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Prince Charles' award-winning garden made history - discover its unusual inspiration

The Carpet Garden is located at the Prince of Wales' Highgrove Estate

prince charles garden
Chloe Best
Lifestyle Features Editor
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Prince Charles has lovingly curated the gardens at his Highgrove home for over 30 years, creating a series of individual 'outdoor rooms' that he opens to the public each summer.

GALLERY: Prince Charles shares tour of Highgrove gardens

Among them is the Carpet Garden, which was based upon a sketch the Prince of Wales had drawn inspired by a Turkish carpet inside his home, and which won a silver-gilt medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2001.

WATCH: The Queen tours Chelsea Flower Show

Prince Charles made history when the design debuted, as it was the first time a member of the royal family had designed a garden for the prestigious event. Prince Harry has since showcased the Sentebale Hope in Vulnerability garden in 2015, while in 2019, the Duchess of Cambridge helped to design the RHS Back to Nature garden inspired by her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

MORE: The Queen's garden essentials and how to recreate the look

Prince Charles carpet garden chelsea flower show© Photo: Getty Images

Prince Charles' Carpet Garden won silver at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2021

Featuring a stunning mosaic fountain at the centre, the Carpet Garden incorporates colours and patterns featured on Prince Charles' carpet and is surrounded by colourful flowers including roses and fuchsias, along with some personal touches the Prince has added from his travels over the past two decades.

In his book, Highgrove: A Garden Celebrated, Prince Charles explained: "After gazing for many years at the patterns and colours of one of the small Turkish carpets in my room at Highgrove, I couldn't help feeling what fun it would be to use those patterns and colours to create a theme for a garden. The challenge would be to see if you could almost create the effect of being within the carpet."

Highgrove House garden© Photo: Rex

The Carpet Garden is now located within the Highgrove gardens

More recent additions to the garden include two chairs he acquired in India, a small carved galloping horse that has been inset into the wall, and a selection of lanterns and lime-washed pots.

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Prince Charles will once again open his Highgrove gardens for tours through the summer from 23 June until 30 September. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall typically spend much of their summer at their other home, Birkhall, on the Queen's Balmoral Estate.

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