Latest news with #Highgrove
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Telegraph
How the King's garden inspired Burberry's latest collection
Gentle birdsong accompanies the sound of water trickling into the mossy stone fountain in the Kitchen Garden. The neat lines of green box, the apple-tree tunnel and terracotta rhubarb forcers, the narcissi, primroses and hellebores are all in spring readiness. Around the edge of the red brick wall are espaliered fruit trees, their fluffy white blossom like Impressionist splodges of paint, shining in the sun. No wonder this bucolic scene at Highgrove inspired Helen Bullock's vibrant artworks, and what could be more British than this: a collaboration between the country's flagship fashion house, Burberry, and the private residence of the King himself. This year, for the fourth time, Burberry is producing a small fashion collection with Highgrove, and for 2025, it is a bright and beautiful 28-piece range based on Bullock's four designs inspired by the Kitchen Garden. Her joyous artwork is on the linings of trench coats, jackets and trousers (you turn up the hem); on pyjama-style separates, knitwear, ties, silk scarves and, new this year, reversible gabardine bucket hats. In her work, you can see the plant life, the pink painted wooden gates (the late Queen Mother's trademark shade) and the honeybees; the palette is fresh, rich and saturated with serotonin. This is an artist's personal interpretation of a deeply personal space, the garden created by the King over the past four decades, that is as close as one might come to a tour around the sovereign's psyche. Although this is a private enclave with a police presence around the sandy Cotswold house familiar from so many photographs, 40,000 people a year visit the garden and come to events in The Orchard Room, the estate's restaurant. And, as the headquarters of the King's Foundation, it is like a university campus too, itself a representation of Charles the conservator: the restored farm buildings at Barley Court, on the estate, house the students learning textile skills including embroidery and millinery; nearby Street Farm contains the workshops that focus on endangered crafts, such as thatching, and the Snowdon School of Furniture. All the Highgrove revenue (as well as a proportion of Burberry profits) goes towards this worthy cause. Constantine Innemée, the executive director responsible for the King's Foundation's stewardship of Highgrove Gardens, is keen to emphasise that traditional crafts are not 'some sort of folly' but important skills that keep parts of British cultural identity alive – 'if you lose your last thatcher, then you're saying goodbye to thatched cottages, which are so emblematic to certain parts of the country' – and are also a route to a career. Today the place is a hive: a team of four is painting a (reclaimed and embellished) cast-iron gate that leads to the formal Sundial Garden in His Majesty's favourite dark forest green; the first lady of Zanzibar and her delegation are coming up a gravel path on a tour as a party of tourists is led elsewhere. Picture-book hens run around the orchard. The gardeners, led by Gráinne Ring, tend and nurse and prune in the King's environmentally friendly, pesticide-free fashion. 'Highgrove is a vivid and living sketchbook of colour and ideas for everyone at Burberry,' says Daniel Lee, Burberry's chief creative officer, adding, 'Inviting a British illustrator like Helen Bullock to cast her exceptional creative eye over the flora and fauna of Highgrove Garden, and then decorate this new capsule collection, lends some extra creative magic.' For Bullock – a Central Saint Martins graduate who has worked with Louis Vuitton and Liberty, and whose creations are distinctively bold and blithe – the difficulty was where to start in the 'vast and rich' gardens, but she 'soon fell for the tangled sway of wild flowers and that special combination of dancing poppies and cosmos.' The rich canvas that inspired Bullock was the vision of the King himself, watercolourist and plant lover, who took on the overgrown and under-loved site outside Tetbury, Gloucestershire, when it was bought, before his first marriage, by the Duchy of Cornwall in 1980. With the finest gardeners he knew – including the Marchioness of Salisbury, Rosemary Verey and Miriam Rothschild – he created a series of inter-linked garden rooms that today show: a wild-flower meadow, the seed mix created by Rothschild before it was a trend; the Victorian-inspired Stumpery, by Julian and Isabel Bannerman, where the roots of trees blown down on the Sandringham Estate in the great storm of 1987 have been planted with hostas and ferns, like a scene from the Brothers Grimm; the Thyme Walk, where herbs grow between paving stones, surrounded by hallucinatory topiary – old yew bushes preserved and cut as the gardeners saw fit (Christmas puddings, something that looks like a Walnut Whip). At the Shand Gate, which was planted in memory of the Queen's brother, Mark Shand, who co-founded the Elephant Family charity, a bushy elephant is still growing its trunk. Punctuating the plant life are structures, like Catherine the Great's garden at Tsarskoe Selo. Or perhaps Stowe Gardens in Buckinghamshire (where there is a grand Temple of British Worthies) in miniature: here there is the eccentric Wall of Worthies – the floating heads of friends and people the King admires, on top of a wall – including Richard Chartres, former Bishop of London; the organic farming campaigner Patrick Holden; and Debo, the late Duchess of Devonshire. By the Stumpery is the elfin treehouse built for William and Harry when they were children, raised on stilts and sporting a new thatched haircut (by a graduate of the King's Foundation). Most intriguing of all is the Sanctuary, a cross-shaped stone building with a pitched roof, stained glass and no electricity, built for the millennium, which has a chimney and a door code known only, it is said, by the King. It is a romantic Royal retreat, a hermitage or hobbit house with a fireplace and lit only by candles. When the King returns here from a trip, he always wanders around the garden, seeing what has grown. But he does not expect, or want, anything manicured: there is a pleasing edge of wildness here to hearten any gardener who finds precision elusive. 'The ethos ultimately is about working with nature,' says Ring, who points out that when the King, still much involved, talks about the environment, he talks 'from years of experience and years of experimentation'. Visitors are surprised, she says, often expecting classical English formality. But 'nature isn't always perfect,' and anyway, the King has a playful, whimsical streak. There are, for example, willow ramps for hedgehogs to climb out of the water features should they fall in; behind the garden and the Foundation is the idea of living in harmony with nature. As Innemée puts it, the King's team are 'talking about everything, from the way we design and build cities to supply chains for fashion and materials that are used in furniture creation'. Indeed the Burberry range is made with certified wool and organic cotton and silk. Just like the Burberry collection – or perhaps the King himself – the gardens, as Innemée says, 'draw on traditional cues but at the same time, it's surprising and quite modern'. That mossy fountain in the garden painted on a silk scarf, or the real thing – either will capture that 'happy garden-state', as Marvell wrote: 'How could such sweet and wholesome hours/Be reckon'd but with herbs and flow'rs!'
The Sun
24-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
I'm a gardening expert – why using a kale leaf is a key DIY hack to keeping pests out of your gardens this summer
SUMMER is the perfect for enjoying your garden - but it's also when unwanted pests start to show up. However, former royal gardener Jack Stooks has revealed there are some very simple tricks to keep them at bay, including using a kale leaf. 6 6 Speaking to SEO experts at Big Fat Links, King Charles' former employee has revealed his natural methods that are safe for plants, pets, and people. According to Jack - who worked his gardening magic at Highgrove for over two decades - these easy hacks will keep it pest-free throughout the growing season… 1. Kale leaves Jack shared how a 'useful and cost-effective way of getting rid of slugs is to use kale leaves. Alternatively if you've got any cabbage, brussel sprouts, or anything similar growing in the garden, you can use the leaves off of the bases of those. So you're not wasting anything, you're using leaves that you wouldn't use anyway. The former royal gardener explained: 'You put those onto the surface of the soil in areas where you know slugs are coming. 'And then you put a tile or a sort of large flattish rock over the leaf. 'Then in the early morning you go and you pick up the stone and the leaf will normally be covered with slugs - big and small. 'You can then either get rid of that leaf or obviously pick them all off and, and pop them in compost or use them as animal feed.' Keep It Clean: How to stop pests from taking over this summer 6 2. Torch light Another hack doesn't cost a penny but may take some time. Jack explained: 'At night, another good hack is to go round and look for pests with a torch. 'So you simply go out with a torch and just hand-pick them. 'Slugs and snails are usually good ones to go out and remove.' 3. Beer/yeast traps Another way to hinder pesky slugs is using a beer trap, also known as a yeast trap. King Charles' former gardener shared: 'You simply put a glass jar into the soil, making sure that it's ground level. 'Then you put a little bit of beer into it (usually around a quarter of a jar). 'You can then cover it with a rock to stop any bigger animals like mice or similar from going inside. 'Slugs will tend to go in, through the sides, as well as snails.' 6 4. Soap spray Jack also suggested that you make a soap spray to get rid of pests on flowers such as roses. He added: 'Now is probably the perfect time to be doing this as well. 'For the mixture, you simply mix soap with water, and pop it into a little sprayer. 'Then you can just spray it onto the plants of choice.' 6 6 5. Garlic spray His final tip was to make a spray using garlic. Jack explained: 'For this, you mix garlic and water to make the mixture. 'If you have any rabbits or similar types of animals that are eating your herbs and other things in your garden, you can spray this garlic spray over the plants which usually works to deter animals from said plant or flowers.'
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Narcissism expert issues a scathing review of Meghan's jam
A narcissism expert has issued his scathing verdict on Meghan Markle's As Ever jam saying it tasted of 'greed' and 'entitlement'. Talk TV presenter Kevin O'Sullivan sampled the Duchess of Sussex 's new As Ever preserve, which was released as part of a collection of products ' inspired by her long-lasting love of cooking, entertaining, and hostessing'. He was joined by psychologist and 'narcissism expert', Richard Grannon, the presenter compared Meghan's $14 preserve with King Charles 's Highgrove jam, which is priced at £6.95. While he took a favourable view of the 'fruity taste', the Irish presenter was quick to add that it wasn't 'worth £14'. Meanwhile, his guest quipped that it tasted of 'entitlement, greed and deception'. O'Sullivan, a TV presenter who regularly hosts What Just Happened? on Talk TV, along with The Political Asylum, said securing a jar of As Ever spread had 'cost a fortune'. 'You can't order it here in London so we have had to order it through a friend in Los Angeles,' he explained. Meghan's brand As Ever, formerly American Riviera Orchard, launched on 2 April, with fans able to pick up her Raspberry Spread in Keepsake Packaging, along with honey, cookies, shortbread and flower sprinkles. First impressions of the jam, or preserve as he pointed out the product has had to be called due to the low quantity of sugar it contains, were positive. 'It's quite nice packaging, I'll give it that,' he said, adding that it was 'nicer' than he had expected. 'It cost about £300 to get so it better be good,' he warned. Popping the lid off the 225g jar, O'Sullivan first took in the scent of the preserve, sighing before telling the camera 'it doesn't overwhelm you'. He pointed to initial criticism of the confection, which noted it had a 'very liquid and thin' consistency that made it 'difficult to eat the spread with the toast'. Reviewing For Jane Herz previously said: 'If we hadn't known better, we'd have thought it melted during its expedited journey to us,' with fans online complaining of similar issues. However, her As Ever preserves can't technically be called jam, because 'jam is equal parts sugar and fruit,' explained Prince Harry's wife in an episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. 'It's thin, I can see that moving around ,' the Talk TV host noted as he swung the jar from side to side, the liquid visibly swishing inside. Joining on the TV segment, psychologist narcissism expert Richard Grannon said: 'It's expensive, it lacks substance.' Each sampling a preserve slathered cracker, neither appeared impressed by the spread. 'It tastes of entitlement, greed and deception,' Grannon lambasted as his fellow host burst into hysterics. Next, O'Sullivan issued his review of the product, which he admitted wasn't 'bad'. 'I'll be fair, that's quite a fruity taste. It's not bad at all. It's nothing to write home about. It's not worth fourteen bucks,' the presenter observed. 'It's tangy,' chimed his guest, agreeing that the spread wasn't 'worth £14'. The Duchess of Sussex's jam has been at the centre of fierce debate, as samplers of the preserve blasted it's 'watery' consistency when it was first released in April. 'If we hadn't known better, we'd have thought it melted during its expedited journey to us,' explained reviewer Jane Herz For 'When we stuck our spoon into Meghan's raspberry spread, its consistency dripped off the silverware like a sauce.' The review continued: 'It was difficult to eat the spread with the toast, as it was so thin that it dribbled everywhere and made a mess. Our once nicely toasted piece of bread became a sopping wet disaster after just a few minutes.' Fans online were also quick to notice the thin consistency of the 'jam', with one person writing: 'I can tell it's runny just from the picture! No seeds, no texture. Just liquid red sugar water.' Per Food & Wine, jam is regulated by the FDA, and it must come from a single fruit, containing at least 45 per cent fruit and 55 per cent sugar. What Meghan is selling under As Ever is not called a jam or a preserve - it's a spread, with ingredients of raspberries, organic pure cane sugar, organic lemon juice concentrate, and fruit pectin, a natural stabilizer. On the As Ever website, the company claims the raspberry fruit spread 'is inspired by the recipe Meghan crafted in her home kitchen '. The description of the Raspberry Spread in Keepsake Packaging also admits it 'is crafted with a fluid texture so it can be drizzled, spread, poured and enjoyed for so much more than your morning toast'. It comes just days after Meghan .
Times
20-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Times
Luxury gardening tools and accessories to buy now
There's something both wonderfully British and surprisingly luxurious about gardening, especially if you have the right tools. While an old shovel and a battered watering can get the job done, if you're going to transform your land into a verdant haven, you may as well lean into the pomp of it and invest in the highest quality accessories. Guffaw all you want, but the world of gardening and the world of luxury are closer than you may think. Labels from Dior to Jo Malone have created their own secret gardens to celebrate new product launches. Gardening has also always been championed by the royal family, notably by King Charles who has transformed the surroundings of Highgrove into an organic garden and farm over the last 25 years. A case has also been made for luxury kitchen gardens, with chefs such as Marcus Wareing, Raymond Blanc and Alain Passard using ingredients grown mere metres away from where guests are dining to create their Michelin-star meals. Daylesford has championed the importance of consuming organic, seasonal, and locally sourced foods for over two decades — and in the meantime has created some of the most glamorous gardening equipment in the business. 'In 2021, we launched Daylesford Garden, designed to inspire individuals to cultivate their own gardens,' says Maxime Bocher, the brand's resident landscape designer, plant manager and plant buyer. 'Our mission is to encourage everyone to grow their own vegetables, plant trees and perennials, and create beautiful green spaces that also contribute to biodiversity.' A new gardening club hopes to guide garden enthusiasts through topics such as harvesting, sowing, planting, propagating and pruning. Even if you're not partaking in all the gardening yourself (there's no judgment for getting a little help), a pair of swanky secateurs, sweet, veg-filled trugs and fancy finger gloves sprinkled across your greenery will give the illusion of effort. But for full therapeutic effect we recommend using the posh planters to pot serotonin-boosting flowers and installing a grand greenhouse so you can reap your rewards all year long. Keep scrolling for the best luxury gardening tools and accessories to buy now. • This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue A great gift for gardening novices, Daylesford's gloves are a real necessity when it comes to potting, weeding and simply getting you in the gardening frame of mind. Crafted from a sunny yellow leather with a strong canvas to protect the wrists, this pair means business. £36, Daylesford Not all watering cans are created equal, this brass, iron and cane piece is a real work of art. In fact, it was created by the leading Austrian artist Carl Auböck, whose ancestor was one of the first to attend Bauhaus and spearheaded the modern approach to design. Crafted in the same workshop in Vienna that generations of Auböcks have created their signature brass moulds, the artist is known today for his unique home objects from paperweights and bookends. It's sure to make an event out of mundane watering tasks. £1,655, Carl Aubock at Abask Detail-orientated planners will particularly appreciate this new gardening journal from the British stationary brand Smythson. Bound in a fitting emerald green cross-grain lambskin, this handy organiser features five sections including a seasonal calendar, garden notes, key contacts, jottings and schemes. £195, Smythson Hand-blown in Baccarat, France, these crystal glass globes are a stroke of gardening genius, especially for those new to the whole gardening game with a track history of killing houseplants. These beautiful globes can hold up to 30 days of water that will slowly diffuse into your greenery over time so you don't have to worry about watering. £118 for a set of two, Dab'OHand at Abask Crafted in Portugal, this Yako & Co gardening apron is specially designed for outdoor activities such as a busy day potting and propagating in the green house as it's made using robust and water-repellent vegan leather. £88, Yako&Co at Wolf & Badger There's something very romantic about a trug in your kitchen full of home-grown produce. It's also the chicest way to transport an abundance of vegetables from the garden to the house. £170, Daylesford In order to gain those succulent veggies, you will have to first pot seeds and nurture them in a greenhouse. Designed with gardeners' needs in mind, Sarah Raven's potting table features an in-built compost drawer, plus side hooks and slotted shelves to help you keep the space organised. £395, Sarah Raven A regular at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Hartley Botanic was founded by brothers Vincent and Norman Harley in 1938 and were one of the first to use aluminum in greenhouse construction. Now, there's an array of beautiful designs on offer from small residential cottage inspired designs to the grand Highgrow planthouse. The modern Hartley Grow greenhouse is perhaps the most practical and can be made bespoke to all your cater to all your gardening needs. POA, Hartley Botanic The addition of an oversized terracotta pot can transform your patio from a rather drab paved area to a Mediterranean-inspired terrace with very little effort. We particularly like Rowen & Wren's handmade pots that come in various sizes and are crafted in a specialist workshop in Crete. £138, Rowen and Wren Perhaps you've already landscaped your garden and there's no space for a grand greenhouse. Fear not, germination can still be in your grasp, thanks to this freestanding frame from the Danish outdoor brand Cane-line. £3,600, Cane-line at Nordic Nest Once you've done all the hard work of turning seeds into seedlings and seedlings into saplings, you'll no doubt want to show them off in some sturdy, handcrafted raised beds. £530, Sarah Raven Rowen & Wren's pretty plant stand will make a delightful home for a plethora of pots and will keep your patio from feeling cluttered. £128, Rowen & Wren Imagine a tool that could create the exact right size for small bulbs without you having to get your hands dirty. It's not just a green-fingered fantasy, Daylesford's nifty gadget just does just that and is the ideal shape for planting crocus and snowdrop bulbs in the autumn. £22, Daylesford Proving there is such a thing as designer secateurs, Onoyoshi Hamono is the Japanese brand loved for its hand forged garden tools that are handmade by the Tanaka brothers in Ono City Japan. Over 100 steps — from cutting and forging the iron, to sharpening, quenching and braiding the leather handles — goes into the creation of each piece. £210, Onoyohsi Hamono at Abask Home-grown flowers are the gift that keeps on giving as many annuals like sweet peas bloom for longer when picked back regularly. Inspired by ikebana — the Japanese art of flower arranging — this vase features asymmetrical placed holes in a brass insert which allows you to arrange your blooms artistically every time. £136.88, Fritz Hansen at Nordic Nest
Times
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
New rose named after King to be sold at Chelsea Flower Show
The King and Queen visited RHS Chelsea Flower Show along with David Beckham as they launched a new 'harmony' project to encourage more people into horticulture. Charles and Camilla visited the Highgrove Gardens Shop where a new 'King's Rose' is being sold to raise proceeds for the King's Foundation, the charity for which Beckham is an ambassador. Beckham's attendance at the west London event is the latest in a series of public and private invitations that have been extended to the footballer by the palace. He has made private visits to Highgrove and joined the state banquet for the Emir of Qatar at Buckingham Palace in December. Last week the Princess of Wales wore a suit designed by his wife Victoria Beckham for a British
