known for his environmental advocacy - nature conservation, organic farming, and devotion to countryside life. When not in London or Scotland,  he spends most of his time at Highgrove, his private estate in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England.  Highgrove home farm is part of the duchy of Cornwall's investment portfolio. 

Prince Charles proudly showing his stunning Highgrove gardens

Highgrove Estate

The estate has a home farm from the duchy of Cornwall, magnificent gardens with blooms in season, a nine-bedroom Georgian mansion, and sweeping greenery. The home farm is run with the best possible innovative agricultural system free from pesticides. Prince Charles himself personally oversees its development all throughout the decades.

Home farm at Highgrove estate 

The home farm at Highgrove is purely organic and is a model of sustainable farming maintained with clean energy. The entire estate is surrounded by sweeping greenery, a beautiful landscape of nature, and planted with a variety of wild species, trees and flowers.

Scenic view of Highgrove estate

Life works of Prince Charles 

Highgrove is the future king's life works, it's his lifelong project and he invested so much time, energy, and money to make it a model of sustainable development. It is run according to his environmental principles. He personally supervised Highgrove's agricultural innovation, organic farming, and elaborate gardens. 

Highgrove House 

He acquired the property in 1980 before he dated Lady Diana Spencer and slowly transformed the estate into an organic home farm with extensive gardens and wild meadows. The Prince of Wales asked Lady Diana to help him choose the interior furnishing of Highgrove House. 

After the royal wedding in July 1981, they made Highgrove their country residence. Diana, the Princess of Wales added her personal touch to the Highgrove House's interior. Highgrove House is a Georgian mansion with nine bedrooms and six bathrooms. 

Highgrove House

Diana had so many happy memories at Highgrove. It was there where she would spend weekends with his young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. She would organize small parties for her sons and their friends at the private gardens. The Princess of Wales stopped spending time in Highgrove when her marriage to Prince Charles became irretrievably broken in the late part of 1990.

Diana, Princess of Wales resting at Highgrove Gardens

Prince Charles relaxing at Highgrove House. Pictured in the 1980s

Perfect Model for Sustainability and Zero Waste

The Prince of Wales made sure Highgrove reflects his environmental advocacy. Solar panels are installed and the mansion is heated using a wood chip boiler. The property also managed its own waste disposal. It has machinery installed that filtered and recycled waste. 

The Prince and Princess of Wales 

at Highgrove and their two young sons

Garden Tours at Highgrove

Highgrove is home to one of the most spectacular gardens in the world. Highgrove gardens are adorned with scented flowers like wisteria, jasmine, honeysuckle, and thyme. It first opened its door to the public in 1994, and since then regularly offered tour packages during spring, summer, and winter. 

The income from the garden tours goes to the Prince of Wales charitable funds. Guided tour packages are available from April to October. However, due to the pandemic, Highgrove is closed to the public for the rest of 2020, it will resume in Spring 2021 according to its website Highgrove Gardens. 

Prince Charles tending his own gardens at Highgrove

Prince Charles at Highgrove gardens

Formal gardens at Highgrove

Prince Charles with the young Prince Harry in Highgrove

Prince Charles worked on the garden designs with his architects. It has three different sections, the wild garden, which has meadows and wildflowers, the formal garden, and the walled kitchen garden. The Wildflower Meadow of Highgrove is one of the most captivating areas in the gardens. It features endangered native plants like the spotted orchid.

The Wild Meadow in Highgrove

The arboretum is where varieties of beech and cherry trees grow, it has a stunning magnolia walk with pink and white flowers. Highgrove has The Stumpery, where the young Prince William and Prince Harry used to play around. The Stumpery was inspired by Victorian gardening techniques, with a thatched tree house, an oak temple, and the Cottage Garden.

Sweeping view of the greenery

Highlights of Highgrove Garden Tour

Highgrove Gardens' website offers a preview of how breathtaking the property is. An ideal destination for nature lovers, garden lovers, and those who are seeking serenity and calmness in travel.

It is one of the most magnificent, most modern English countryside gardens in the United Kingdom and probably, all of Europe. A sweeping view of nature will greet visitors upon entering the estate. 

Prince Charles at Highgrove gardens

The Stumpery

One of the most tranquil corners in the Highgrove outdoor scenery is the Stumpery. It is situated in the middle of the wild gardens and the meadows. The tree house in the center was originally built for the young Prince William and Prince Harry in 1989.

It was at the tree house where the royal brothers, William and Harry, spent many happier weekends of their young lives playing around and sometimes joined by their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Stumpery with a tree house in the center

It is called Stumpery because the area has several layers of old tree stumps and logs. Prince Charles redesigned the gardens today and installed a Shepherd's Hut for his grandson, Prince George of Cambridge. 

The tree house in the Stumpery is also called Holyrood House after the Queen's palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. Stumpery is a  rich habitat of wildlife with growing ferns in stumps. It has beautiful structures carved in wood, including two classical sculptures.

Wildflower Meadows

One of the most scenic views at Highgrove where the natural backdrop of nature thrives. Wildflower meadow is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna with blooms and colors change every season.

Experiencing a  wilderness at home is what this picturesque corner of Highgrove wants to convey to visitors. It is just across the kitchen walled garden of Highgrove mansion.

Wildflower meadow just across Highgrove house

The meadow was originally planted and cultivated in 1982 aimed as a traditional meadow. According to the Highgrove Gardens website, there are over 72 species planted in the Wildflower Meadow of Prince Charles, making it a very species-rich meadow and one of the most stunning wilderness concepts in urban gardening.

Cottage Gardens

"A glorious scheme inspired by the colors of Tibet". The Cottage Garden at Highgrove is inspired by the vibrant colors of Tibetian gardening skills. The garden has yellow, pink and blue flower themes. It is a mix of old and new cottage garden styles. A variety of trees, shrubs, flowers are planted in the area, making it a relaxing place to take a leisure walk.

Breathtaking view of Highgrove gardens

Sundial Garden

Originally a rose garden designed by Lady Salisbury, it earned its name due to a stone sundial installed at the center of the garden. With beds of flowers and hedging planted with blue, pink, and purple delphiniums, this beautiful garden epitomizes the classic country estate garden perfection,

Sundial garden marks the entrance at Highgrove

Sundial garden is right in front of the Highgrove mansion and overlooks the entrance area of a Highgrove Gardens tour. The jaw-dropping magnolia walk, Scotch thistle, and blooms in vibrant colors stun guests every spring and summer.

Walled Garden

There's a scenic walled garden at Highgrove leading to its kitchen and outdoor rooms. Poplar trees and Scottish thistle and other greenery species are planted in the area which give its picturesque look and relaxing scenery of nature. A mosaic designed marble fountain stood imposing in the middle of the formal gardens at Highgrove.

Mosaic fountain at Highgrove 

His Royal Highness designed the flowerbeds that connect to the pathway on either side leading to the house. The view looks refreshing and exudes tranquility, similar to the scenes in fairytale books. Awesome scenery of nature!

Thyme Walk

Apart from elegant blooms in season and wildflower meadows, Highgrove is also renowned for its spectacular Thyme walk, a unique landscape in urban gardening.

Clipped golden yew lines the Thyme Walk, a stunning garden avenue planted with more than 20 varieties of Thyme, interspersed with primrose and marjoram species.

This corner of the gardens draws visitors' eyes to the terrace garden of the Highgrove mansion. The Lily pool garden is located at the bottom of Thyme walk.

Thyme walk at Highgrove

Other Areas

Apart from the opulent gardens, there are other interesting sections within the Highgrove estate that guests can explore and enjoy during their visit.

The Orchard Tea Room - a dining area where guests can enjoy a variety of fresh meals prepared from the home farm of the estate, delightful culinary desserts, champagne, and refreshment.

The Estate Shop - a variety of artisan products, home, and garden ware, artworks, and other unique items inspired by the gardening principles of the Prince of Wales are on display and can be bought by visitors.

Book about organic gardening 

Highgrove Gardens tour will resume in 2021 Spring, to plan and book your visit, visit the property's website: HIGHGROVE GARDENS

Lily pool garden

A passionate environmentalist 

Not so long ago, the Prince of Wales had been mocked for talking to his plants in Highgrove but now scientists really proved that talking to plants is beneficial to their healthy and vibrant growth.

Prince Charles has devoted most of his adult life promoting environmental ideas, conservation of nature, modern gardening and organic farming.

His Highgrove estate is the perfect embodiment of a clean and thriving natural beauty of nature and sustainable living. He personally tended his own gardens.

King of all "plantitos"

His Royal Highness is ahead of his time when it comes to environmental science. In 1990s, when most people never think too much about climate change, Prince Charles already expressed his worries about the impact of global warming on humanity and the environment.

Now, the world is picking up and recognizing this greatest challenge in human existence. Prince Charles eventually is recognized as one of the world's high-profile conservationists.

Happy Birthday Prince Charles

Prince Charles celebrates his 72nd birthday today. He is the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history and the oldest king-in-waiting.

From the 1980s to the 1990s he was put in a bad light due to his extramarital affair with his now-wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, and had been the source of the sorrow of Diana, Princess of Wales. Now, the future king is largely seen as an affectionate man dedicated to his role as heir-apparent. 

Highgrove estate is his life works, defining who he is in private. It reflects his love for the environment and nature and his desire to prefer country living to urban living. 

Prince Charles enjoying a scenic walk at Highgrove gardens

Many have speculated that Prince Charles might move the working office of the monarchy to Windsor castle from Buckingham Palace when he becomes king due to his devotion of the countryside life. speculation that is not confirmed by the palace.

Prince Charles and his father, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh

He has been heir apparent since 1952. At the time of his birth in 1948, he was second in line to the British throne behind his mother. In 1952 when the Queen ascended the throne, he became Duke of Cornwall. In 1967, he has invested Prince of Wales.

As a young boy with Princess Anne, the Queen, and Prince Philip 

Happy birthday Prince Charles! Thanks for the love of the environment and for inspiring us to embrace nature and support organic farming! 👑 🎂