The skilful use of symmetry amongst the beautiful flower borders and garden compartments at Godinton House provides design inspiration for the display of containers, sculptures and statues to best effect. We also consider how to use symmetric design to make a small garden, terrace or balcony appear larger, inspired by the clever planting and topiary compositions at Godinton. The predominantly symmetrical garden compartments reflect the design legacy of Sir Reginald Blomfield, who was commissioned to restructure the house and garden at the end of the 1800s. However, there is also effective use of asymmetry in wilder areas, creating impactful vignettes with appealing asymmetrical balance.

Godinton House is an impressive Jacobean-style stately home, situated on the gentle slopes of the Great Stour Valley near Ashford in Kent, South East England. For opening times and further information, please visit Godinton House website: https://godintonhouse.co.uk

All footage of Godinton House & Garden and the Chelsea Flower Show, is by Apple Pea Fern Sea. Please find additional image attributions below, with our thanks to all contributors.

0:00 Beauty of butterflies, bees, flowers and classical statues
1:28 Godinton House & Garden
1:48 Jane Austen nearby!
2:22 Approaching Godinton House
3:37 Symmetrical pots, plants & containers
4:53 Blending bright colours
5:27 Bilateral symmetry & human faces
5:54 ‘Pan Garden’ with buxus topiary design
6:12 Quadrilateral symmetry in design
6:46 ‘Knot Garden’ at Antony House
7:41 Pan & Peter Pan, two sides of human nature
8:43 ‘Herbaceous Borders’ & origin
10:00 Gertrude Jekyll 1843 - 1932
10:44 Creative parallel planting
12:06 ‘Lily pond’
13:13 Ponds and reflecting pools
14:39 ‘Italian Garden’ & designs with symmetry
17:08 Garden designs with asymmetry
20:18 ‘Belvedere’ & designs for small gardens and balconies
22:47 ‘Walled Garden’ and kitchen gardens

WIKIPEDIA
George “Beau” Brummell (modified image) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Dighton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Woman in Walking Dress (modified Image) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... 19th-century engraver (with subsequent hand coloring), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Godmersham Park 1779 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Peter Pan https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Donkin Bedford, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Palais Royal
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Pérelle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Florence
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... bonus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Venice
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... van Wittel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Colosseo
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Pompeii Temple https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Cucombre from New York, USA, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commonshttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
Robert Spencer https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Maratta, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

UNSPLASH
Garden Types| David Tip, Izuddin Helmi Adnan, JR Harris, Wander Fleur
Doorways Compilation| Storiès, Thiébaud Faix, Reiseuhu, Ibrahim Rifath, Jamie Street, Daniel Bonilla, Jared Brashier, Adam Kring, Jacques Bopp (original image modified), Maria Lupan, Akira Hojo, Zac Gudakov(original image modified, )Evelyn Paris(original image modified),Avery Evans (original image modified),Kai Pilger, the blowup(original image modified).Faces compilation| Yuvraj Singh, Joel Mott, Joseph Gonzalez, Ravi Patel, Mika Ruusunen, Hassan Khan, Dollar Gill, Nathan Dumlao, Omid Armin, Rokas Niparas, Samuel Berner, Kevin Bezuidenhout. Peter Pan Statue|Bob Coyne. Water compilation| Yoksel 🌿 Zok,Thyla Jane, Belinda Fewings,Cesar Boaventura,Derek Quesada,Trac Vu,Donna Elliot,Stephen H, Braxton Apana. Italian compilation| Dario Veronesi,Clay Banks,Victor Malyushev, Gabriella Clare Marino.Grey Door| Kelsey Schisler. Kitchen garden produce compilation| Markus Winkler, Kenan Kitchen, Tayla Kohler on Unsplash.