Image: The Garden of Reflection by Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture
As part of Open Garden Squares Weekend from 8 - 9 June 2019, London's hidden green spaces open their gates to the public. When living in an urban environment, seeking out these small pockets of green can be a fundamental way to interact with nature, even though city dwellers can have access to as little as 33% public green space. Within the UK, changes in home ownership have seen over two million homes without gardens.
The respected neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, who himself lived in a city for half a century wrote of it being “sometimes made bearable… only by its gardens”
In his essay on the healing power of gardens he writes:
"Clearly, nature calls to something very deep in us. Biophilia, the love of nature and living things, is an essential part of the human condition. Hortophilia, the desire to interact with, manage, and tend nature, is also deeply instilled in us. The role that nature plays in health and healing becomes even more critical for people working long days in windowless offices, for those living in city neighborhoods without access to green spaces, for children in city schools, or for those in institutional settings such as nursing homes. The effects of nature’s qualities on health are not only spiritual and emotional but physical and neurological. I have no doubt that they reflect deep changes in the brain’s physiology, and perhaps even its structure."
Graen Studios asked hidden garden frequenter Eleftherious Fitsiolis of the Garden Museum to recommend 5 gardens to visit across London. This list is by no means exclusive, but simply acts as a gentle reminder of some meditative green spaces that are available to visit within the capital.
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North London
Culpeper Community Garden, 1 Cloudesley Road, Islington, London, N1 0EJ
Image: Culpeper Community Garden
Phoenix Garden, 21 Stacey Street, London, WC2H 8DG
Image: Phoenix Garden
Bonnington Square Garden, 11C Bonnington Square, Vauxhall, London, SW8 1TE
Image: Bonnington Square Garden
Image: Chelsea Physic Garden by Charlie Hopkinson
Image: Abney Park Cemetery
Image: The Islamic Gardens at King’s Cross in the Aga Khan Centre
Another hidden area of green in London is the Islamic Gardens at King’s Cross. Each roof garden, terrace and courtyard in the Aga Khan Centre echoes Islamic architectural and garden styles. These contemporary landscaped spaces represent the diversity of Muslim cultures around the world and over time. The modestly-sized but beautiful spaces range from contemplative and secluded to open and social. With nearby Jellicoe Gardens and Lewis Cubitt Square, they form a ‘ribbon’ of green spaces.