The Great London Garden Trail Comes to Town
Over the May Day Bank Holiday, a selection of fantastically
designed gardens will be opened to the public, forming the ‘Great London Garden
Trail’, to celebrate the launch of the new
RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design. The trail, which is FREE, will
take place on Monday 4th May 2009.
This unique event, devised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), book publisher
Dorling Kindersley (DK) and the Society of Garden Designers (SGD), will highlight
the very best of London’s gardens and offer the capital’s visitors and residents
the chance to see real gardens, featuring outstanding planting and design ideas.
The Great London Garden Trail is composed of seven gardens which have been designed
by members of the SGD, many of which have never been open to the public before,
and three winning gardens from a competition run by DK and the RHS and supported
by Homes & Property, which offered London home-owners the chance to have their garden
redesigned and transformed by garden designers Chris Collins and Sven Wombwell.
These three gardens were chosen as they represent a variety of challenges facing
London residents with a garden or outdoor space.
The trail offers a broad spectrum of gardens intended to inspire budding gardeners
whatever their style or restrictions on space. The gardens range from a stylish
and functional communal roof terrace tucked away off the Kings Road to a bold, architectural
garden at Great Ormond Street Hospital; the designers will be present where possible
to answer questions and to provide plant lists for each garden.
Chris Young, Editor in Chief, RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design, said, “We’re passionate
about getting people into gardening and enjoying the benefits of good garden design.
This trail has been created to inspire people into making the most of their outdoor
space; whether they have a mature garden which needs a little TLC or a concrete
space that is crying out for colour and texture, there will be a design idea for
everyone – and all completely free of charge.”
The 10 gardens comprising the Great London Garden Trail will be grouped in clusters
between zones 1 to 3, so that people have the opportunity to visit two or three
gardens during the afternoon. Every garden will be open between 12 – 4pm, and free
to visit, making it the prefect way to spend a Bank Holiday Monday.
The Trail Gardens:
The three winning gardens of the Homes & Property 'Win a Dream Garden' competition
– these are gardens facing typical challenges to London aspiring gardeners; they
will be transformed by designers Chris Collins and Sven Wombwell and will be open
for the trail. The gardens are located in Hackney, Camberwell and Limehouse, East
London.
Trail gardens designed by members of the Society of Garden Designers:
Great Ormond Street Hospital – designed by
Andy Sturgeon.
The roof garden is usually only open to its 3,000 staff, who use it to escape from
the pressures of the workplace. It was conceived as a highly versatile space where
an individual could sit in private and perhaps read a book or groups of people could
congregate and functions could be held. The bold, architectural design features
wooden arches and raised beds of innovative planting. Following the 7/7 bombings
when two members of staff lost their lives, a memorial element was incorporated
into the garden, making use of words and testimonials supplied by the victims’ families.
Loftus Road – designed by
Emma Plunket.
In this typically long, rectangular London garden, Emma has used horizontal bands
of planting to increase the sense of space. At the end is a ‘secret’ garden, where
neighbours share allotment space, fruit trees and a swing. The materials used, which
have been chosen for sustainability, include salvaged brick, self-binding gravel
and vegetable frames of rebar metal.
Beaufort Street – designed by
Fiona Stephenson.
This is a communal garden set above a set of shops on the Kings Road. The central
focal point is a tranquil water feature in the form of a cluster of irises in deep
cobalt blue. There are L-shaped benches for comfortable conversational niches. Soaking
up warmth even in midwinter, the southerly aspect creates an ideal environment for
unusual and exotic plants with strong architectural, evergreen outlines. Look out
for surprises in the planting.
Hurlingham Road – designed by
Charlotte Rowe.
This unusual garden, owned by fashion designer Tania Laurie, is predominantly black
to complement the interior of her house, which is in a minimalist style. The aim
was to create a smooth continuation from the interior to the exterior and to achieve
this the garden has dark brown oak decking, granite paving, black polished pebbles
and deep grey fencing and trellis. A planting palette was designed using only black,
deep purple and green with a touch of cream and lime green to lift and lighten the
look and give all year round interest.
Kings Road – designed by
Fiona Stephenson.
The aim of this shared garden is to create a calm and inviting retreat hidden in
the bustle of Chelsea. It is a difficult site: an L-shaped, shady garden with large
three trees; it needed a “wow factor”. Fiona was inspired to emphasise the shade
and induce tranquility by darkening the boundaries with the delicate use of black
and to introduce water. Stainless steel contrasts the dark background to form focal
points and provide invitation to enter, use and share. Architectural foliage and
white flowers complete the design.
The Chase, Clapham – designed by
Charles Rutherfoord.
This is a plantsman’s garden with gems of unusual foliage and flowers at every turn.
The informal space invites you to wander through to the end, where you will come
across an enormous sculpture of a bull. In May, the garden is dominated by a colourful
display of tulips; pink, black and apricot, this year. The space-age domed glass-house
is packed with tender treasures and a new tropical corner is underway. The garden
is an inspiration to Londoners who want to experiment with new plants.
Parkside, Wimbledon – designed by
Emma Plunket.
In this family garden, a formal parterre and pergola lead to a secluded sun terrace
with prairie planting. This contrasts with the curved lawn flanked by mixed borders
leading to a pair of interlocking circular lawns backed by yew hedging. Immaculate
yew hedging and pleached pears and hornbeams run the length of the garden. Don’t
miss the large front garden, which borders Wimbledon Common. An informal ‘woodland’
groundcover planting has been created under the canopies of purple sycamores and
evergreen oak.
Visit
www.dk.com/gardentrail
for more details and to access a Trail Map (available from early April)