Monty Don has opened up about King Charles’ green-fingered secrets and revealed that he’s “genuinely serious” when it comes to gardening.
In a recent interview, the BBC Gardeners’ World star explained that both the King and Queen have a “real personal interest” in gardening and dubbed the King “keen and good”.
He also revealed that King Charles, 76, who is widely-known as a passionate gardener, particularly enjoys heading out into the arboretum and even prunes his own trees.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Monty said: “Certainly, the King is a genuinely serious, keen and good gardener. I also know the Queen loves gardening. She’s been to my garden. Both of them have a real personal interest.
“I know the King enjoys working in the arboretum on the Birkhall estate and prunes the trees himself.”
The much-loved horticulturalist went on to share what it was like to visit Charles’ estate in Scotland, humbly saying that he feels “privileged” to see anyone’s garden and said it was, in “some ways”, the same with Birkhall.
However, he conceded that this statement could be “slightly disingenuous” as he understands that not many others would be afforded the opportunity to visit, reports the Telegraph.
Earlier this year, he told the publication that the “incredibly impressive” King “does his homework thoroughly”, adding that both Charles and the Queen are “excellent”.
Charles has enjoyed gardening since he was child, having previously planted vegetables with his sister, Princess Anne. In fact, he loves it so much that he said in 2018 that “all I really long for is to plant trees” as he gets older.
It would appear that Monty’s not the only person to think Charles has some skills as another gardener concurred with the notion in November.
Charles’ love of nature may have arisen from the time he used to play with Anne in Buckingham Palace’s green spaces, with the monarch revealing to Gardeners World in 2018 that they had a plot “where we grew vegetables and things”.
When he was older in the 1980s, Charles would turn his attention to the gardens at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, a project that would continue for more than forty years.
He has previously explained that Highgrove is “one very small attempt to heal the appalling short-sighted damage done to the soil, the landscape and our souls”.
