Outer calm

Nearly 20 years ago, we bought a house in north London, not just for the building itself, but because hidden behind the terraced row was a secluded garden – a delightful surprise in this central Londo

Behind a high beech hedge, where southwest London meets wild common land, garden designer Lucy Willcox has created a hidden sanctuary blending mid-century structure with contemporary naturalistic plan

The quiet beauty of winter sets the stage in this garden, where topiary shapes and the borrowed landscape are the main performers

It was while filming an episode of Lewis in an Oxford college garden that Tom Simpson fell in love – and within moments decided to abandon his peripatetic life in film and retrain as a garden designer

Within a framework of mature trees, this naturalistic Surrey garden contains a mix of informal planting and formal topiary

A good time to visit The Old Rectory in Doynton is as dusk falls on a frosty December evening. Driving in through the gate, you’ll be cheered by the sight of two illuminated Portuguese laurel cylinder