In a world where awareness of water as a precious resource is increasingly important, the Court Garden looks back at the gardens of early Persia. These designers celebrated water’s life giving properties with gardens offering both tranquility and abundance. To the Persians, paradise was a paradeisos or enclosure. Persian design principles were behind many of the world’s most famous royal gardens including the Alhambra Palace in Spain and the Lal Bagh garden in India.

In this garden, a rill and two small weirs with a paved surround interconnect two rectangular pools. Clipped mounds of box flank both sides of the pool, giving it a formal appearance. Avenues of trees lead the eye down the water where lilies bloom and under the arch, a large lead urn contains beautiful lotus flowers. Abundant herbaceous planting frames the Court Garden creating a vista that is both tranquil and spiritually uplifting. The garden won an RHS Silver-Gilt medal in 2004.