Ten must-see gardens from Mexico to Japan

Key facts

• Las Pozas in Mexico was created by British poet and patron Edward James (1907–1984) as a surrealist sculpture garden.
• The Majorelle Garden in Marrakech was built by painter Jacques Majorelle in 1932 and features his signature 'Majorelle blue'.
• The Alhambra's Generalife gardens in Granada date from the 13th century and include an ingenious hydraulic system.
• Sanssouci Park in Potsdam covers 290 hectares and was designed by Prussian landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné.
• Villa d'Este in Tivoli was built in the 16th century for Cardinal Hippolyte II d'Este and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Nine classical gardens in Suzhou, China, are UNESCO-listed, built between the 11th and 18th centuries.
• Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town was founded in 1913 by botanist Henry Harold Pearson and hosts over 7,000 plant species.
• Claude Monet's garden at Giverny features the famous water lily pond and a Japanese bridge.
• Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island were created by Jennie Butchart in 1909 on a former limestone quarry.
• Ryoan-ji temple in Kyoto has a Zen rock garden with 15 stones on a 250-square-meter bed of sand.