By Kate Youde
For arranged flowers
The beautiful 5.5-acre grounds of this €9.9m property in the Andalucían resort of Sotogrande in Spain include a formal rose garden with ornate, trimmed ficus trees (main picture, above). Situated next to Real Club Valderrama golf course, host of the 1997 Ryder Cup, the accommodation is equally grand: there is a nine-bedroom house and a one-bedroom staff apartment.
For formal gardens
The new owners of this English-style country estate in Houston, Texas, will need to invest in a good hedge trimmer to maintain its neat parterre gardens. Every room of the six-bedroom mansion, which has 16 bathrooms, overlooks the manicured 4.2-acre grounds. The property is on the market for $29.5m.
For making an entrance
Arrive at the heated outdoor swimming pool of this Georgian former rectory in South Gloucestershire, England by passing through a romantic arch of mature laburnum vine and wisteria. Other features of the seven-bedroom house’s 10-acre grounds include a walled area with a kitchen garden, an Italian-inspired courtyard garden and lawns. Available for £5.95m.
For geometric greenery
The garden of this 23-bedroom beachside estate near the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Sur peninsula has plenty to catch the eye aside from its uninterrupted view of the azure ocean. Agave is planted in sand in a square on a bedroom rooftop; elsewhere grass and paving create a lozenge-patterned terrace and bougainvillea beds add colour. The property is priced at $37.9m.
For a flowery facade
The back of this modern villa, situated a 25-minute drive south of Marrakech, is adorned with white bougainvillea. Combined with palm trees, it makes for a pretty green backdrop to the pool. Listed at €670,000, the property has five bedrooms plus a bedroom for staff.
Photography: Savills; Knight Frank; Engel & Völkers Los Cabos; Christie's International Real Estate
