It's easy to overlook the importance of a beautiful gate in your garden. These examples show what to do – and in one or two cases, what not to do.
1. A beautiful stone arch
It's no surprise that this gate lives in a garden created by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.
2. A modern secret garden
This wall and gate was erected in 2002, but has a completely timeless quality.
3. An opening within an opening
Added grandeur guaranteed.
4. Perfect framing
The roses will need cutting back sooner or later for the sake of easy access, but it can wait until the flowers have withered.
4. Painted perfection
This lovely old archway looks all the better for a pristine and sympathetically-coloured door.
5. Mixed purpose
A pretty design of fretwork panels in the upper section enables views, but prevents animal access.
6. Wonderful whimsy
Never be afraid to have a bit of fun with your garden.
7. Keeping it simple
Remember that the plants must always be the true star of your garden.
8. Get twisted
Don't automatically assume your gate should be made from picket or panels
9. Arch virtue
You don't always need a gate to make a great gateway.
10. Mixed use
Wood and iron can make a great combination.
10. Planning ahead
It's going to take years before the climbing plants cover this gateway thickly. It'll be worth the wait...
12. Hedging your bets
See what we mean about it being worth the wait for green archways to grow in?
13. Showing the way
A slate sign is all you need to let people know that your gate is fashionably dilapidated. Rather than just rusted.
14. Grand entrance
If you're planning a garden from scratch, don't be afraid to go to own with double gates.
15. Keep up appearances
Shabby chic? Nope. Just shabby.
16. I can see clearly now
Anything other than a wire fence and gate would have been a crime when overlooking a view like this.
17. Irresistible combination
When it all comes together, gate and garden can work in perfect harmony to create an effect that is simply beautiful.
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An idyllic Hampstead mansion whose price has risen nine times faster than inflation — and it's not hard to see whyCloth Hill is even more beautiful on the inside than it is on the outside.
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Food with a pinch of salt: The crops we can harvest from the seaFilling, rewarding and nutritious, vegetables and plants grown in saline environments — whether by accident or design — have plenty of potential, discovers Deborah Nicholls-Lee. Illustration by Alan Baker.
