My Favourite London Gardens
The Barbican Conservatory
These are the gardens I always return to. Spaces that feel evolving and quietly instructive. Not just beautiful, but thoughtful – in their planting, their structure, and the way they shape time.
Each holds something I carry into my own work regenerating city gardens.
1. Hampstead Heath: Hill Garden & Pergola
Overgrown edges and faded structure – stone pillars half-cloaked in climbers, steps softened by moss and windblown seed. This was once the garden of a soap magnate, built on spoils from the new Northern line. Now, it’s gently unruly.
Lesson: Look beneath the growth. I often start a garden regeneration by revealing structure – not adding more, but uncovering what's already there. Just as the pergola gives form to wildness, a few evergreen anchors can hold a planting scheme together.
2. Barbican Conservatory
Sharp outside, softened within. Under glass, there’s height, texture, green on green – palms, ferns, monstera. It's a striking contrast: architecture held in check by planting.
Lesson: Texture is a tool. In small, overlooked spaces, a well-chosen planting palette – tall grasses, broad foliage, silver edges – can soften hard lines and build atmosphere without clutter.
3. Horniman Gardens, Forest Hill
Grassy slopes and generous borders that feel both edited and abundant. The sunken garden is a quiet place – scent rising from thyme and salvia, grasses stirring in the breeze. It’s formal in parts, but never rigid.
Lesson: Spacing matters. When regenerating borders, I think a lot about rhythm and repetition – how a single plant, used well, can carry the eye and create calm. There’s clarity in restraint.
4. Dalston Eastern Curve Garden
Part community space, part experiment. Beds filled with fennel, tomatoes, herbs – relaxed and seasonal, not overly directed. It’s constantly changing, and that’s its strength.
Lesson: Trust what’s thriving. In my seasonal refreshes, I always begin with what’s already working. Sometimes the most generous thing you can do for a garden is take something out and give the rest space to settle.
5. Chelsea Physic Garden
Walled and inward-looking, but quietly expansive. There’s precision here – in the gravel beds, the medicinal planting – but it never feels clinical. Each plant has a role, and you sense that.
Lesson: Start with the site. Before suggesting anything, I spend time reading the garden – soil, light, air flow. Knowing what will thrive means less intervention long-term. Like here, thoughtful planting leads to lasting calm.
🌿 If your garden feels out of step or ready to evolve, I offer thoughtful consultations across East London – helping it find its shape again.
