This article first appeared in the August 2014 edition of Common Knowledge, the newsletter of the Friends of Streatham Common. The illustration, taken from a contemporary postcard, shows visitors admiring the newly-opened White Garden. ‘Whoever had the inspiration to plan part of the ground solely for white flowers must have been blessed with the simplicity …
The Rookery is a magical garden at the top of Streatham Common, just up the road from my home in south London. When SCCoop, the community group managing the garden, appealed for volunteers to help with a redesign of the Rookery’s historic White Garden, I was in. I wrote this piece, published in London Landscapes …
Urban greening is known to play a role in helping us deal with climate change, pollution, and temperature regulation. But – as this people-powered United Kingdom project is proving – making the most of the green spaces in our cities can also yield social benefits. Improving the local environment by planting urban orchards in public …
Monet’s Daylilies by the Water, which I was lucky enough to see this afternoon at the Royal Academy’s new Painting the Modern Garden exhibition. It’s a stunning show, and as much about social history, gardens and plants as it is about art. I particularly appreciated the fact that, where possible, species and cultivar names are …
Front gardens are subject to SUDs legislation: this means that planning permission is required to install more than 5 m2 of impermeable paving in front gardens (unless run-off is controlled, e.g. by diverting it into an underground reservoir). Here, I chose resin bound gravel to create a permeable – yet stable – surface. A gravel stabilisation …
Reading and roaming around outside were the activities that defined my early childhood in Papua New Guinea. I loved the gardens we made growing up, and words were another passion: I devoured everything on my parents’ well-stocked shelves, regardless of suitability. My father was headmaster of the local high school, while my mother taught at the …
