Prince Charles opens up his home to the public in rare TV appearance
The Prince of Wales is to make a star appearance on UK’s Gardeners’ World, asking green thumbs to “do their bit” to save native trees.
A fierce advocate of the natural world, Prince Charles will invite the public into his gardens at Highgrove and discuss his love of gardening, which started when he was a boy, according to The Telegraph.
The future King of England will implore gardeners to get their plants from reputable places, take measures to protect their own garden, and not bring back specimens from their holidays abroad – to prevent the spread of pests and disease.
The Prince will be interviewed at Highgrove by presenter Adam Frost for a special episode focusing on trees.
It is believed Charles was inspired to help tackle the issue after visiting border force officials at Heathrow Airport earlier this year, where he learned more about how experts are preventing plant-borne diseases being brought into the country.
For nearly 40 years, Prince Charles has worked to transform the gardens at Highgrove, revamping overgrown and neglected land.
On the TV special, he will talk through the steps he is taking within the Duchy of Cornwall, which covers 53,000 hectares of land across 23 British counties, to avoid the spread of plant diseases and pests.
The prince will also share personal experiences of managing diseases on his own estate, including Dutch Elm Disease and Ash Dieback.
He's previously spoken about his passion to save the trees, saying: "I have always been mortified by the loss of mature elm trees from almost every part of the countryside I knew and loved as a child, so I had high hopes for an American variety that appeared to be resistant to the disease.
"I planted an avenue of them at Highgrove and then watched, miserably, as many of them succumbed just like the native variety.
"The wider problem is that a great many more pests and diseases are now seriously threatening the health of all our native trees, yet public awareness of this situation seems to be frighteningly low."