Traditional English Gardens

Enclosed by red-brick walls covered with climbing roses and clematis, restrained by a strict design of low box hedges, bordered by a walk of pleached limes or an allie of clipped yews, laid out in parterres or knots, embellished with pagodas, urns, statues, pergolas and arbours, and exuberantly planted, the traditional gardens of England are among the finest visual delights of this country.

Traditional English Gardens explores the English style in twenty-eight gardens in the care of the National Trust. The product of many influences - a passionate love of plants, a mild climate suitable for a wide range of species, the English love of the countryside - the gardens shown here strike a perfect balance between the formal Italianate style and the Robinsonian wilder garden; the ordered man-made garden combined with the idea of the natural Garden of Eden. From the genius of Hidcote Manor to the grandeur of Ham House, from the glory of Mottisfont Abbey to the enchantment of King Henry's Hunting Lodge, these English gardens are masterpieces of skilful planting and display an astonishing array of gardening ideas.