From skating rinks and a kiddies’ zoo to mazes and exotic plants

Glorious Gardens

From skating rinks and a kiddies’ zoo to mazes and exotic plants, Gustasp and Jeroo Irani take you through some of the world’s most luxurious gardens

Timeless splendours A girl, set in stone, sits on a boulder and gazes out at the Pacific Ocean venting its fury on a rocky coastline in Vancouver’s 1,001-acre Stanley Park. An open-sided horse-drawn carriage filled with smiling faces trundles by. A shaggy dog, with its owners in tow, struggles to break free of its leash and give chase to the gaggle of Canadian geese that that has congregated on the lawns in front of a fountain-spouting pond. In the heart of this green oasis is a restaurant-café; nature pours in through its glass walls and keeps the guests dining here company. Elegance in simplicity As you climb up a stairway that ducks under an archway in a bamboo forest at the Kodai-ji Temple Gardens in Kyoto, Japan, you get a sense of entering a sacred space. At one of the oldest and holiest shrines in Japan, you’ll find lawns of raked sand, rather than grass; reflections of trees in water bodies; scattered rocks and more. Even the postures of the pagoda roof shrines are muted, in keeping with the quiet divinity of the temple complex. Nestled in the complex is a teahouse, where it is said the shogun who financed the building of the shrine would conduct tea ceremonies. Year-round paradise The percussion of horse hooves pounding the paved pathway blends with the buzz of a city of skyscrapers. In spring, cherry blossoms paint the green lawns with licks of pink. A little girl befriends a statue of a founding father as her indulgent grandfather looks on. Seals frolic in a pond at the entrance of a kiddies’ zoo. Central Park, the 843-acre nature reserve, is studded with lakes and ponds in the heart of New York’s bustling Manhattan district. In summer, it provides a stage for open-air theatre groups and world-famous orchestras. In autumn, the trees are aflame with fall colours, while in winter the park is transformed into a snowy wonderland complete with an ice-skating rink. Sun-kissed gardens A country squire would feel at home strolling through the lawns of the 1,000-acre Tatton Park near Chester, UK. He would nod approvingly at the maze that is so much a part of traditional English gardens; stop to admire sculpted bushes; pluck a plump tomato from the kitchen garden... Memories of his overseas posting would flood in as he strolled through a tropical forest re-created in a glasshouse. Tucked behind a cluster of trees that stud the rolling meadows, is the Tudor home of the Egerton family. Enjoy a cuppa on the pillared veranda or a fine-dining experience at The Stables. Exotic oasis While Ooty, the Queen of the Hills, has suffered from random unplanned development, the Botanical Gardens have managed to remain an oasis of sanity. Though relatively small—55 acres—the botanical garden is home to numerous species of trees, plants and herbs. Its lawns are studded with ancient trees whose twisted trunks betray their age. Hot houses explode with the colour of exotic flowering plants in bloom. The fossilised stump of a tree (believed to be 20 million years old), in front of a flowering clock, reminds visitors that the river of time connects the past with the present.