Island gardens : havens of beauty around the British Isles

From Tresco to Lindisfarne, Anglesey to Sark, travel around the British Isles and discover the most beautiful and extreme island gardens on this visually stunning tour. The British Isles consist of more than 6,000 islands scattered around the main islands of Britain and Ireland.

More than 100 of these British off-shore islands are inhabited – and where there are people, there are gardens.

Lighthouse gardens, gulf-stream-soaked, tropical gardens, windswept remote gardens with giant and ancient yew trees, and gardens surrounding castles and monasteries of historical significance. Encounter a huge variety of habitats and gardening conditions, from coastal machair to woodlands, mountains, dunes and meadows, and explore a wide range of aspects, from shady dells, to sunny banks, deep-soiled productive gardens to rocky, alpine slopes.

While they can differ dramatically with regards to aesthetics, what all island gardens share is the special light, magical atmosphere and indefinable magic that a proximity to water can bring.

Here, Jackie Bennett reveals the challenges their gardeners face, the designs required in such extremes, and the skills their gardeners have mastered to survive and thrive, accompanied by stunning photography by garden and drone photographer Richard Hanson.