“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need”, according to famous Roman, Cicero. Yes, browsing the bookshelves can be fulfilling, but for those of us who love to travel and explore, there’s not much that compares to the natural beauty of a garden.
According to estate agents Foxtons, the average garden in the UK is 50ft. long and contains 10 different kinds of flowers, a barbecue and a water. While this may sound ideal for the homeowner, it doesn’t grab the attention as a voyeur of remarkable outdoor spaces.
If natural wonder intrigues you and you are fascinated by spectacular landscapes, browse our list below of some of the world’s most extravagant, unusual and beautiful gardens.
Bookworm Garden
A.A Milner, creator of Winnie the Pooh once said: “Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.” Bookworm Gardens is a quirky, botanic environment found in Wisconsin, USA, and inspired by our favourite childhood stories!
Its garden design enriches young minds by intertwining the world of literature with the great outdoors. Bookworm Gardens opened in 2010 as a non-profit organisation and now features fun buildings and characters from books including The Tale of Peter Rabbit. With turkeys, owls, chipmunks and butterflies calling Bookworm Gardens home, it’s no surprise that the venue is a top place for families and schools.
Kew Gardens
The Foxtons garden study also found that one in every three Brits are competitive when it comes to our gardens and how we maintain our lawns and flowerbeds. This suggests that we have an affinity for aesthetically pleasing outdoor spaces, rather than just area that we can grow vegetables or do DIY.
The wonderful spectrum of colour, shapes and light at Kew Gardens in London provides a stunning landscape that brings global tourists to the area. The iconic glasshouse is surrounded by a collection of rare plants and immaculately kept lawns. In the evening, the area is illuminated spectacularly and during the day, you can wander around a maze of water features, buildings — such as the 18th-century pagoda — and wildlife — from peacocks and robins, to ducks and Chinese water dragons.
Kew Gardens attracted 20% more visitors than the previous year, according to the most recent report, implying that our love of attractive gardens is growing. If you visit, makes sure to see The Hive — a 17-metre, multi-sensory construction that changes depending on bee activity.
Gardens by the Bay
This nature park in central Singapore covers 250-acres and is made up of three waterfront areas containing more than a million plants.
Gardens by the Bay is the place for any futurists, modern garden or sci-f lovers thanks to the panoramic view of this destination that gives the impression of a grown-over city centuries from now, with huge towers, glassed domes, immaculate walkways, and immense water features surrounded by exotic trees and vivid plants.
Visit Flower Dome — the largest glass greenhouse in the world — or head to Supertree Grove, which is a network of illuminated, tree-shaped vertical gardens. The Cloud Forest section is a great place to learn about rare flowers and endangered plants, and you can experience memorable views from the 22-metre high aerial walkway of the entire area.
There have been over 40 million visitors to the Gardens by the Bay to date and it is even one of the top-20 checked-in places on Earth by Facebook users.
The Gardens of the Palace of Versailles
Grandeur and spectacle can pretty much sum up King Louis XIV’s reign. Designed and renovated by André Le Nôtre in 1661, the monarch’s gardens surrounding the Palace of Versailles in France today offer some of the most striking landscapes in the world.
Le Nôtre worked with artists and architects for over 40 years to design the gardens and each project was overseen by the king. The renovation was a mammoth task consisting of creating canals, shifting soil and transporting trees from various regions in the country at a time when the logistics and construction industries were obviously nowhere near as advanced as today.
Today, the Palace’s diverse groves and spectacular orangery — home to orange, lemon, oleander, pomegranate, and palm trees — are two of the most popular garden features, although many visitors simply enjoy strolling passed towering marble sculptures, beautiful parterres and peaceful waterfalls.
Keukenhof Gardens
Horticultural Trades Association states that the UK’s public spend approximately £1.5 billion on garden plants each year. At the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands, you have 32 hectares of land scattered with seven million flowers — including 800 varieties of the iconic Dutch tulip in hues and shapes you’ve never seen anywhere else.
Keukenhof Gardens was designed in 1857 and is only open for two months every year these days. However, the visit is worth it. You’re treated to a blend of English and French horticultural garden designs filled with old beech trees and pretty ponds, and there’s also a petting zoo home to miniature pigs, giant rabbits and alpacas!
This year, the theme at Keukenhof Gardens is ‘Romance in Flowers’, which will end with a classic music festival.
Garden of Cosmic Speculation
The brain-teaser Garden of Cosmic Speculation is a place anyone who is into science and optical illusions will want to visit. Found in Dumfries, Scotland, it’s 30 acres in size and was created by revered architect, Charles Jencks.
You may be overwhelmed by ideas, theories and global influences as you stroll through the grounds here. There are terraces, sculptures, lakes, bridges, and a labyrinth of witty architectural works at Garden of Cosmic Speculation. Designed to detail the story of the universe and complexities of space and time, you can spend hours working out what Jencks meant by checked terraces, snail-formed mounds and zigzagging staircases.
This article was researched and written by leading retailer of outdoor products including timber decking, Arbordeck.
Sources:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3692942/ british-garden-research-gnome-bbq-sheds-summer/
https://www.kew.org/sites/default/files/RBG%20Kew%2016-17%20Annual%20Report%20and%20Accounts.pdf
https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/attractions/the-hive
https://hta.org.uk/learn-develop/market-information/garden-industry-statistics.html
http://www.bookwormgardens.org/
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/gardens
http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/attractions/ocbc-skyway.html
https://keukenhof.nl/en/#discover-the-park
https://www.travelwisconsin.com/arts-and-culture/bookworm-gardens-208647
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/garden-of-cosmic-speculation
http://scotlandsgardens.org/portrack-the-garden-of-cosmic-speculation/
