For a garden-lover, it might seem the most innocuous purchase. But Prince Charles has warned that buying foreign plants could inadvertently wreak devastating havoc on Britain’s landscape.
In an impassioned plea, the Prince of Wales has spoken of the risk of ‘pests and disease’ in shrubs or tree cuttings brought over by tourists from abroad or bought as imports at a local garden centre.
In an interview recorded for this week’s edition of Gardeners’ World on BBC2, the Prince said: ‘Talk to the nursery where you’re getting your plants from and ask them, “Where do they come from? Have they been properly checked and quarantined? And have you got a proper biosecurity policy because of the risks now that we are facing from all these pests and diseases?”’
He went on: ‘And with climate change adding to these huge challenges, and because of the warming up of everything, more and more of these pests and diseases can flourish here as they haven’t done before. So we have to take this really seriously.’
Prince Charles has warned that buying foreign plants could inadvertently wreak devastating havoc on Britain’s landscape
The emerald ash borer (left) is spreading across Europe, and the oak processionary moths affect people as well as trees
During the show on Wednesday evening, viewers will be shown around the garden of the Prince’s Highgrove home in Gloucestershire as he tells presenter, Adam Frost, everyone should ‘do their bit’ to protect the nation from new horticultural invaders.
The Prince issued his warning after his own experience of the devastation wrought by foreign invaders on his 135,000-acre Duchy of Cornwall estate, which has suffered the effects of diseases including Dutch elm, ash dieback and phytophthora ramorum, a fungus-like pathogen which has killed larch and rhododendrons.
Geraint Richards, the Prince’s tree adviser and the Duchy’s head forester, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The Prince does not wish to diminish the love of gardening. We are a nation of gardeners. But he wants to change the culture.’
The Prince has been pivotal in bringing industry experts together to combat the threat and introduced some changes on his Duchy estate.
‘We no longer plant larch which has been hit by phytophthora. We are very careful with sweet chestnut,’ Mr Richards said.
Chestnut is vulnerable to a fungal blight that is killing trees in Europe and North America. He added: ‘We no longer plant one species in a new forest. This way, if a disease hits, a whole forest will not be wiped out. So if we plant new oak and ash we will also include other species, such as sycamore, hazel, hornbeam, whitebeam or rowan. It reduces the risk to our woodlands.’
The Prince issued his warning after his own experience of the devastation wrought by foreign invaders on his 135,000-acre Duchy of Cornwall estate. The Asian longhorn beetles can damage several native species
At Highgrove there is concern about box blight. Box, the native shrubby evergreen, is a favourite for hedging and topiary because it clips easily to any shape or size. But with climate change and some extreme wet weather in Britain in recent years, a fungus has turned leaves brown and left bare patches.
Mr Richards disclosed: ‘I know the Prince’s team of gardeners are always on the lookout for it. The Prince is also very hands on in his garden and so no doubt from time to time he will check for it.’
Besides fungi, and bugs such as beetles and the oak processionary moth, a big threat concerning the Prince is a disease known as xylella fastidiosa. It has wiped out ancient olive groves in Italy and Spain. Mr Richards said: ‘If xylella comes to the UK, it will be devastating. It is a game-changer and can affect over 350 varieties.’
The Royal Horticultural Society has identified nine popular species at high risk of bringing xylella to Britain: coffee, lavender, rosemary, thyme, flowering cherry, olive, polygala oleander, plum and Spanish broom. Only British sourced plants of these varieties are allowed in RHS shows and gardens.
The Prince, a lifelong keen gardener, once admitted that he talked to his plants and that they responded. He was asked in a BBC Countryfile interview in March if he still did so. He joked: ‘No, now I instruct them instead.’
Gardeners’ World is on BBC2 at 8pm on Wednesday.