King Charles ‘cuts bits of his fingers off’ while tending to the Royal Gardens, he joked during a tour of his Scottish gardens.
He revealed that his adventures with his favourite gardening tool – the secateurs – can involve mishaps, but that his love of the craft remains undampened.
Speaking to Radio 4, His Majesty gave the public an insight into the history of his passion for horticulture, which he has ample chance to indulge around the intricate gardens of Dumfries House and Sandringham.
He told BBC presenter Martha Kearney, during a Christmas special of This Natural Life recorded in the gardens of Dumfries House, his Scottish home in Ayrshire, that he spends his ‘life going around with my secateurs’.
He quipped: ‘I do cut bits of my fingers off occasionally.’
Kearney issued him a light-hearted warning to be careful with a sharp tool as they visited a kitchen garden and surveyed the 2,000-acre estate.
The King recalled how the green-fingered gene was passed down from his grandmother, the Queen Mother, and great-great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra.
He took over the running of the 21,000-acre Sandringham estate in 2017, when he was then the Prince of Wales.
King Charles spoke of his passion for gardening while touring the estate of his Scottish home, Dumfries House (pictured last month)
His Majesty said he has been enthralled by gardens since his youth
But his interest in gardening began long before that.
His Majesty was introduced to the garden from his pram, when he was wheeled through the dairy garden at Sandringham where Queen Alexandra had planted yew trees.
His memory of that garden directly inspired the new Topiary Garden that opened in July 2023, which features more than 5,000 English yews.
Looking back on his early experiences, Charles said he had ‘extraordinary memories’ Queen Alexandra’s Sandringham topiary garden grandmother’s garden at Windsor.
‘That really fascinated me as a very small child and I’ve had this passion for topiary ever since.
‘I think I was just one of those people who generally responded to being outside and looking and observing,’ he said.
The pair also touched on The King’s lifelong dedication to sustainability – and instilling that message in future generations.
When asked how he would get youngsters interested in looking after the planet, he said: ‘I think half the battle is trying to find a way to enable more children to help with school vegetable gardens.’
He explained this would help to foster a sense of attachment in children to homegrown produce, which would in turn hopefully get them thinking about the effects of climate change on those fruits and vegetables.
This Natural Life will air on BBC Radio 4 at 12pm on Tuesday, and will be repeated on Christmas Day.
