According to famous Roman, Cicero: “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need”. While browsing bookshelves can be fulfilling, not much compares to the natural beauty of a garden. Particularly if you’re into travelling and exploring.
In the UK, the average garden is 50ft. long with ten different kinds of flowers, a barbecue and a water feature — according to a report by Foxtons, an estate agent. Although this sounds great for the homeowner, it doesn’t pique our interest as a voyeur of remarkable outdoor spaces.
If you’re intrigued by natural wonder and are fascinated by spectacular landscapes, browse our list of the most extravagant, unusual and beautiful gardens around the world.
Kew Gardens
The Foxtons garden study also revealed that a third of Brits become competitive when it comes to gardening, including maintenance of their 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.
At Kew Gardens in London, the beautiful spectrum of colour, light and shapes creates a stunning landscape that attracts tourists from across the world. 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.
According to the most recent report, Kew Gardens attracted 20% more visitors than the previous year, 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.
The Gardens of the Palace of Versailles
Grandeur and spectacle almost sums up the reign of King Louis XIV. 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.
Over 40 years, Le Nôtre worked with artists and architects to design the gardens — with each project being 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.
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Gardens by the Bay
A 250-acre nature park in central Singapore, Gardens by the Bay is made up of three waterfront areas containing more than a million plants.
If you’re a futurist or love sci-fi, Gardens by the Bay is the place for you. A panoramic view of this destination 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.
Gardens by the Bay has attracted more than 40 million people to date and is even one of the top-20 checked-in places on Earth by Facebook users.
Keukenhof Gardens
According to the Horticultural Trades Association, people in the UK spend around £1.5 billion on garden plants every 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.
Designed in 1857, Keukenhof Gardens is today only open for two months every year. However, the visit is worth it. You’re treated to a blend of English and French horticultural 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.
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Bookworm Garden
“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them,” said the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A Milne. Bookworm Gardens is a quirky, botanic environment found in Wisconsin, USA, and inspired by our favourite childhood stories!
Designed to enrich young minds by combining the great outdoors with the world of literature, Bookworm Gardens opened in 2010 as a non-profit organisation and now features fun buildings and characters from books such as 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.
Garden of Cosmic Speculation
If you’re into science and optical illusions, the brain-teaser Garden of Cosmic Speculation is a place you’ll want to visit. Found in Dumfries, Scotland, it’s 30 acres in size and was created by revered architect, Charles Jencks.
Strolling through these gardens, you’ll be overwhelmed by ideas, theories and global influences — from black holes to oriental landscaping! 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 Arbordeck, a leading retailer of outdoor products including composite decking boards.
