The London Garden Book A-Z Abigail Willis EXCERPTS 1 London Garden Book A-Z Contents Introduction 1 F Fenton House 98 Q Queen’s Wood Organic Garden 186 W World’s End Nurseries 288 London Garden History 4 F Frontgardens 101 R Redcross Garden 188 Y The Yellow Book 290 F Food from the Sky 103 R RHS Horticultural Halls 190 X X-Factor 296 London Garden BOOK A-Z: F Frugal Gardening 105 R Roof Garden on the Southbank 192 Z Zen Garden 300 A Allotments 12 G The Garden Museum 107 R Roots and Shoots 194 Golf & Cable Street G Geffrye Museum Garden 109 S Seeds of Italy 196 MEET THE GARDENERS: B Barbican 20 G Green Corners 113 S Sheds 198 A Garden reborn 306 B Balconies 14 G Guerilla Gardener 116 S St Mary’s Secret Garden 202 A wildlife Garden 308 Balcony Gardening Tips Lavender Fields S Skip Garden 204 Adventures on a rooftop 312 B Barge Gardens 26 H Ham House 120 S Spring Fever in Kew 206 An Architect’s Garden 314 B Bees 30 H Hampton Court Flower Show 124 S South London Botanical Institute 208 An Easy maintenance garden 318 B Beehives on RFH 32 H Hall Place and Gardens 130 S Summer in Kew 210 David’s Ecohouse 320 B Bonnington Square 34 H Hampton Court Palace Gardens 132 T Thames Barrier Park 212 Goldenlane Gardeners 322 B Brunei Gallery Roof Garden 38 H Herb Garden, Clerkenwell 136 T Thrive in Battersea 214 Lufton’s Garden 326 C Cannizaro Park 40 H The Hill Garden & Pergola 138 T Topiary 216 Molly’s Urban Oasis 328 C Capel Manor Gardens 42 I Inner Temple Garden 142 U Underground in Bloom 218 Putting down roots 330 C Capital Growth 46 J Japanese Kyoto Garden 146 V Vauxhall City Farm 222 The Exotic Garden 332 Winterton House K Kensington Roof Gardens 148 V Vertical Veg 224 The Garden Designer 336 Rocky Park Growers K Kew Garden in Autumn 152 Mark's vertical veg tips The Magic Roundabout 338 C Carlyle’s House 52 L Livery Company Gardens 154 V Vertical garden – Athenaeum 248 The Pie and mash garden 340 C Centre for Wildlife Gardening 53 L London Plants 158 V Volunteers 250 The Plantsman 344 C Chelsea Flower Show 56 L Lost Gardens of London 162 W Walled Gardens 252 The Water Garden 348 C Chelsea Physic Garden 60 M Market Gardens 164 W Wildlife Garden, NHM 258 Sue’s Roof garden 350 C Chiswick House Gardens 64 M Medicinal Garden (RCP) 166 W Wild London (map) 260 C City Gardens (map) 68 M Myddelton House Garden 168 W Wildlife gardening 262 Gardener’S Directory: C Clifton Nursery 80 N National Plant Collections 172 W Wisley (RHS Garden) 270 London Horticultural Societies 354 C Columbia Road Market 82 O Ockendon Road Tree Gardens 174 W Wildflower at Mabley Green 274 Allotments 356 C Container Gardening 86 Tree pit tips W Windowboxes 276 Organisations 358 C Coriander Club 88 O Open Garden Square Weekend 178 W What will the Harvest be? 278 Garden Events in London 362 C Culpepper Community Garden 90 O Osterley Park 180 W Winter at Kew 282 Garden Centres 364 D Dye Garden 92 P Petersham Nursery 182 W Worshipful Company Community Gardens & City Farms 368 E Eltham Palace 94 P Phoenix Gardens 184 of Gardeners 286 Community Orchards 372 B Barge Gardens Garden designers often talk about getting they act as walkways to the individual houseboats as ‘movement’ into their creations but on the well as accommodating studio apartments. floating gardens at Downings Roads Moorings the movement is for real, generated by the Architect Nick Lacey is the man behind the twice-daily ebb and flow of the Thames and Moorings’ evolution into a floating garden square the swell of passing river traffic. For those (and indeed the gardens do take part in the Open used to terrestrial gardens the gentle sway can Garden Squares weekend as well as opening for the be disconcerting and visitors are advised to NGS). The owner of the moorings, Nick was inspired wear suitable footwear, and to exercise care, back in the 80s by seeing a profusion of self-seeded when aboard. plants growing in a silt-filled lighter and the idea of the barge garden was born. Construction is simple: The oldest surviving commercial river moorings the lighters are decked over with a steel deck which in London (dating from at least the first half of the produces a planting ‘tray’ about a spit (roughly 19th century), the Downings Road Moorings are 25cms) deep; the studio quarters are housed on the home today to some 30 river vessels converted to lower deck. residential or mixed use. Some berth holders tend small gardens on their own boats but the barge Off-shore gardening presents unique challenges and gardens themselves are the main attraction, and simply getting the soil (a rich 50/50 mix of top-soil are constructed on seven Thames lighters (flat- and farmyard manure) onto the barges was a major bottomed vessels used for unloading larger vessels). operation involving a crane and a lot of spadework. Connected by ingeniously designed bridges, the Although the river enjoys a mild microclimate, garden barges are not just a decorative after-thought: its desiccating winds make watering a constant 5 London Garden Book 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” concern; drought-friendly plants are helpful but Attracting a bohemian community of human nonetheless in dry weather the gardens need residents, the barges also appeal to London’s watering every other day. During hosepipe bans wildlife, with ducks, coots, moorhens and geese the gardens are sustained with water pumped also making their homes here. Nick is keen to ‘‘ from the river which being silty and full of nutrients, get some bee hives on to the moorings but in the the plants relish. meantime wildlife friendly plants such as nepeta and buddleia keep visiting bees and butterflies The barges are planted for year-round interest, in nectar. For their creator, the appeal of the with an eclectic mix of trees and shrubs, softened barge gardens lies in their fundamental difference by informal groupings of perennials and self- from buildings - for architect Nick, ‘what is so seeded annuals such as poppies. Trees such as wonderful about a garden is that it’s organic, the golden leaved Robinia frisia do surprisingly it develops, it grows, it changes in a way that well here, obligingly miniaturising themselves to buildings find more difficult!” adapt to the shallow planting depth, and fruit trees such as medlar, apple and plum also thrive. Soil Downings Roads Moorings fertility is kept high by regular compost mulches 31 Mill Street, SE1 2AX and the odd seaweed dressing. www.ngs.org.uk www.opensquares.org 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. A ‘secret’ passage connects Bonnington Square with: 9 London Garden Book A-Z London Garden Book A-Z 35 Harleyford Road Community Garden Begun in the 1980’s, this community garden developed more organically than its neighbour, with no overriding design. As a result it has a junglier, more freewheeling feel than the orderly Bonnington Square, with winding mosaic pathways leading to several distinct areas, including a recently installed pond, children’s play area, herb and vegetable beds, and a wildlife “ A ‘secret’ passage connects area (those nettles are there for a reason). Its 1.5 acres are gardened organically by regular volunteers, with the more Bonnington Square with... experienced helping the less so, and its plants include well- established roses as well as more exotic specimens. Harleyford Road Community Garden” 11 London Garden Book A-Z London Garden Book A-Z 12 C Chelsea Flower Show For some it’s the first cuckoo, for others it’s Show Gardens at the top of the spectrum.