THE NEW SHANGRI-LA

Across the globe, garden designers are creating paradise-like spaces by embracing the flora and heritage of indigenous landscapes

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1 URBAN OASIS

Garden design by Tawatchai Sakdikul and Ploytabtim Suksang of GingGaanBai In the heart and heat of space-tight Bangkok, the designers 'claim unused space around an urban dwelling to create a minimalist, modern garden. It's light and spacious, with tall, feathered Southeast Asian trees, Chum Saeng and Java palms, strategically placed for dappled shade. The green softscaping and white, reflective hardscaping dispel heat and help define the stylistically balanced, well-arranged space, providing spaces where Bangkokians can unwind and recharge. The water that flows through the garden is not only cooling and relaxing, it also resembles the Chao Phraya River, the main river that flows through Bangkok and is a symbol of the city.

2 SECRET GARDEN

Stuart-Smith Le Jardin Secret hides within one of the largest and most ancient riads of Marrakesh's medina, a quiet paradise in the heart of the busy souk, protected by high, windowless outside walls - you'd never know it was even there. Tom restored the riad's two ruined internal courtyards creating a larger, iconic Islamic paradise garden. Its symbolic water rills and basins are fed by the thousand-year-oldtechnique, channelling water from high in the distant Atlas Mountains down into the city. Modern planting incorporates the traditional - citrus and olive trees, herbs and aromatics spangled with spring-flowering bulbs.

3 BACK IN TIM