The 10 best gardens in the world according to Chelsea Flower Show

If you are looking for inspiration to create your garden, a good source is certainly this list, exploring the best ten gardens in the world. Don’t miss out on the occasion to discover amazing places, and note, this list has been created by Chris Bailes, a judge of the famous London Chelsea Flower Show.

10 best gardens in the world

1. Pukeiti Gardens, Taranaki, New Zealand

The so-called “ ultimate rhododendron experience” garden is a very flourishing spot thanks to the abundant rainfall and the mild climate. Pukeiti Gardens, situated in the rain forest, hosts a collection of plants from various Asian countries such as the Himalayas, China and Japan. Visitors are particularly fascinated by the Camellias, Magnolias and Rhododendrons of course.

2. Singapore Botanic Gardens

The variety of plants is phenomenal especially for Western people, in fact, the garden includes a selection of not often seen vegetation such as gingers and oriental spices. The garden maintains it’s traditional colonial charms where you can imagine locals doing tai chi at the time when this was a public garden.

3. Lotusland, Santa Barbara, California

This garden is unique and certainly has the WOW factor that you would expect from an opera singer. In fact, the project was designed by singer Ganna Walska. The scenic features are mainly given by the hard landscaping materials such as glass diamonds and volcanic scoria. The plants are also very impressive ranging from palms to succulents.

4. Portland Japanese Garden

This is certainly the most peaceful garden of the best gardens in the world, designed to be a whole world apart. The objective is achieved by the balanced use of the stone, water and plants, a fundamental in any Japanese style garden. This oasis is built in the heart of the busy Portland by Takuma Tono.

5. Giverny

Giverny gardens are perhaps not very well known by name, but if you are told of the iconic Monet‘s water garden, your memory will certain associate the beautiful impressionist masterpiece. The Flower Garden is actually Japanese inspired and shows a very unusual mixture of vibrant flowers, climbers and roses. It was not only Monet who painted the garden, but his house was located there and so visitors nowadays can visit where the master once lived.

6. Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden, South Africa

This garden steps back in time with its ancient flora and living plant fossils. Kirstenbosch located in Cape Town is an enchanting retreat with plenty of vegetation. Exploring this garden allows to go back in time and observe indigenous flowers, but also the actual African natural diversity.

7. Tresco Abbey Garden, Isles of Scilly, UK

Even if set in the UK, Tresco Abbey Garden are mostly considered as a typical Mediterranean garden. The typical maritime climate has contributed to making this garden a fantastic blooming space with many conifers and palm trees punctuating the serene landscape.

8. Great Dixter, Sussex, UK

This garden is also found in the UK and stems from the creation of Christopher Lloyd who intended to create a very bright, colourful and joyful space. The garden is very dense with a variety of tropical plants set out in an “organised chaos” resonating very pleasantly on the eye.

9. RHS Garden Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon, UK

These popular British gardens are very vast and divided into various sections, visitors can enjoy the joyful colours of the ‘Hot Garden’ in Summer, discover new plants in the rock garden and many more activities. There is also a part of the gardens dedicated to growing various fruits and vegetables.

10. Mount Stewart, Northern Ireland

This is perhaps one of the most traditional of garden styles amongst the world’s best gardens, in the sense that, it’s an organised space surrounding a mansion. The garden looks very neat and tidy in spite of the presence of the more evergrowing untamable plants. It’s remarkable also for the variety of vegetation such as the New Zealanders cabbage. Great growth in here thanks to the abundant rainfall.

Have you ever visited one of the best gardens in the world? What’s your favourite garden instead? Leave a comment to let us know your favourite garden and why.

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