Bourton House Garden

Bourton House Garden is a compact Cotswold garden with a big reputation for detail. Covering about three acres at Bourton-on-the-Hill, just west of Moreton-in-Marsh, it is known for imaginative topiary, a knot garden and generous herbaceous borders, all kept to a very high standard. It is the kind of garden people visit to study planting closely rather than to cover miles, and garden writers have praised its almost perfect finish.

Expect a series of areas that change in mood as you move round. Clipped shapes give the garden its structure and a touch of humour, while the borders bring colour and texture through the summer months. The knot garden shows how low hedging can make a pattern that works both close up and from a distance, an idea that adapts well to much smaller gardens and even to a front garden.

The garden passed to new owners around 2010, who kept it open to visitors, and it has been listed with the National Garden Scheme. Bring a notebook if you like to record plant combinations, as the borders are full of ideas worth copying. Make a day of it with a stroll through Bourton-on-the-Hill or a stop in Moreton-in-Marsh, and remember that this is a different village from the much busier Bourton-on-the-Water further south.