Secret garden escapes

Luxury isn't bound by bricks and mortar, and while velvet sofas and linen sheets make for romance, it's the setting which can really set our souls on fire. We've thoroughly enjoyed the 'task' of scouring the back gardens and extensive grounds of luxury country homes right across the UK to find secret boltholes with the emphasis on green. Think pretty fences hiding scrambling clematis and romantic swags of purple flowering wisteria, scarlet creeper and heavenly scented roses; our secret garden escapes celebrate the pruned and re-wilded, the perfectly manicured and wildly unkempt. Retreat to a self-catering idyll where al fresco living is the name of the game, walking barefoot across the dewy lawn with the morning paper and a basket of croissants, enjoying a quiet coffee in the dappled light of your own private orchard.