There are ten wonderful acres of gardens at Levens Hall waiting to be explored and enjoyed. They include the unique collection of ancient and extraordinary topiary characters sculpted from box and yew.

The Dubai Miracle Garden is unique in that it was essentially built on a desert. Head landscaper Akar says that the grounds are a great example of how it is possible to “green the desert” by reusing waste water. Designers took additional precautions to protect the beautiful garden arrangements from the environment. For instance, the garden’s perimeter is lined with trees that are used as windbreakers. Unlike most of the gardens around the world, the Dubai Miracle Garden closes during the summer due to severe weather conditions.

International photographic competition, which runs in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, awards special prize for the best close-up images. Here: Winner – Mayflies by Petar Sabol, Goričan, Croatia. (Photo by Sabol Petar/International Garden Photographer of the Year)

It has taken 3,000 hours and 34 years to make – but the results are incredible. Artist Scott Weaver has created a huge but incredibly detailed model of San Francisco using 100,000 toothpicks. The work entitled Rolling Through the Bay also doubles as a marble run. Ping pong balls dropped on several ramps at the top of the model follow several “tours” through the city. They pass matchstick replicas of sights such as Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and the city's trademark terraced houses on steep hills.

Fireworks explode above Singapore's financial skyline at dusk as part of celebrations for the nation's 50th year of independence, Sunday, August 9, 2015, in Singapore. Singapore declared independence on August 9, 1965. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

South Korea's Black Eagles aerobatics team performs an aerial display forming a Ying and Yang logo during the Singapore Airshow at Changi exhibition center in Singapore on February 16, 2016. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP Photo)

Pilot Akmal Bin Abdul Kahar watches South Korea's Black Eagles aerobatics team perform a manoeuvre during an aerial display at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Center February 18, 2016. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)