I have just finished reading 'Highgrove, A Garden Celebrated' by Bunny Guinness.
It's amazing and must be a huge job creating a garden fit for a King. I can't count how many different gardens Prince Charles has but here's a list of a few on his property -
Cottage Garden
Sundial Garden
Carpet Garden
Thyme Walk
Wild Flower Meadow
Terrace Garden
Kitchen Garden
Arboretum
The Stumpery (I like this)
Rose Pergola
Mediterranean Garden
It's not as grand and overwhelming as Versailles but it is a royal garden. He has lots of topiary and distinctive hedges. Best thing is it's all organic, and I can picture Prince Charles sitting in his summer house doing water colour paintings of wild flowers, because he's a very good artist, while Camilla enjoys a cup of freshly brewed English tea.
The closest we come to having a royal garden in NZ is maybe somewhere like Larnach Castle, which is way down in Dunedin. I have seen pictures of it in House and Garden magazines. I try not to envy people with so much land that they can create whatever they like and be as outlandish as they wish provided they have the funds.
I dream if I had a huge estate what I could do with it. I think I'd like to try a maize maze, that would be fun. A knot garden would be complicated, but a herb potager would be nice. If I lived in the South Island I could have a winter garden. I would have little topiaries shaped like sheep, set amidst green pastures. I would have a tree house...and a hanging garden, complete with hammocks.
I would have my house covered in ivy, and arbours of sweet peas.
Maybe I'd have a water slide, just to be adventurous, with wild ferns and palms growing all around, and a hot pool with bubbling mud. And a sea of poppies..in beds with fluffy lavender pillows.
I can dream can't I?
