One of the most beloved children’s books the world over has to be Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, the tale of ten-year-old Mary Lennox who moves from India to England to live with her uncle after she’s left orphaned by a cholera outbreak.
Once there, Mary discovers an old key that opens a hidden door in a wall… and lo and behold! She finds herself in an old secret garden that she takes upon herself to transform, transforming herself in the process.
If the book is a particular favourite of yours, why not use it as inspiration for your own landscape garden design projects? Here are a few ways in which this could be achieved.
High planting
Naturally, secrecy is a key part of this particular garden’s allure, so you’ll want to create a sense of seclusion at home, which can be done through dense planting, high hedges, fences and even walls, making everything feel very private and tucked away.
Wild planting
When Mary first discovers the garden, it’s very overgrown – and, luckily, one of the top trends for garden design in 2025 is wild planting, where you essentially let your plants and shrubs do what they want (within reason, of course).
This is both a low maintenance approach to gardening and an environmentally friendly one, as well, helping to support local biodiversity and natural ecosystems.
Secluded nooks
If you only want to give a nod to the book and don’t fancy designing your entire space with it in mind, what about setting aside a little secluded nook somewhere in the garden where you can escape to, whether that’s a small seated area, a dining space or a flower patch in which to spend time in.
For further ideas, also make sure you pay a visit to Great Maytham Hall in Kent, which is supposedly what planted the seed for the book in Hodgson Burnett’s fertile mind. An excellent place to begin your design project!