Landscape of Dreams

Isabel and Julian Bannerman have been described as mavericks in the grand manner, touched by genius (Min Hogg, World of Interiors) and the Bonnie and Clyde of garden design (Ruth Guilding, The Bible of British Taste). Their approach to design, while rooted in history and the classical tradition, is fresh, eclectic and surprising. Designers to the highest in the land, they have made gardens for the Prince of Wales at Highgrove, Lord Rothschild at Waddesdon Manor, the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk at Arundel Castle in Sussex, John Paul Getty II at Wormsley in Buckinghamshire, the great walled garden at Houghton, home of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, and they designed the British 9/11 Memorial Garden in New York. Their work of grand architectural gestures, of mock ruins and oaken temples has made them famous. But it is the houses and gardens they have made for themselves that eclipse any of these aristocratic delights (Mary Keen, Daily Telegraph). Their garden at Hanham Court near Bath was acclaimed by Gardens Illustrated as the top garden of 2009, ahead of Sissinghurst. When they moved from Hanham it was to the fairytale castle of Trematon overlooking Plymouth Sound, where they have created yet another magical garden. Landscape of Dreams celebrates, in the Bannermans inimitable, evocative, humorous and highly personal style, the imaginative and practical process of designing, making and planting all of these gardens, and many more.