[dropcap size=small]A[/dropcap] well-tended front yard speaks volumes about the proprietor of a mansion; it hints at a certain discipline and fastidiousness, and can certainly double up as a trophy case with exotic species on display. The trend of building an edible garden has also recently taken off.

(RELATED: For some of Singapore’s well-heeled, maintaining the gardens has become a calling unto itself.)

If you’re one such individual, your next holiday itinerary has just been decided for you: a top-notch UK hotel-restaurant belonging to revered chef Raymond Blanc has just opened a gardening school. Its focus is to share as much gardening knowledge with visitors and guests as possible, and boy does it have the credentials.

The two-acre vegetable and herb expanse has supplied the two Michelin-starred restaurant with produce that have been labelled “pitch-perfect” by the pickiest critics, and you’ll be walking in the footsteps of Heston Blumenthal and Marco Pierre White.

Simply named The Raymond Blanc Gardening School, it promises to offer full- and half-day courses led by the very team that has managed Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons’ sprawling greenscape for decades. The courses start running in July. Do note the full-day option is inclusive of a morning tea and lunch. Winter lessons are on the cards as well; after all, you’ll be hosted in a toasty greenhouse.

Photography by Paul Wilkinson Photography Ltd.

More information available at the Belmond website.

PeakMonogram