The Garden at Highgrove H.R.H. The Prince of Wales and Candida Lycett Green. Photography by Andrew Lawson and Christopher Simon Sykes. Weidenfield & Nicolson, London, 2000. Hardback, 176 pages, £25.00. ISBN: 0-297-82544-5

"Throughout the entire process of developing the garden at Highgrove I have striven to create a physical reflection of what I feel at a much deeper level. Although I wanted each area of the garden to have its own atmosphere, I hoped that, when they were linked together, the different parts might create an integrated experience that would warm the heart, feed the soul and delight the eye."
    So explains The Prince of Wales in his introduction to this book which beautifully and charmingly reveals the treasures he has encouraged to emerge in his garden. It is a physical manifestation of a vision he has pursued for many years, one founded upon a realisation of the necessity for harmony to reign between mankind and the natural world.
    In the BBC Reith Lecture, which he delivered in 2000, he made the practical expression of his philosophy apparent: sustainable development. "We should," he explained, "seek to work with the grain of nature in everything we do…to rediscover a reference for the natural world, irrespective of its usefulness to ourselves." He refers to the existence of two sciences – that of manipulation and that of understanding. He sides with the latter. He feels it necessary to "restore the balance between the heartfelt reason of instinctive wisdom and the rational insights of scientific analysis."
    His work at Highgrove perfectly reflects this perspective. He abhors, in the name of progress, the destruction of the countryside; the loss of hedge-rows, ancient woodland and water-meadows and the over-zealous use of chemicals. He comments that, "So much about modern farming and gardening seemed to consist of a furious battle waged against Nature…"
    And so the garden at Highgrove: the Prince sought to create something inspiring, to link the house, garden and landscape into an integrated whole. And judging from the many stunning illustrations in this book, he has succeeded.
    But it is not just in artistic or spiritual terms that this garden is significant; it also demonstrates the use of recycling by means of a simple sustainable technology. A crystal clear farm pond receives its water ultimately from the processing of the household sewage: it flows first into a pit filled with bark, filtered through beds of reeds, then beds of willows and marsh marigolds, into a sump and finally, totally purified, into the pond. The Upper Thames Protection Society, impressed by the simple success of this, are encouraging both house owners and County and Central Government Agencies to use the technique. Highgrove has served as a laboratory, a practical demonstration of how such low-tech and harmonious solutions can work and be beneficial to, rather than destructive of, the environment.
    The text gives much detail on all aspects of the organic gardening adopted by the Prince, from the close attention paid to composting, to perfectly balanced handles on garden tools, from the designs of outbuildings - a chicken house or a dovecote – to flowerbeds filled with scented plants. It may seem, to critics, an exercise in self-indulgence. But it is not, it is a practical attempt at finding the most harmonious methods for the land to be cultivated without being dominated, an example of working "with the grain of Nature rather than against it". While the land is asked to produce, it can also remain a supportive habitat for the local wildlife.
    Throughout the book, illustrations, both dramatic and intimate, communicate well both the vistas and the quiet corners of the garden: a view of the house and huge cedar of Lebanon over a fountain garden and down the Thyme Walk lined with golden yew clipped in random eccentric designs by the gardeners. Or a stone bench sitting silently before a yew archway, with beyond, just out of focus, the Wild Flower Meadow. My favourite is the sinuous spiral-barked trunk of an ancient Spanish chestnut standing amongst grass and wild flowers.
    This book is a celebration of the love which has been poured into the garden together with the deep sense of responsibility towards the needs of the natural world which, without chemical or technological domination, produces such beauty and harmony; one feels that at Highgrove, it does so with gratitude.
    Michael Baigent