 |
You?ve been holed up in a glass and concrete prison from sunrise to sunset. Most of your waking day has been spent staring at figures or words dancing on a computer screen. Surely, you should be taking time off to smell the roses.
And what better way to do this than by touring the world?s great public gardens? Whether in Europe or the US, gardens are a great way of taking a break and getting away from it all. Many are open year round to the public, and some look different in each season, so they are often worth several visits. From Europe to America, to places in-between, here?s a virtual walk through some of the best gardens in the world.
England and Scotland
Gardening books sell more than sex manuals in England. This should give you an idea of how popular gardening is in this part of the world. From the 18th century onwards, English gardens came in a profusion of styles. Most English houses have small gardens attached and dating back to the medieval era are wonderful cloister gardens attached to the great cathedrals. Many garden tour companies operate in Britain and they tend to be reasonably priced. Independent travellers can also take gardens tours on their own. However, many gardens are open only on certain days and some only in the afternoon. Here are some of the best English gardens:
Biddulph Grange Garden, Biddulph, England
Open: April to October
This is the most complete example of ?Mixed Style? gardening, with Italian, Chinese, Egyptian and American gardens. It has something for everyone ? and if you don?t like that, don?t bother to stop.
Blenheim Palace Garden, Woodstock
Open: All year round except on December 25
This is an 18th century house and park with a 19th century garden. The palace was the nation?s reward to the first Duke of Marlborough for his victories over Louis XIV. Henry Wise designed the garden, in an Anglo-Dutch baroque manner but gave it a military touch. It had mock fortifications and regimented parterres. In 1764, Lancelot ?Capability? Brown transformed the park by turning a canal into a lake. He also ?naturalised? the woods by designing a cascade and placing clumps in strategic positions.
Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row, Edinburgh
Open: All year
This is an early 19th century botanical garden with a lovely layout, a splendid site and panoramic views of the Edinburgh skyline. The arboretum and rock garden were made after the appointment of Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour as Regius Keeper in 1888.
 |
Leonardslee Gardens, Lower Breeding, Horsham
Open: April to October
A great woodland garden inspired by the planting ideas of Sir Uvedale Price, Richard Payne Knight and J C Loudon. Exotic plants are used in a picturesque manner, derived from landscape painting. Being damp and slightly acid, the soil is well suited to rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias.
Other must visits: Sissinghurst Garden, Castle Howard, Chatsworth, Great Dixter, Hampton Court Garden, Harewood House, Wisley, Stourhead, Stowe Landscape Gardens, Studley Royal and Hidcote Garden.
The United States
Until the mid-20th century, American gardens were imitations of the grander ones in Europe. It is the only country in the world where two presidents (Jefferson and Washington) have had a significant involvement in garden design. After 1950, America took a lead in modern garden and landscape design.
Most garden-hopping is done in private cars and there are few organised coach tours. Here?s a guide:
Biltmore Estate, 1 North Park Square, Asheville
Open: All year
The Esplanade in front of the house is a rectangular court with double rows of trees. North of this is an Italian garden and further north lies a Walled garden, a Rose garden and an Azalea garden. The formal elements are set in a park, making Biltmore a classic example of the Repton-influenced mixed style.
The Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Boston
Open: All year
The oldest public arboretum in America was started in 1872 and planned by Frederick Law Olmsted as part of his world-famous ?Emerald Necklace?. The Necklace is a linked chain of public parks, running from Boston Common to Franklin Park. The layout is ingeniously fitted to the topography, creating a picturesque composition of woods, meadows, hills and valleys. There is a botanical collection, a Chinese Path, and a special collection of rhododendrons, conifers, viburnum and other species.
 |
Central Park, Fifth Avenue, New York
Open: All year
This is arguably the world?s greatest urban park. This project launched Frederick Law Olmsted?s career and the profession of landscape architecture in the US. It has a conservatory garden like a European formal garden with parterres, fountains and herbaceous gardens.
Other must visits: Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, Dumbarton Oaks, Monticello, Old Westbury Gardens and Longwood Gardens.
France
France had great medieval and renaissance gardens, few of which survive. In the 17th century, France took the lead in making Baroque gardens, whose shadow lasted for over two centuries. In the last years of the 20th century, France began making great public parks and highly original small gardens.
A number of operators run convenient tours to French gardens, though, Northern France is much better served than Southern or Western France. There is a good public transport system and car hire is easy too.
Chateau de Fontainbleau Fontainebleau
Open: All year
Fontainebleau once had the noblest garden in France, made for King Francois I, who wished to rival the great courts of Italy. The large trapezoid pond, formerly used for aquatic displays, survives. It now has a banqueting pavilion on an island. The pond shaped by the landform formed a starting point for the design. The Cour de la Fontaine was focused on this pond and Michelangelo?s Hercules stood in the Cour.
Giverny, Fondation Claude Monet, Giverny
Open: April to October
Planted by French impressionist, Claude Monet, Giverny has two parts: a Normandy cloister garden and a Walled Garden for vegetables and fruit. Monet placed arches over the paths and intermixed flowers with the fruit trees and favoured bright annuals, herbaceous perennials and shrubs.
Other must visits: Jardin de Tuileries and Chateau de Versailles.
Germany
Germany developed differently from other European countries because it was a collection of small states. As a result, it didn?t have an all-powerful royal family, but lesser electors and dukes. However, it gained through having more, if smaller, gardens. Many of the best German gardens are operated as public parks and most of them are in urban areas. They are best toured independently.
Veitshochheim Hofgarten, Bayern
Open: All year
The Bishops of Wurzburg turned an old vegetable garden into a convivial rococo garden. It is divided into compartments, with a basin with an island fountain, representing Mount Parnassus and a winged horse, occupying the central one. Rococo sculpture was used to depict the Arcadian golden age. One compartment has a hedged theatre while another has a grotto.
Other must visits: Schlosspark Linderhof, Duisburg Nord Landschaftspark and Ermitage Garten Bayreuth.
Spain
Spain is large and it?s better to include visits to gardens, rather than attempting a full tour. Spain was conquered by the Romans who made it a country of gardens. Arab invaders later brought Islamic design ideas. In the 20th century, Barcelona was famed for modernista (Art Nouveau) and modern design. Many tour companies operate here but you can even manage on your own.
Alhambra, Granada
Open: All year
The best and most famous late-medieval castle gardens in Europe stand on a fortified plateau, surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountains. Alhambra is a distillation of the East Mediterranean tradition of garden making.
Generalife, Granada
Open: All year
The Court of the Long Pond (Patio de la Acequia) is perhaps the most photographed garden feature in Europe. It has pavilions at both ends, an arched gallery and a high wall. The Court, with echoes of a Roman peristyle garden, has jets of water arching over the Long Pond.
Jardin del Monasterio de El Escorial, Central Spain
Open: All year
Philip II built a monastery combined with a royal palace, a tomb and a garden. The Cloister of the Evangelists, named after its white marble statues of the apostles, is one of the largest garden courts in the world. The renaissance garden outside the palace has flowers and parterres.
Parque Guell Barcelona, Carrer d?Olot, Barcelona
Open: All year
This is the best and most famous example of Art Nouveau landscape architecture and has been designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Count Eusebi G?ell, a wealthy businessman, conceived the project as infrastructure for a garden suburb. The park is set in the hills near Barcelona. Serpentine terraces, seats, galleries and arcades run with the mountainside. They are decorated with mosaics made of broken stone, ceramic pots and old tiles.
Other must visits: Granada and Cordoba for Islamic gardens; Madrid for renaissance and baroque gardens; and Barcelona for renaissance cloister gardens, 19th century parks, art nouveau 20th century parks and plazas.
The best of the best
 |
Chateau de Versailles, France
Location: Versailles, France
What’s cool: Biggest display of conspicuous consumption in the world
No other garden in the world can match Versailles for its beauty, with nearly every path leading to lovely sculptures and fountains, not to mention the stunning backdrop of the palace itself. To stroll the gardens at Versailles at any time of the year is, without doubt, one of the greatest free treats in the world.
Stourhead, Stourton, England
Location: Stourton, England
What’s cool: Imitation Greek and Roman ruins
Stourhead epitomises the 18th-century English garden style, which celebrated nature for itself and faithfully attempted to reproduce it, even in landscape form. The gardens and accompanying buildings are on the edge of a misshapen lake, and walking the lake path in either direction will give the visitor unforgettable views of beautiful forgeries of ruined Roman villas and Chinese pagodas ringed by towering trees.
Giardino e Rovine di Ninfa, Italy
Location: Ninfa, Italy
What’s cool: Ghost-town gardens destroyed by papal forces and later abandoned by surviving townspeople
Fragrant flowers cover the grounds of this ruined medieval town. The balmy Roman climate and abundant water make this garden one of the most beautiful ones in the world. Behind each crumbling wall, the visitor will find new surprises, as climbing hydrangeas, roses, ivy and clematis, among others, compete for space.
Garden of the Master of the Nets, Jiang Province, China
Location: Suzhou, Jiang Province, China
What’s cool: Nightly song and dance performances
Is your tao bothering you? Yin-yang out of whack? Consider a visit to the Garden of the Master of the Nets in Suzhou, China. This garden is markedly different from its European and North American counterparts. Here, the visitor sees clean, simple lines and the harmonious combination of art and landscape.
Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania
Location: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
What’s cool: Brilliant poinsettias, towering trees, and fragrant flowers
Longwood Gardens, outside of Wilmington, Delaware, is the American answer to the famous gardens of Europe. With more than 350 acres to explore, Longwood offers something for everyone, from whimsical fountains, topiaries and sunken gardens to a large conservatory, which allows flower-viewing in the coldest months of winter.
Garden groupies
 |
Shefali Talwar
Model
I love the garden tours in England, which has some of the world’s best gardens. A walk through these pristine gardens is amazing. In fact, my mother is quite a garden freak, so whenever the two of us are together in London, we take a garden tour. One of my favourites is Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden. I am also keen on doing the tours in France.
 |
Simar Dugal
Fashion designer
One of my favourite haunts is London’s Hyde Park. I love nature treks and a stroll through gardens is a great way of destressing. Garden tours are also wonderful in Spain, which probably is the only country that has gardens of all styles. In India, I enjoy Bangalore which is a true garden city — the very sight of its blooming flowers and green trees is invigorating.
