The London Garden Book A-Z Abigail Willis some extracts from the book 1 London Garden Book A-Z Contents Introduction 1 F Food from the sky 96 R redcross Garden 182 MeeT THe GArdeners: London Garden History 4 F Front Gardens 98 R rHs Horticultural Halls 184 A Garden reborn 272 F Frugal Gardening Tips 100 R roof Garden on the southbank 186 A Wildlife Garden 276 London GArdens A-Z: G The Garden Museum 102 R roots and shoots 188 Adventures on a rooftop 280 A Allotments 10 G Geffrye Museum Garden 104 S st Mary’s secret Garden 192 An Architect’s Garden 282 Cable Street Community Garden 14 G Green Corners 108 S seeds of Italy 194 An easy Maintenance Garden 286 B Barbican 16 G Guerrilla Gardener 110 S sheds 196 david’s ecohouse 290 B Barge Gardens 20 H Hall Place and Gardens 114 S skip Garden 198 Lutfun’s Garden 294 B Bees 24 H Ham House 116 s spring Fever in Kew 200 Molly’s Urban oasis 296 B Beekeeping on rFH 26 H Hampton Court Flower show 118 S south London Botanical Institute 204 The exotic Garden 298 B Bonnington square 28 A gold-medal winning garden 122 S summer in Kew 208 The shady Garden 300 C Cannizaro Park 32 H Hampton Court Palace Gardens 124 T Thames Barrier Park 210 The Magic roundabout 304 C Capel Manor Gardens 34 H The Hill Garden & Pergola 128 T Thrive in Battersea 212 The Pie & Mash Garden 306 C Capital Growth 38 H Horniman Museum & Gardens 132 T Topiary 214 The Plantsman 308 Winterton House 40 I Inner Temple Garden 134 U Underground in Bloom 216 The Water Garden 312 Rocky Park Growers 42 J Japanese Kyoto Garden 138 V Vertical Garden – Athenaeum 218 sue’s roof Garden 316 Golden Lane 44 K Kensington roof Gardens 140 V Vertical Veg 220 C Carlyle’s House 46 K Kew Garden in Autumn 144 Mark's Vertical Veg Tips 222 GArdener’s dIreCTorY: C Centre for Wildlife Gardening 48 L Livery Company Gardens 146 V Volunteers 224 London Horticultural societies 320 C Chelsea Flower show 50 L London Plants 150 W Walled Gardens 226 Allotments 321 C Chelsea Fringe 54 L Lost Gardens of London 154 W Westminster College Garden 230 Gardenblogs & Web resources 322 C Chelsea Physic Garden 56 M Market Gardens 156 W What will the Harvest be? 232 organisations 323 C Chiswick House Gardens 60 M Medicinal Garden (rCP) 158 W Wildflower Meadows 234 Garden events 325 C City Gardens (map) 64 M Myddelton House Garden 160 W Wildlife Garden, nHM 236 Garden Centres 326 C Clifton nurseries 74 N national Plant Collections 164 W Wildlife Gardening 240 Community Gardens, City Farms & C Cloister Herb Garden 76 O ockendon road Tree Gardens 166 W Winter at Kew 250 nature reserves 329 C Columbia road Market 78 Ockendon Road's Tree-Pit Tips 168 W Wisley (rHs Garden) 254 Community orchards 333 C Container Gardening 82 O open Garden squares Weekend 170 W World’s end nurseries 258 C Coriander Club 84 O osterley Park 172 W Worshipful Company IndeX 336 C Culpeper Community Garden 86 P Petersham nurseries 174 of Gardeners 260 D dye Garden at Vauxhall City Farm 88 P Phoenix Garden 176 X X-Factor 262 E eltham Palace 90 P Putting down roots 178 Y The Yellow Book 264 F Fenton House 94 Q Queen’s Wood organic Garden 180 Z Zen Garden 266 B Barge Gardens Garden designers often talk about getting Connected by ingeniously designed bridges, the ‘movement’ into their creations, but on the garden barges are not just a decorative after-thought: floating gardens at Downings Roads Moorings they act as walkways to the individual houseboats as the movement is for real, generated by the well as accommodating studio apartments. twice-daily ebb and flow of the Thames and the swell of passing river traffic. For those used Architect Nick Lacey is the man behind the to terrestrial gardens the gentle sway can be Moorings’ evolution into a floating garden square disconcerting and visitors are advised to wear (and indeed the gardens do take part in the Open suitable footwear, and to exercise care when Garden Squares Weekend as well as opening for the aboard. NGS). The owner of the moorings, Nick was inspired back in the 80s by seeing a profusion of self-seeded The oldest surviving commercial river moorings plants growing in a silt-filled lighter and the idea of in London (dating from at least the first half of the the barge garden was born. Construction is simple: 19th century), the Downings Roads Moorings are the lighters are decked over with a steel deck which home today to some 30 river vessels converted to produces a planting ‘tray’ about a spit (roughly residential or mixed use. Some berth holders tend 25cms) deep; the studio quarters are housed on the small gardens on their own boats but the barge lower deck. gardens themselves are the main attraction, and are constructed on seven Thames lighters (flat- Off-shore gardening presents unique challenges and bottomed vessels used for unloading larger vessels). simply getting the soil (a rich 50/50 mix of top-soil and farmyard manure) onto the barges was a major 5DowninLgosn Rdooand Gs aMrdooernin Bgosok A-Z London Garden Book A-Z 6 Nick was inspired back in the 80s by seeing a profusion of self-seeded plants growing in a silt-filled lighter and the idea of the barge garden was born. Nick Lacey operation involving a crane and a lot of spadework. Attracting a bohemian community of human Although the river enjoys a mild microclimate, residents, the barges also appeal to London’s its desiccating winds make watering a constant wildlife, with ducks, coots, moorhens and geese concern; drought-friendly plants are helpful but also making their homes here. Nick is keen to nonetheless in dry weather the gardens need get some bee hives on to the moorings but in the watering every other day. During hosepipe bans meantime wildlife friendly plants such as nepeta the gardens are sustained with water pumped and buddleia keep visiting bees and butterflies from the river which, being silty and full of in nectar. For their creator, the appeal of the nutrients, the plants relish. barge gardens lies in their fundamental difference from buildings – for architect Nick, ‘what is so The barges are planted for year-round interest, wonderful about a garden is that it’s organic, with an eclectic mix of trees and shrubs, softened it develops, it grows, it changes in a way that by informal groupings of perennials and self- buildings find more difficult!’ seeded annuals such as poppies. Trees such as the golden leaved Robinia frisia do surprisingly Downings Roads Moorings well here, obligingly miniaturising themselves to 31 Mill Street, SE1 2AX www.towerbridgemoorings.org adapt to the shallow planting depth, and fruit trees www.ngs.org.uk such as medlar, apple and plum also thrive. Soil www.opensquares.org fertility is kept high by regular compost mulches and the odd seaweed dressing. 28 London Garden Book A-Z London Garden Book A-Z 8 B Bonnington square Bonnington square Pleasure Garden Named with a nod to the Vauxhall Pleasure Garden of old, this resident-run garden square may not have all the diversions offered by its famous forebear but what it lacks in orchestral performances, balloon flights, acrobats and masked balls it makes up in community spirit and charm. The site was developed in its current form in the mid 1990s, when residents successfully lobbied the council to save and redevelop the garden (at that point a derelict children’s playground) for local people. Designed by ‘committee’, Bonnington Square’s enclave of artistically inclined residents fortunately included garden designers Dan Pearson and James Frazer, who between them devised a luxuriant planting scheme, combining semi-tropical and Mediterranean plants with English natives. The semi-tropical feel of the garden remains today, with lofty palms, Zealand flax, bananas, bamboos and mahonia providing the garden with its architecture and foliage. A small lawned area basks in the garden’s sunlit centre, with benches for relaxing on, a picnic table and a children’s play area among the amenities. Roped border edges and the odd anchor lying around add a faintly nautical feel to proceedings, while a giant iron slip wheel salvaged from a local marble works makes a dramatic sculptural contribution against the far wall. Such is the garden’s exuberance that it has spilled out onto the Square’s surrounding pavements, which have been planted with trees, shrubs and climbers as part of the Bonnington Square Garden Association’s ongoing Paradise Project. www.bonningtonsquaregarden.org.uk www.bonningtoncafe.co.uk 99 London Garden Book A-Z London Garden Book A-Z 3150 Harleyford road Community Garden Begun in the 1980s, this community garden developed more organically than its neighbour, with no overriding design. As a result it is more jungle-like, with a relaxed feel compared to the orderly Bonnington Square. Here, winding mosaic pathways A ‘secret’ passage lead to several distinct areas, including a recently installed pond, children’s play area, herb and vegetable beds, and a connects Bonnington wildlife area (those nettles are there for a reason). Its 1.5 acres are gardened organically by regular volunteers, with the more Square with... Harleyford experienced helping the less so, and its plants include well- established roses as well as more exotic specimens. Both Road Community Garden gardens take part in the Open Garden Squares weekend (see p.170), with live music and a variety of stalls. 11 London Garden Book A-Z London Garden Book A-Z 12 C Chelsea Physic Garden London’s historic gardens don’t come more venerable than this, the Chelsea Physic Garden. Occupying a 3.8 acre site of prime Chelsea riverside, the CPG has been cultivating plants here since its foundation in 1673, when the Society of Apothecaries needed somewhere handy to park their state barge and a place where they could grow and study medicinal plants. Today, this jewel of a botanic garden remains a centre for horticultural research and conservation as well as a living showcase for the amazing medicinal resource that is the plant world. It’s a great place to unwind too – a gentle stroll around its tranquil paths and themed planted areas makes the perfect counterpoint to a hectic shopping spree on the King’s Road. With over 300 years of experience behind them, the CPG effortlessly combines beauty with educational purpose. The Garden of World Medicine is an Statue of Sir Hans Soane ethnobotanic display of medicinal plants used by different cultures, from the Cordyline australis of the Maoris and the Ocimum tenuiflorum of the Ayurvedic The presence of systematic order beds reminds us tradition to the Gingko biloba of traditional Chinese that the CPG is a proper botanic garden; divided medicine. In contrast to these beds (where not all between monocotyledons and dicotyledons, these the plants here have been scientifically proven), the beds are designed to show the botanical relationship nearby Pharmaceutical Beds are filled with plants of between plants. It is fascinating to find out where proven value in current medicinal practice. Arranged plants originate – Alchemilla speciosa from the by branch of medicine, they reveal how reliant we Caucasus, Camassia quamash from western North are on seemingly everyday plants such as yew America. To the south of the garden Fortune’s and barley in disciplines as diverse as oncology Tank Pond is a focus for the CPG’s teeming wildlife and anaesthesia. If only there were a remedy for – water boatmen, damselflies, newts and leeches. mankind’s tendency to exploit to extinction – the CPG During the summer it is surrounded by a mini conserves medicinal plants such as blue cohosh wildflower meadow of British native species such as and bloodroot that are now endangered thanks to Centaurea cyanus (cornflower) – and a popular port over-enthusiastic harvesting. The latest development of call with the Garden’s bee population. Their hives at the garden, the new Garden of Edible and Useful can be seen in the Mediterranean woodland area Plants, gloriously shows the extent to which we rely and the honey can be purchased in the shop. on plants for every aspect of our lives: from foods to building materials, clothing and cleaning to arts Over on the western side of the garden, the and ritual. It includes an intriguing and beautiful Historical Walk tells the story of the CPG through the amphitheatre of plants used in perfumery and plants introduced by some of its key players. This aromatherapy, including the gorgeously scented amounts to a roll call of some of the biggest names Pelargonium odoratissimum (Geranium), and Rosa in gardening history, including explorer and naturalist centifolia, the source of attar of roses. Sir Joseph Banks, William Forsyth (who gave his Order Beds, Chelsea Physic Garden London Garden Book A-Z 57 C City Gardens There’s more to the City than fat cat bankers dry conditions, while the City’s tall buildings and shiny office blocks. Built up as it is, the create destructive wind tunnels and vortexes. The Square Mile is also home to a quirky collection relentless redevelopment of the City (one third in of gardens, planted highways, churchyards the past 30 years) causes its own problems too, and burial grounds. particularly for trees, which need time to mature and which are susceptible to damage or removal Although most of the gardens themselves are post by reckless contractors. WWII creations, history is unavoidable in London’s most ancient quarter, with sites incorporating But its not all doom and gloom; over the past everything from Roman remains to plague pits 30 years the number of green spaces in the alongside the latest in contemporary architecture. City has increased tenfold as all new building developments have to show an environmental Most of the City’s 200 open spaces are managed by gain. It also helps that the City’s open spaces are the Corporation of London, with biodiversity high on protected by their own Acts of Parliament and that the agenda. Wildlife friendly initiatives include insect over £1.5 million a year is lavished on their upkeep hotels, bird and bat boxes, green roofs, nectar rich (although much of this goes on staff wages for planting, and the use of pheromone traps instead of the team of 35 gardeners who look after the City chemical pesticides. The Corporation’s Department gardens, and this amount is likely to decrease in of Open Spaces uses peat-free bedding medium the future due to budget cuts). A walk around the in its planters, as well as raising some 250,000 City quickly confirms that its well-used and much bedding plants in its own nursery in West Ham loved gardens are as much a part of its identity as Park – thus reducing plant miles. It’s a strategy that chalk stripe suits, and telephone number salaries. seems to be working because in recent years the City has become a habitat for rare species such as the Peregrine Falcon and is a stronghold for the country's Black Redstart population. The Barbican Estate is home to a healthy population of the once common but now endangered house sparrow while strategically placed log piles have been created in gardens such as Finsbury Circus, in the hope of enticing stag beetles into the City. City gardens flourish in the face of considerable adversity. The air is polluted and the soil is poor, compacted and of limited depth – beneath its scanty surface runs a Swiss cheese labyrinth of communications cables, power lines, sewers, railway lines, cellars and basements, not to mention burial sites and archaeological remains. Although there’s a toasty microclimate that favours exotic species, some native plants resent the generally 1155 London Garden Book A-Z This page: LakesideL Toenrdraocne ,G Baarrdbeicna Bnook A-Z 16 16 Brewers’ Hall Garden Just off Aldermanbury Square, this street-side garden consists of three brick built raised beds, planted with resilient perennials like ladies’ mantle, bergenia and periwinkle and evergreen shrubs such as sarcococca. A statue by Karin Jonzen depicting a gardener at work illustrates why bad backs and knees are a common complaint among horticulturalists. st Mary Aldermanbury A peaceful garden with three distinct areas, standing on the former site of the church and churchyard of the same name. The Wren church, which replaced a 15th-century predecessor, was damaged in the Blitz and subsequently relocated to Fulton, Missouri as a memorial to Winston Churchill (he made his famous ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in Fulton). In return for the church, Fulton gave the garden the swamp cypress at the far end of the garden. Remnants of the medieval church remain within the St Mary Aldermanbury garden, and the lawn is studded with the footings of the columns that once defined the nave. The Girdlers’ Hall space church has no shortage of historical associations – infamous Judge Jefferies was buried here, and Although the Girdler’s Company is in possession it was in this parish that John Hemynge and Henry of an award winning walled private garden behind Condell, Shakespeare’s first publishers, worshipped. their classically styled livery hall, it’s the recently A memorial, topped by a bronze bust of the Bard, revamped open space in front of it that will reminds us of the debt we owe these ‘heroes of perhaps be more appreciated by workers in search the First Folio’. This stands as the centerpiece of of somewhere to enjoy their lunchtime sandwich. a raised paved seating area, with drought tolerant Owned by the Corporation of London, the site, at planting, in what was once the churchyard. A pretty the intersection of Basinghall Avenue and Coleman knot garden completes the trio of gardens. Street, is a lovely example of their ‘green corners’ policy with its crisp arrangement of parallel lines of box hedging, interplanted with soft, billowy st Lawrence Jewry grasses, ferns and acanthus, multi-stemmed An awkward corner site outside the Corporation trees, and possibly the lushest stretch of lawn in of London’s official church – a Wren creation EC2. Seating for weary City folk takes the form of extensively rebuilt following war damage. It has granite blocks or more forgiving wooden benches been ingeniously transformed into a water garden. and chairs. From here the doll’s house like The pond is planted with water lilies, irises and proportions of the Girdlers’ Hall can be admired, bulrushes and is home to a large resident carp. against the backdrop of City Tower, which looms in Blocks of evergreen hedging tactfully indicate the the distance. garden’s street boundary. 1177 London Garden Book A-Z St Lawrence Jewry London Garden Book A-Z 18 F Front Gardens They may be small but London’s estimated 1.8 million front gardens cover some 9,400 hectares and have a big contribution to make to the capital’s environmental and aesthetic well-being, providing important habitat for urban wildlife and a valuable focus for neighbourly interaction. Conversely, impermeable surfaces bring with them the increased risk of flooding, the creation of localized heat islands (which intensify the effects of heat waves), and contribute to a decline in biodiversity. Perhaps most importantly, paved Naomi Schillinger gardens are just plain ugly. Do Londoners love their cars more than their In Islington one community gardening scheme has front gardens? In some boroughs it appears harnessed the positive potential of front gardens. that they do – according to an influential The Blackstock Triangle Gardens Project was report carried out by Ealing’s Local Agenda started in 2009 by neighbours Naomi Schillinger 21, nearly a quarter of the borough’s 74,300 and Nicolette Jones and initially focused on front gardens are completely hard surfaced treepits in the local roads. The following year, Caroline Davison Maureen and David Herbert with no vegetation at all. And the problem is thanks to Capital Growth funding, they added a exacerbated by a ‘domino effect’ whereby the food growing dimension, with grow bags and free more front gardens are converted into parking seeds being issued to 50 participants enabling spaces the less on-street parking is available, them to raise sweetcorn, squash and beans in their leading to more gardens being paved over. front gardens. In 2011 the number of participants The trend looks set to continue, despite the doubled to 100 and in an exciting development, 2008 planning regulation requiring planning funding was found for 10 front gardens to have permission for impermeable surfacing of more their concrete removed and be reinstated as than 5 square metres. productive spaces. The project has also boosted community spirit with people getting to know their However, with a bit of thoughtful design and the neighbours for the first time through their gardens, use of impermeable materials such as gravel, and friendships cemented over tea and cakes at reinforced lawns and carefully chosen plants, it popular ‘Cake Sunday’ events. is perfectly possible for cars and front-gardens to cohabit. The 2011 RHS publication Gardening www.outofmyshed.co.uk/btg/ Matters, Urban Series: Front Gardens has some great ideas for car friendly gardens. Ealing Front Gardens Project hope to reinstate 3 front gardens Garden greenspace in in 2012, working with home-owners who want the capital’s gardens has to restore their hard-surfaced gardens back to been lost at a rate of two and something softer. a half Hyde Parks per year driven by recent trends in garden design Annie Monaghan 1199 LonLdoonnd Gona rGdaernd Beno oBko Aok-Z A-Z London Garden Book A-Z 20