November 22, 2011 | sproutgarden

I am a City Gardener

It wont surprise you to know that I like gardens and really love visiting gardens, big gardens such as Wisley and Painshill in Surrey or Stourhead in Wiltshire are great but what I really love are city gardens I like to see just how city dwellers are so inventive with their precious space.

 

This week I went to meet with new clients they live between Waterloo and Elephant and Castle and their garden space is just 7m x 5m but it is walled on all 3 sides and gets good light. The home owners are a young couple with a baby who will be toddling next summer.

The top priority is to fill in the pond because is not ideal for a small child and has been positioned slightly of centre in the garden which looks a bit odd, although it is central to the kitchen window.

Other wishes from the clients is to have some grass and some raised beds. They require low maintenance planting with some architectural plants but also an area for herbs. As the garden is a bit of a suntrap or so I am told it was a bit damp and drizzly when I visited I must also consider making a shady area.

Watch this space to see the design I come up with.

Meeting new clients is always excisting but on this occasion I travelled by train which is great in 2 ways. One you can look out from a train window and get fleeting glances of all sorts of gardens, open spaces and allotments but best of all when arriving at Waterloo I got to walk past an array of city garden spaces. My only regret is that I forgot my camera but I was really taken with this row of front gardens in the appropretly named Garden Row, what a shame that Google chose the week that the scaffolders came but I hope you get the idea

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So while I speak of city gardens it seems a good time to tell you about London Open Gardens, in the post below. OK it’s a little after the event as it happens every June but perhaps it can give you something to look forward to.

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