Snooping around: Homes with designer gardens

Property of the week: Launceston, Cornwall. Beware the beast! This grade II-listed house on Bodmin Moor is surrounded by protected wilderness: it sits in seven acres and you can gaze down to the River Fowey gushing through a valley. Six enclosed fields and a private generator, water filter and sewage system hint towards self-sufficiency. Inside there’s a new fantasy farmhouse kitchen with slate floor, beamed ceiling, window seat and Aga. Cost: £395,000.
Knight Frank, 01392 423111 Photograph: Knight Frank/Knight Frank

Wreck of the week: Blakedown, Worcestershire. This three-bed, 1930s semi was last updated a generation ago - £20,000 should bring it forward cosmetically, on top of the £199,950 asking price. The startlingly large back garden ends at a wooded lake, owned by someone else but unfenced and available for discreet paddling. It’s less than half an hour by train into Birmingham, and it’s in a good school catchment area. The main rooms and kitchen are small.
Nock Deighton, 01562 861491 Photograph: Nock Deighton/Nock Deighton

Take three: homes with designer gardens. Kevin Hughes has created a biblical garden and an exotic Himalayan garden at this four-bedder near Southampton. A fire pit sits in the middle of a round, wavy blue-walled terrace. Inside you get three receptions, a study area, a kitchen/breakfast room, bathroom, wet room and cloakroom. It’s a shame about the unsightly flat-roof and someone else’s garden separating you from the water. Yours for £575,000.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01962 844299 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff/Jackson-Stops & Staff

Take three: homes with designer gardens. This three-bedder near Rothesay, Argyll, will set you back £295,000. It sits in half-an-acre, which rolls down to the loch. You get an open-plan reception, a kitchen and two bathrooms, though it’s all a bit dated. The garden, meanwhile, has been cunningly planted to offer a year-round spectacle and takes part in Scotland’s Gardens Scheme. It’s three-and-a-half miles to the village and a ferry ride to town.
Strutt & Parker, 0141 225 3880 Photograph: Strutt & Parker/Strutt & Parker

Take three: homes with designer gardens. You can choose from a one-bed flat to a three-bed house at this Edwardian manor near Newmarket, Suffolk. It once had a Japanese school, hence the oriental temple that will house some of the units, while a Japanese garden with pond and waterfall add to the mood. The 8.4 acres of communal grounds won gold at the New Homes Gardens awards. Beware a possibly hefty service charge. Prices from £199,950 to £535,000.
City & Country Group, 01279 818900 Photograph: City & Country Group/City & Country Group