Top 20 British Garden makers More creative energy is poured into garden-making in the UK than anywhere else in the world, so drawing up a list of my top 20 (living) garden-makers has not been easy. I have sidestepped designers and owners who have subcontracted most of their work to others. Instead, I have focused on those who are engrossed in their own home gardens, or who have made a garden that has a special and distinctive sense of place - and one that is often, or occasionally, open for visitors to explore and find inspiration for themselves. Before you ask, the garden-makers appear in strictly alphabetical order. Marylyn Abbott Life comes first. And it should be loads of fun - especially gardening. The English take it much too seriously," says the Australian chatelaine of West Green House, Hampshire. Marylyn Abbott took on the lease from the National Trust in 1993, after she flipped horticultural hemispheres (she previously created a celebrated garden in New South Wales). Her swashbuckling annual potager displays, fountain gardens and torchlit operas reflect her energy and zest. Through her books she has pumped fresh air and sparkle into the world of period gardening (01252 844611; westgreenhouse.co.uk).