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Summer borders in the Millennium Garden designed by Xa Tollemache feature clipped holm oaks, Quercus ilex, clouds of Verbena bonariensis and are edged with Lavandula × intermedia 'Grosso'. Castle Hill, Barnstaple, Devon, UK
Echinops bannaticus 'Taplow Blue', AGM, with bumble bee. Sir Harold Hillier Gardens/Hampshire County Council, Romsey, Hants, UK
The Courtyard Garden designed by Piet Oudolf and John Coke features a circular entrance of clipped silver pear, Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula', here seen against a backdrop of oasthouses, and behind a bed of grasses and perennials including eryngiums, stachys, hemerocallis and lythrum. Bury Court Barn, Bentley, Hants, UK
The Vean Garden is predominantly white, blue and gold, with clipped box and golden privet surrounded by lush perennials such as hardy geraniums, campanulas, Alchemilla mollis and ligularias plus foliage plants including silvery Pulmonaria 'Diana Clare'. At its centre is a shallow urn planted with Astelia nivicola 'Red Gem'. Bosvigo, Truro, Cornwall, UK
Fergus' vegetable garden is an integral part of the garden's overall design, with view beyond into the gravel garden, through beech hedges. Yews Farm, Martock, Somerset, UK
View from Wildly-Cheering Pavilion giving views over the herbaceous border and into the kitchen garden backed by undulating white wall containing moon gate. Beggars Knoll, Newtown, Westbury, Wiltshire, UK
Dahlia border beside restored Victorian greenhouses. Clovelly Court, Bideford, Devon, UK
Herbaceous borders lining the croquet lawn feature standard holm oaks, Quercus ilex, underplanted with Hosta 'Sum and Substance', asters, Campanula lactiflora 'Prichard's Variety' and catmint. Melplash Court, Bridport, Dorset, UK
Walled kitchen garden, once part of the abbey, with 13th century Great Barn of Buckland Abbey rising above. The Cider House, Buckland Abbey, Yelverton, Devon, UK
Path framed with borders full of yellows and reds including Helenium 'Butterpat', delicate yellow daisy Madia elegans, dahlias and daylilies. The Cider House, Buckland Abbey, Yelverton, Devon, UK
Newly planted Persian garden with screened seating area and formal planting including squares of box and Ilex crenata and slopes of Santolina pinnata subsp neapolitana 'Edward Bowles' and Lavandula x intermedia 'Grosso'. Verticals provided by olives and junipers. Corscombe House, Corscombe, Dorset, UK
Agastache 'Apricot Sunset'.
Steps decorated with pots of white daisies lead up to another part of the garden framed by mounds of Choisya ternata. Through two sets of beech hedges a simple obelisk forms a focal point set in a grassy meadow. Corscombe House, Corscombe, Dorset, UK
Early morning sun illuminates the form of a standard Crataegus x lavallei, scarlet Crocosmia 'Lucifer', golden awns of Stipa gigantea, bicoloured Galega x hartlandii 'His Majesty' and blue Eryngium x giganteum, with hammock slung between old fruit trees beyond. Yews Farm, Martock, Somerset, UK
Grass paths are mown through the meadow, leading toward the formal garden with yew hedges and topiary near the house. Felley Priory, Underwood, Notts, UK
A collection of succulents in small pots including sempervivums, Aeonium 'Zwartkop' and a dark echeveria, on a wirework table. The patio is framed by scarlet Crocosmia 'Lucifer', spikey Eryngium agavifolium and lavender Veronicastrum virginicum 'Lavendelturm'. Yews Farm, Martock, Somerset, UK
Central circular bed is a mass of graceful grasses and herbaceous perennials including Miscanthus 'Morning Light', Stipa gigantea and Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' with striking red tin roof on barn behind. At front Allium carinatum subsp pulchellum mingles with Eragrostis chloromelas and Sedum 'Ruby Glow'. Broughton Buildings, Broughton, nr Stockbridge, Hants, UK
Mixed border including Knautia macedonica, feathery Stipa tenuissima, tawny spikes of Digitalis ferruginea, Salvia verticillata 'Puprle Rain' and deep red cotinus with tall fennel behind. Private garden, Hampshire, UK
Repeated mounds of clipped grey-leaved Santolina chamaecyparissus and S. rosmarinifolia cluster on the sloping ground at Cliff House, Holworth, Dorchester, Dorset, UK. Behind Lonicera nitida is clipped to echo the shape of the undercliiff beyond while Scots pines tower above
Small decked seating area outside Debbie's home studio, a third of a way down the sloping garden.
Repeated mounds of clipped grey-leaved Santolina chamaecyparissus and S. rosmarinifolia cluster on the sloping ground at Cliff House, Holworth, Dorchester, Dorset, UK. Behind Lonicera nitida is clipped to echo the shape of the undercliiff beyond while Scots pines tower above
Iris ensata
Lower garden with lichen encrusted Lutyens bench surrounded by a pretty mix of grasses and herbaceous perennials including achilleas, salvias, penstemons, astrantias, Verbena bonariensis and cirsium.
Raised shade bed behind the house planted with hostas, ferns, astelias, cornus and acers. Bosvigo, Truro, Cornwall, UK
Summer borders in the Millennium Garden designed by Xa Tollemache, edged with Lavandula × intermedia 'Grosso'. Castle Hill, Barnstaple, Devon, UK
Box edged beds at the top of the double summer herbaceous borders designed by Xa Tollemache feature dark leaved Dahlia 'Twyning's After Eight', Veronicastrum virginicum 'Album', Verbena bonariensis, Nicotiana sylvestris and campanulas. Castle Hill, Barnstaple, Devon, UK
Rhodochiton atrosanguineus. The Bay Garden, Camolin, Co Wexford, Ireland
Crested tansy, Tanacetum vulgare var. crispum, with white veronicastrum in the Barn Garden. The Bay Garden, Camolin, Co Wexford, Ireland
A gravel and stone set path edged with Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' runs through the centre of the potager garden with timber archway marking its centre supporting clematis, roses and Trachelospermum jasminoides. Upton Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, UK
Formal pond in the upper garden where a gap between beech hedges frames an obelisk set in a grassy meadow. Corscombe House, Corscombe, Dorset, UK
The Barn Garden, a mix of grasses and herbaceous perennials including pale Stipa tenuissima, Rhus typhina 'Dissecta' and purple Verbena bonariensis. The Bay Garden, Camolin, Co Wexford, Ireland
The Courtyard Garden designed by Piet Oudolf and John Coke features large areas of low grasses that mimic surrounding meadows, here dotted with deep crimson heads of Allium sphaerocephalon. Bury Court Barn, Bentley, Hants, UK
Allium sphaerocephalon in a bed of low grasses. Bury Court Barn, Bentley, Hants, UK
Repeated mounds of clipped grey-leaved Santolina chamaecyparissus and S. rosmarinifolia cluster on the sloping ground at Cliff House, Holworth, Dorchester, Dorset, UK. Behind Lonicera nitida is clipped to echo the shape of the undercliiff beyond while Scots pines tower above
Wooden lounger on the south facing terrace with sea beyond, surrounded by euphorbias, clipped Eleagnus ebbingei, Verbena bonariensis, Acanthus spinosus, geraniums, alliums and trained hornbeams.
The Carpet Garden features standing stones and a rill that empties into a circular pond beside which two metal birds stand guard. Planting includes strong coloured foliage of persicarias and bamboos. Dipley Mill, Hartley Wintney, Hants, UK
Wooden dovecote stands at one end of the herb garden. Dipley Mill, Hartley Wintney, Hants, UK
Vegetable plot features raised beds edged with timber, full of parsnips, carrots, onions and all sorts of beans and peas. Mill House, Netherbury, Dorset, UK
The Troughery, a collection of stone troughs collected from around the farm, planted with alpines. Behind them are pleached limes in the Winter Garden. Rodmarton Manor, Rodmarton, Tetbury, Glos, UK
Walled garden designed by the late Graham Hopewell includes an ante-chamber featuring evergreen shrubs such as standard holly, Trachelospermum jasminoides, ivies, vines and box. Mill House, Netherbury, Dorset, UK
Clipped copper beech seen in the lower garden across a mass of Stipa tenuissima, Sisyrinchium striatum, vivid salvias and steely blue eryngiums.
Topiary castles complete with flags overlook the herbaceous borders. Felley Priory, Underwood, Notts, UK
Heritage varieties of carrot including dark red Rouge sang violette and yellow Jaune Obtuse du Doubs. The 'Garten' Garden, Lower Treculliacks Farm, Falmouth, Cornwall, UK
Exotic bedding in the Victorian garden includes succulents such as Aloe ferox, tall Aloe thraskii, and dark aeoniums, mixed with softer plants such as alyssum, bidens, diascias and helichrysum, around a central urn. Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, Abbotsbury, Dorset, UK
A raised section of path encrusted with mounds of Saxifraga 'Cloth of Gold' leads up to the deck around Sara's garden office, with pot of aeonium on the corner. The 'Garten' Garden, Lower Treculliacks Farm, Falmouth, Cornwall, UK
The Courtyard Garden designed by Piet Oudolf and John Coke features a dome of clipped box surrounded by a bed of grasses mixed with pink Dianthus carthusianorum. Bury Court Barn, Bentley, Hants, UK
Chunky oak table and benches on a sunny terrace beside the house, with Stipa gigantea, Verbena bonariensis and salvias in adjoining bed and archway made of railway sleepers beyond, marking steps that lead down into the woodland garden. The 'Garten' Garden, Lower Treculliacks Farm, Falmouth, Cornwall, UK
White metal bench in the formal garden to the east of the house framed with clipped box balls, Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet', Erysimum 'Bowle's Mauve', Geranium Patricia = 'Brempat', campanulas and roses. Westbrook House, West Bradley, Somerset, UK
Mounds of Rosa 'Californica Plena' in the meadow with copper beech beyond. Westbrook House, West Bradley, Somerset, UK
Stepping stones across the pond to decking with seating. Old Rectory, Batcombe, Somerset, UK
all images copyright Carole Drake