What is your favourite kind of garden?

[Foxy]

Giardino all'Italiana (Italian Gardens)

The Italian Garden is the evolution developed in Italy during the XVII century of the Renaissance Garden. It cares very much the scenographic effects, using suptuous steps, terraces, sculptures of trees, sculptures, fountains, geometric flower beds, maizes...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Italian_Garden_at_Duke_Gardens.jpg

http://www.villarvedi.it/img/giardino1.jpg

Giardino alla Francese (French Gardens)

It is the French evolution of the Renaissance gardens. It differs from the Italian Gardens in the lack of terraces and in the presence of "parterres de broderies" (embroideries made on flower beds using coloured sands). It also includes big alleis and big water courses.

http://www.biogardenitalia.com/images/francese.jpg

Giardino all'Inglese (English Gardens)

The English Gardens, developed during the XVIII century, follows a romantic view of the function of the gardens. There is less rigidity than in the Italian/French gardens and more attention to the landscapes. Little temples and ruines are created near artifical lakes. A very good example of English Garden is the English Garden in Reggia di Caserta.

http://www.fotoeweb.it/sorrentina/Foto/Caserta/Caserta%20-%20Reggia%20-%20Giardino%20inglese%20laghetto%20con%20ninfee.jp g

Giardino giapponese (Japanese Gardens)

Developed from the Chinese Gardens, the Japanese Gardens stresses the importance of water and of small bridges. A bridge or stones usually allow the crossing of a small lake. Other important scenographic effects are: lanters and landscape stones.

http://www.creatingjapanesegardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/strollinggarden.jpg

Spanish Gardens

Developed in the Moorish period, it has evolved the Roman, the Persian and the Arabic type of gardens. Traditionally the paradise garden is interpreted with a central cross axis, in the four cardinal directions, with long ponds or water channels . The remaining quadrants often had fruit trees and fragrant plants.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Alha_Generalife1.jpg/375px-Alha_Generalife1.jpg

You can provide examples.

[Loddfafner]

My favorite garden (http://giverny.org/gardens/fcm/visitgb.htm) is English in spirit, located in France, and incorporates Japanese elements.

[PetiteParisienne]

I love English gardens. They are little Romantic microcosms, like fairytale settings; perfect for outdoor theatre. These are pictures that I took in one of my favourite English gardens. It's in Norfolk.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f220/stonedeurydice/Norfolk/ALIM2491.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f220/stonedeurydice/Norfolk/ALIM2538.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f220/stonedeurydice/Norfolk/ALIM2495.jpg

[gold_fenix]

British + Japanese , it is a good combination English have famous of to be the best gardeners and the elengancy and the art of japaneses in gardens it is a present for the eyes

[Foxy]

I like very much also Alhambra's Porch of the Lions (Spain)

http://www.sevillaonline.es/images/granada/alhambra-leones-columnas360.jpg
http://www.motortravel.it/fotogallery/andalusia/alhambra30.jpg

I know that it is not really a garden but more a courtyard, it kind remembers me (and probably is) the Moorish evolution of the Roman courtyards (impluvia). But the Alhambra realobaration is simply stunning. Those broideries in the archs and the archs themselves, for colour and shape, make me think of the inside of a cave.
If I had a megavilla in the Mediterraneum I would definitely take it as inspiration for an internal courtyard and would make all the bedrooms overlooking on it.
Dammit I didn't study architecture...

[Albion]

English followed by Japanese. The Japanese plants don't appeal to me so much but I think some English gardens could do with smaller lawns.
A few of the English gardens at country houses here tend to have vast lawns besides lakes and I think the space would be better filled with a few more shrubs and trees.

[ficuscarica]

English style but without a big pond, but with mediterranean plants and many fruit trees, vegetables, cupressus sempervirens and herbs.

[Albion]

English style but without a big pond, but with mediterranean plants and many fruit trees, vegetables, cupressus sempervirens and herbs.

I can't stand Mediterranean plants, they just don't fit into the landscape very well here.
Temperate trees and shrubs are nice. I kind of like gardens to be productive whilst looking good. Although they're introduced here (and widely naturalised), I just love horse chestnut trees in the landscape, particularly when they're in flower.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Horse-chestnut_800.jpg

http://sound-nutritional-plan.com/files/2011/12/Horse_Chestnut_Trees_by_MurkraD.jpg

I also like old elm trees (they used to be very common but now are rare due to Dutch Elm disease). Trees like this used to cover the English landscape, especially in East Anglia.
http://www.vilmorin-tree-seeds.com/images/documents/images/ulmus_campestris_-_Vilmorin_-_English_elm.jpg

Then I also like Sycamore and Field Maple. Sycamore receives a lot of criticise here because it grows like a weed, but they can grow up into very majestic trees. There is some debate as to whether it is native, most people say it isn't but it may be have been native in the hills (the "Celtic Maple").
It will often grow where nothing else does, a great tree for reforesting abandoned ground.

http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/CE/CE361C4C-6196-4A24-83E2-1EAD236B4BD2/Presentation.Large/Sycamore-tree-with-new-spring-foliage.jpg

http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/F3/F32E2BF5-6B78-4296-B2C0-2110DB56D358/Presentation.Large/Sycamore-tree.jpg

http://www.hadrianswallcountrycottages.co.uk/images/SycamoreGap.jpg

http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/92/92040910-32D4-40B0-9C0F-244E26227123/Presentation.Large/Sycamore-tree-in-autumn.jpg

[ficuscarica]

Temperate trees and shrubs certainly are nice and fit well in England and also most parts of Germany. In fact I love the landscapes you posted. And indeed mediterranean plants would look out of place in most parts of Central Europe.

But a mix of temperate trees and some mediterranean plants does fit into our submediterranean influenced landscape like we have it here:
http://www.wanderportal-pfalz.de/fotoskom/Weinstrasse3.JPG
http://file1.npage.de/003758/22/bilder/freiburg12_rosen2.jpg
http://www.pfalz.de/files/assets/Landschaft_Herbst_Burrweiler1.jpg
http://www.golfparadise.com/cms/travel_destinations/Elsass_Landschaft.jpg
http://www.hallo-bergstrasse.de/Portals/13/PropertyAgent/5222/Images/270.jpghttp://www.herbig.net/typo3temp/pics/014b87918b.jpg
http://www.amphitrek.de/pic/radfrankreich/elsass_genuss.jpg



Some mediterranean plants just complete the picture and the unique vibe of Central Europe with a hint of the "South":
Almond trees:
http://www.pfalz-bild.de/assets/images/Mandelbaum__web_klein.jpg

Cupressus sempervirens:
http://www.baden-image.de/albums/Baden-Baden/imgp0113_florentinerberg3_1200.sized.jpg
018-300x200.jpghttp://www.weinlese-seite.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/stuhl-018-300x200.jpg

Palms
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/7150/27yu1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/124/27yu1.jpg/)http://www.frsw.de/fotos07nov/blankenhornsberg4-071105.jpg

http://file1.npage.de/003758/22/bilder/freiburg12_banane.jpg

[ficuscarica]

So what I have to say is: If I´d live in a very temperate region I´d prefer to have a more "Northern garden", too. I like a garden to fit in the surrounding landscape.

[Albion]

In late winter and early spring I love to see snowdrops and daffodils. Daffodils are especially nice as they contrast so well against the dark skies here at that time of year.
The daffs are dying off now for this year, a few are still out in my garden though.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Cornwall_Daffodils.jpg
Cornwall

Common Heather is also a nice plant. It is bright pink in spring and summer and then goes brown in winter. It really defines the moorlands in this part of the world.

http://www.markrichards.info/administration/fckeditor/UserFiles/M16a.jpg

And Rowan (Mountain Ash) are another hill and moorland species that looks great, especially against the snow in winter.

http://kailingow.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/rowan-tree.jpg

[Albion]

So what I have to say is: If I´d live in a very temperate region I´d prefer to have a more "Northern garden", too. I like a garden to fit in the surrounding landscape.

Yeah, I think the same way. I really can't stress how much I hate it when people go putting tropical plants in gardens up here in the English Midlands. They're just so out of place and look ugly in the landscape.

I like native species or temperate European species rather than plants from completely different biomes.

Hornbeam are nice when they've got this sort of shape, they're characteristic of England south of Birmingham and are planted further north.
A lot of species have their Northern or Southern limits in England so some plants are found naturally only in the north or south.

http://theoutdoorsnation.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/view-of-a-pollarded-hornbeam-tree-with-a-split-trunk-hatfield-forest-c2a9ntpl-paul-wakefield.jpg

[Albion]

For landscape trees, Laburnum are very beautiful to look at too. They're native to the Alps and SE Europe, they have good years and bad years here.
There's some near me, last year they suffered through a very dry spell and then a very wet phase followed by more dry weather. The flowers got a bit ruined at the end.
When I was a kid I used to climb in those trees. They're in the Fabacea family so closer related to peas but all parts of the tree are very poisonous.
Most flowering trees that occur here naturally are part of the rose family.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Laburnum_anagyroides_flowering.jpg

[Albion]

Large English landscape gardens often depend greatly on the effect of different trees in the landscape.
Whilst some trees don't really work in a formal setting it is still interesting to note how different species fit into certain landscapes.


Hawthorn, a tree characteristic of windswept hills in Britain and often growing alone. It's also used for hedges.

http://www.types-of-flowers.org/pictures/hawthorn_tree.jpg

http://myimages.bravenet.com/272/870/121/1/fairy-tree-1_1.jpg

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2011/7/7/1310053966113/A-hawthorn-tree-on-Saddle-007.jpg

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/61/58/1615852_f60f75b7.jpg
Just look how the wind has distorted the shape of the tree.

[Albion]

Here are some more nice trees on limestone pavements in the Pennines (Yorkshire Dales). It's quite an incredible landscape and the lone trees look great there.

http://www.adamburtonphotography.com/themes/site_themes/abur/img/content/gallery/BB049800.jpg

http://blog.rossphotography.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Lone-Tree-on-Limestone-Pavement.jpg

[PetiteParisienne]

Here are some more nice trees on limestone pavements in the Pennines (Yorkshire Dales). It's quite an incredible landscape and the lone trees look great there.

http://www.adamburtonphotography.com/themes/site_themes/abur/img/content/gallery/BB049800.jpg



They are so haunting and beautiful.

[Foxy]

But a mix of temperate trees and some mediterranean plants does fit into our submediterranean influenced landscape
Palms


Gaffe: palms aren't from Southern Europe but from Northern Africa!!

True mediterranean landscapes never lack: pines, cipressus and junipers.
A true mediterranean maquis is very beautiful, the most beautiful I have seen were in Sardinia.

Pine

http://www.montelinas.it/florasarda/img/050-pino-domestico-1.jpg

Juniper (found in the maquis but also on mountains)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3113/2731473605_4e1cbe28d8_z.jpg

Mediterranean forest

http://www.meteo.it/Images/BE/11199.jpg

Mediterranean maquis has a lot of shrubs: juniper, rosemary, mulberry, chilli peppers shrubs, roses etc.

[Albion]

Gaffe: palms aren't from Southern Europe but from Northern Africa!!

There's one I know of but they do seem to be more of an North African / Middle Eastern thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaerops


True mediterranean landscapes never lack: pines, cipressus and junipers.
A true mediterranean maquis is very beautiful, the most beautiful I have seen were in Sardinia.

Mediterranean maquis has a lot of shrubs: juniper, rosemary, mulberry, chilli peppers shrubs, roses etc.

Here we have heathlands and some people compare them to maquis. Heathlands are where our few reptiles thrive and a few birds such as the Dartford Warbler which aren't common.
Sardinian and Scots Pines are common around heaths (Sardinian Pines being introduced) but birch are very common.

Junipers are restricted to heaths and a few moors, roses are found in hedges and those others are only ever planted in gardens, never wild.
They're usually dominated by gorse and heathers too. Heathlands and Moorlands are our only landscapes which are shaped by fire. None of our trees burn easily but many heathland and moorland plants thrive on it and so controlled fires are often carried out in grouse shooting moors.

This is a bit like a heathland but not the best example, it's getting towards a moorland:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2772/5705971263_c16ed4b6a9_b.jpg
Birches, Pines and Bilberies - Bilberies are like a wild, small Blueberry.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2022/5705966435_5b23e995b6_b.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5229/5686055193_f9c68f1700_b.jpg
Gorse - probably the commonest Heathland plant

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/5/20/1242816143768/Studland-Heathland--a-Dar-001.jpg

I've never seen a maquis so I don't know if people are right to compare the two. Do they look similar to heathlands in your opinion?

[Foxy]

The mediterranean vegetation is formed of various levels:
1. maquis (between the beach and the inland)
2. pinewoods (at the shoulders of the maquis)
3. cultivated hills

Mediterranean maquis is a strip of vegetation that in mediterranean temperate areas grow between the sea and the inland. It is made mostly of shrubs and small dunes.

The autentic maquis looks like this.

http://www.thepuglia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/macchia_mediterranea.jpg
http://vacanzelibere.it/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/sardegna3.jpg
http://www.meditflora.com/4/gariga.jpg

I have found something similar to the mediterranean maquis in Australia, in the NSW, although the vegetation was exotic, but with a very similar shape.

The maquis is made only of shrubs. At the shoulders of the maquis you find the pinewoods.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6124/5982854181_35c02632b2_o_d.jpg

And then the hills.

http://www.colorfulscheme.com/colorfulscheme/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/tuscan-hills-1.jpg

This are approximately the mediterranean landscapes. Consider that in Italy you find also the alpine and the appenninic landscapes/environment that are not mediterranean.

In the case of my region, after the pinewood (we don't have the maquis here or it is very limited) and the hills, you have the Appenninic woods made mostly of beech trees:

http://www.parks.it/fotoGallery/84_6_PNATE.jpeg

To go from the pinewood to the beech trees woods I need less than 40 minutes in my region. This is to give you an idea of the great variety of landscapes that you find in Italy. :)

To answer you, I think the photos you posted don't really look like a mediterranean maquis, but do have something mediterranean. I would say that you see something similar in the hilly strip, in some Italian countryside.

[Lena]

My fav is English cottage garden 'cause of the mixture of perennials and herbs. I love lavender....

[Albion]

The mediterranean vegetation is formed of various levels:
1. maquis (between the beach and the inland)
2. pinewoods (at the shoulders of the maquis)
3. cultivated hills

Mediterranean maquis is a strip of vegetation that in mediterranean temperate areas grow between the sea and the inland. It is made mostly of shrubs and small dunes.

The autentic maquis looks like this.

I have found something similar to the mediterranean maquis in Australia, in the NSW, although the vegetation was exotic, but with a very similar shape.

The maquis is made only of shrubs. At the shoulders of the maquis you find the pinewoods.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6124/5982854181_35c02632b2_o_d.jpg

And then the hills.

This are approximately the mediterranean landscapes. Consider that in Italy you find also the alpine and the appenninic landscapes/environment that are not mediterranean.

In the case of my region, after the pinewood (we don't have the maquis here or it is very limited) and the hills, you have the Appenninic woods made mostly of beech trees:

To go from the pinewood to the beech trees woods I need less than 40 minutes in my region. This is to give you an idea of the great variety of landscapes that you find in Italy. :)

To answer you, I think the photos you posted don't really look like a mediterranean maquis, but do have something mediterranean. I would say that you see something similar in the hilly strip, in some Italian countryside.

Ah, so it's a coastal landscape. Those pictures I posted were taken very far inland in the centre of England.
Around the rocky coasts in the west of the country we have shrubs growing along the edges, often on cliffs. There's no woods because they were cut down to make way for farmland and coniferous woodlands only occur in far northern England naturally (apart from the odd Juniper or Yew down south).

http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/__data/assets/image/0013/111613/CoastalHeathNorthCleave2.jpg
Rocky coast in the SW especially tend to be dominated by bell heathers and coastal plants and a few wild brassica species.

[Albion]

My fav is English cottage garden 'cause of the mixture of perennials and herbs. I love lavender....

Yes, I walk past a few houses where people grow that. In spring when that started growing again the smell came as a bit of a shock at first. :D


Regarding English and French garden designs, I have a bit of information here:


What is the Difference between an English Garden and a French Garden?

There are as many differences between and English garden and a French garden as there are similarities. They’re both founded on the principles of the original English garden which the Romans introduced to England upon their arrival in the 1st Century A.D. The English garden is a style of landscaping garden that was popular across the European continent. The French garden took its roots in the 16th Century with heavy influence from the Italian gardens of the time. The French garden is directly associated with Andre Le Notre.

English gardens were an attempt to blend into the natural landscape, growing a little on the wild side, while blending in romantic elements. Romantic elements were introduced in the 18th Century and included ponds or small lakes, bridges or long docks on the water, imitation ruins, and sculptures. “Chinese” pavilions are also commonly associated with an English garden. Each of the romantic elements in an English garden is incorporated into the foliage to enhance the wild look of the garden.

French gardens are also called formal gardens and are exactly that; formal. They follow very strict geometric lines. Plants are arranged so that they maintain the geometric and symmetric layouts. They are trimmed and pruned on a regular basis to keep them from obtaining that overgrown look, typical of an English garden. In larger gardens lanes or paths branch off from the center, which, according to tradition, is a building façade, going outward so visitors can stroll through each section. Lanes are often paved with gravel. French gardens traditionally include lawns for large scale gardens.

French gardens have their own romantic elements; however they borrow a lot from the English garden. Where an English garden may have a pond, the French garden will have a reflecting pool accented with fountains or sculptures and always following a geometric pattern. Large-scale French gardens will also have parterres. They are the construction around the plants and consist of stone or carefully maintained hedges to create symmetrical, or even geometrical, patterns. Claude Mollet is credited with the creation of the parterres.

If you’re looking to plant a garden and want a specific look, remember these basic pointers. French gardens are very geometric. The center should have some sort of façade and emanate outward. They are high maintenance but well worth the effort. If you’re after an English garden look, let your plants get a little wild looking, add at least one romantic element, and use foliage that naturally adds color to the landscape.

I think the English Garden is more of a cottage garden design where everything is quite informal whereas the French design is based on a potager type garden.

There's two types of English Garden in my opinion, one is the formal type found at manor houses and the other is the Cottage Garden style which sometimes looks like someone's thrown random seeds around.
Cottage Gardens are more about colour but provide some useful herbs and flowers for the house whereas English Gardens found at stately homes are more like a parkland and sometimes even have their own deer.
Lancelot "capability" brown and William Kent (who could be an ancestor of mine) were the main developers of the English style. Cottage Gardens are more an organic development.

English Gardens at stately homes:

An essential element is a grotto - a fake ruin, often either a folly (fake castle ruin) or something Roman.
The landscape should be fairly well wooded so make it look like the Ardenees or Wye Valley.

http://bensgarden.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/stourhead.jpg

http://www.neverstoptraveling.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/UK-England-English-Garden-Tours.jpg
Spring bulbs are an essential part of an English garden - especially daffodils and snowdrops along with bluebells and pansies.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zdy2cZm167Y/Tf1H7rThq2I/AAAAAAAAF58/3B1R0rmVcZQ/s640/2.jpg

Cottage Garden:

I prefer our cottage gardens. It'd take a while for me to emulate one but it could be done.

http://www.picturesofengland.com/img/L/1085793.jpg

http://www.picturesofengland.com/img/L/1088876.jpg

http://images.mooseyscountrygarden.com/chelsea-flower-show/2004/english-country-pub-garden.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01853/paul-thomas_1853279b.jpg

I think they fell out of fashion for a while. They were associated with old women for a long time but have made a bit of a comeback. They never fully disappeared though.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SylLYnTl-EU/TWc-YnsD0wI/AAAAAAAAFJQ/6mbKWzq3oco/s400/g+2.jpg

I like some of the elements in it such as foxgloves and the flowers growing up walls. The whole thing with flowers growing up walls is common, a lot of people plant things like aubretia or saxifrages.
Saxifrages and sedums led to the development of the alpine gardens and rockeries I think.

I'd like to take a few elements from cottage gardens and make my mini-orchard a bit more diverse. It's a sea of green at the moment and needs flowers now all the spring ones are dying down.
There's cornflower and poppy seed in it which should be nice if it germinates. There's also foxgloves but they take two years.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/8505/1337828fb01df90.jpg

The cottage garden developed out of the Middle Ages when cottagers / cotters would tend the fields of the feudal lord but maintain a garden attached to the house to grow herbs and useful flowers.
A lot of this disappeared with the industrial revolution as people were forced into towns but there's something of a revival going on at the moment in British food and uses of plants and garden design.

[Foxy]

Actually I listed only some classical types of gardens in the poll.
Some pics of the mediterranean gardens and terraces (I think Figuscarica will like): realizes a fusion between nature and architecture. To make it more coloured use also semi-tropical plants.

http://st.houzz.com/simages/55484_0_4-8950-mediterranean-landscape.jpg

http://gardensatlakemerritt.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/BC_med_garden_1.jpg

http://www.villagnocchi.it/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/panorami/fototerrazza1[1].jpg

https://d3qcduphvv2yxi.cloudfront.net/assets/2183981/lightbox/Mediterranean%20Pack.jpg?1285652605

http://euroceilings.ru/catalogs/foto-wallpapers-d/max/03_dw-045-2.jpg

http://st.houzz.com/simages/99053_0_4-8950-mediterranean-landscape.jpg

http://st.houzz.com/simages/38570_0_8-9501-mediterranean-landscape.jpg

[Corvus]

My own. So a textbook rural central European garden. Today I mowed the lawn :)

[Foxy]

Here some pics of the 10 most beautiful Italian gardens of 2009

1. Garden of Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini (Ligury)

http://facileblog.it/files/15/files/2010/06/Giardino-di-Villa-Durazzo-Pallavicini.jpg

2. Giardino Giusti (Veneto)

http://www.sabait.it/uploads/attrazioni/guisti.jpg

3. Garden of Villa Gamberaia (Tuscany)

http://www.immobiliareveronacentrale.it/uploads/immobili/36/immobile/Foto_Giardino.JPG

4. Garden Bardini (Tuscany)

http://www.grifotour.com/obj/image/GIARDINO%20BARDINI.jpg

5. Garden of Villa Lante a Bagnaia (Lazio)

http://www.leiweb.it/casa/piante-fiori/2011/gallery/img/12/villa-lante-2.jpg

6. Garden of Castle Ruspoli (Lazio)

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4074/4812042028_7073580a14_z.jpg

7. Giardino di Ninfa (Lazio)

http://illazionelmondo.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/giardino-di-ninfa.jpg

8. Garden of Reggia di Caserta (Campania)

http://www.incampania.com/assets/img/Turismo/big/reggia_ce_fontanadiana.jpg

9. Garden of Villa San Michele (Campania)

http://www.caprirentboat.it/images/villa-san-michele2.jpg

10. Garden of the Kolymbetra (Sicily)

http://www.agrigentoflash.it/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/giardino-della-kolymbetra-c2a9-lillo-rizzo.jpg

[ficuscarica]

Sorry Italy, sorry England, against Provence gardens with their fairy-tale like vibe you loose.

http://imageseu.fewo-direkt.de/vd2/files/VV/400x300/z/105214/23869_1257268067866.jpg
http://beaumeshaus.klack.org/bilder/webferienhaus.jpg

[Albion]

Sorry Italy, sorry England, against Provence gardens with their fairy-tale like vibe you loose.

http://imageseu.fewo-direkt.de/vd2/files/VV/400x300/z/105214/23869_1257268067866.jpg
http://beaumeshaus.klack.org/bilder/webferienhaus.jpg

Nah, if I wanted a hacienda I'd be in Uruguay or Chile by now. (Yes, I have thought about it. :D)
Not Argentina!

[Aramis]

The Zen garden, or Japanese rock garden if you prefer, is my choice. :P


The Japanese rock garden (karesansui?) or "dry landscape" garden, often called a zen garden, creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully-composed arrangements of rocks, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and uses gravel or sand that is raked to represent ripples in water.[1] A zen garden is usually relatively small, surrounded by a wall, and is usually meant to be seen while seated from a single viewpoint outside the garden, such as the porch of the hojo, the residence of the chief monk of the temple or monastery. Classical zen gardens were created at temples of Zen Buddhism in Kyoto, Japan during the Muromachi Period. They were intended to imitate the intimate essence of nature, not its actual appearance, and to serve an aid to meditation about the true meaning of life.[2]

http://www.premierdecorativestones.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/zen-garden.jpg

http://cache-images.writersnetwork.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/destination_site_medium/fotolia/Fotolia_7496512_Subscription_L_0.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEb7l6z6pMc/Ti4EB5HIFrI/AAAAAAAAFTQ/1PGph9H_WFA/s1600/zen+garden.jpg

http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/Zen_Garden_Sculpture_Wallpaper_j79mq.jpg

[Nordish Persephone]

English- It feels like you are surrounded by a welcoming sea of beauty with the infusions of colors from the trees and flowers. It feels so dreamy and inspires wistful, creative visions and unites the concepts in your mind.

[PetiteParisienne]

English- It feels like you are surrounded by a welcoming sea of beauty with the infusions of colors from the trees and flowers. It feels so dreamy and inspires wistful, creative visions and unites the concepts in your mind.

I agree. English gardens allow you to lose yourself in Romantic fantasies and dreams.

[The Lawspeaker]

English and Japanese. I particularly like it when a garden is bordered by a forest so there is no real border between nature and garden.

[Sehnsucht]

Deutsche Gäerten

[LouisFerdinand]

English gardens
:blume::blume::blume:

[Ziveth]

I like Italian but also Japanese gardens.

[Bogdan]

English and Russian Dacha Gardens.

[Iloko]

https://cdn0.woolworths.media/content/wowproductimages/large/901185.jpg

[♥ Lily ♥]

I personally love English gardens as they make me feel at home. https://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?143180-Beautiful-English-Countryside-Fairytale-Cottages-With-English-Country-Gardens/page2

[The Lawspeaker]

I think I've acquired a taste for the medieval herb and kitchen gardens: they are beautiful and useful.

https://www.tenbunderen.be/gasthuizen358.jpg

https://www.tenbunderen.be/kloostertuin.jpg

https://storage.googleapis.com/gardenphotos/139298/9352-kruidentuin-middeleeuws-reconstructie-nortonpriory.com.jpg

http://wyrtig.com/images/Tofts&Crofts.jpg

[indo-uralopean]

Japanese for me minimal work maximum zen.

[RioConrad1]

Italian gardens

[Ellethwyn]

I love them all. I feel most at peace in Japanese and English style gardens.

I am very fond of monastery gardens. I designed my herb and kitchen garden after them.