Wander along the pathways of 7 incredible world record holding gardens
Check and further your landscaping knowledge with these 7 incredible gardens demonstrating amazing talents.
Do you know which is the biggest garden in the world? The oldest? The one with the most flowers? The most popular? Check and further your landscaping knowledge with these 7 incredible gardens demonstrating amazing talents. So let’s set off on a round-the-world trip to visit the kingdom of plants!
© Mistervlad / Adobe Stock
In Sri Lanka, the world’s oldest garden looks out over the forest
© Anton Petrus / Adobe Stock
In Sigiriya, formerly the imperial city of Prince Kasyapa, are the archaeological remains of the oldest garden in the world still open to the public. Designed in the 5th century AD, the royal gardens of Sigiriya constellated with pools showcase the local inhabitants’ extremely advanced hydraulic engineering techniques. To put that in perspective, the first fountains in Versailles were created more than a millennium later!
Meet the oldest gardens in the world
You will never see as many flowers as in Dubai!
© SERGEY / Adobe Stock
It is difficult to believe that a garden like this exists in the desert, until you remember that Dubai in the United Arab Emirates goes out of its way to be exceptional. The Dubai Miracle Garden is an artificial Paradise covering 72,000 square meters and featuring over 150 million flowers. The garden with the most flowers in the world is designed as an amusement park, including flower-decked castles, villas and an Airbus A380, plus a parade and immersion in a Smurf village. A surrealistic experience.
The northernmost botanical garden is in Norway
© Natali Arkhangelsk / Adobe Stock
This botanical garden nearest to the North Pole is in the Tromsø museum, inside the Arctic circle. The Tromsø botanical garden specializes in Arctic and alpine plants and comprises 25 collections of many specimens from all over the world including the largest collection of gentians anywhere.
The most visited garden is in England
© Quentin / Adobe Stock
With an average 1 million admissions a year, the Royal Botanical gardens in Kew near London is the most popular paid-entry garden in the world. Registered as a world heritage by UNESCO in 2003, it features over 16,900 plant species in a 130-hectare site. This garden also holds the world record for the largest number of species enjoyed by all plant and mushroom enthusiasts and boasts unrivaled archives.
Cape Town has the biggest perfumed garden of the world
© Arnold / Adobe Stock
An unforgettable stroll through the garden for all lovers of scents – and people with impaired vision! The Kirstenbosch national botanical garden in Cape Town covers 528 hectares at the foot of mythical Table Mountain. 36 hectares are dedicated to fully appreciating the scents of the flowers in the middle of one of the most beautiful views in South Africa. The Braille signs along the circuit path help people with eye problems to find out what the plants they are in front of are.
The quintessence of topiary art “in former times” is in England
© Levens Hall near Kendal by Brian Clift, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The oldest example of topiary art in gardens is in Levens Hall, Kendal. Here topiary design has existed for over 300 years! The first bushes were cut in 1690, and this landscaping tradition has lasted ever since. Four hectares are home to spectacular plant sculptures with strange geometrical and abstract shapes. As at the start!
Explore topiary art with these beautiful creations
In Versailles, the largest garden of the world still amazes
© Alvydas / Adobe Stock
The world’s most impressive garden is in the grounds of the French Kings’ Royal Palace. Covering 800 hectares it is difficult to do better! Created by André Le Nôtre, the works on the gardens of Versailles started in 1661 and lasted for forty or so years. A fantastic undertaking in which, in the steps of the nobility of yesteryear, it is still possible to admire the sculptures, fountains, flower beds and pathways.
These incredible world record gardens are truly dizzying. Professional landscapers are best placed to appreciate the monumental efforts behind these achievements. Designing and maintaining such huge spaces is an amazingly delicate craft!
Want more?
