Hidden Greenwich Gardens

A trip to London turns up some unexpected garden gems

Living in the sticks as I do I love a trip to London, particularly during the summer when it’s warm. All the concrete holds in the heat making an evening in August in London feel like a trip to foreign climes. There’s just always so much more going on in a large metropolis compared to the little village I live in, which I do love, it just doesn’t have the sights and sounds of the Capital.

So, a recent trip with my hubby to catch up with friends is also an excuse to get a shot of the bright lights and discover new places of interest. We stayed in Canary Wharf which always feeds my interest in architecture and design, though less so from a horticultural perspective. Having said that, I do appreciate the landscaping in the public spaces and how well they are maintained and litter free. There are always design ideas to inspire or even steal!

Flashback 70s sci-fi television

Our destination on this trip is the Crossrail Place Roof Garden, a tropical themed garden hidden away at the top of the Canary Wharf Elizabeth Line station located between the HSBC tower and the Poplar residential district.

Before we arrived at my garden discovery, we journeyed through something which reminded me of the ‘60s sci-fi tv series ‘The Time Tunnel’ mashed up with the ‘70s sci-fi series ‘Space 1999’. I do love public spaces which are memorable and become something of an experience, the bridge to the Elizabeth Line station at Canary Wharf definitely falls into that category, creating a sense of expectation and dare I say adventure. I just had to include this photo because it’s so striking!

Crossrail Place Roof Garden

Once over the bridge the exotic Roof Garden is just a short ride up a couple of escalators to what seems to be a mini-Eden Project in London. At the top of the escalator, you’re greeted by a huge, vaulted roof constructed from large timbers in a triangular lattice. Within each triangle is a transparent inflated envelope which lets sunlight in, keeps the worst of our weather out and retains heat in the winter enabling a wide range of tender exotics to be grown.

It's just a magical place, a dense jungle of foliage

The whole building and roof structure were designed by Foster and Partners, with Gillespies designing the gardens which opened in May 2015. It certainly is a testament to man’s ingenuity and ability to engineer massive structures to provide both protection and pleasure.

The Elizabeth Line station sits due north of Greenwich and virtually on the Greenwich Meridian, the imaginary line which joins the North and South poles used as 0° longitude, the basis of modern global navigation. This inspired the design and planting of the garden. The west half being planted with plants that were discovered and brought back from expeditions in the western hemisphere. Likewise, the east side is planted with plants discovered in the eastern hemisphere and introduced to the UK.

The Western Hemisphere

Bananas and Cannas

The west side include plants discovered in the Caribbean, South Americas and Australasia. Key plants include.

• Soft Tree Fern (Dicksonia antarctica),

• Golden Tree Fern (Dicksonia fibrosa)

• New Zealand Tree Fern (Dicksonia squarrosa),

• Strawberry Tree (arbutus unedo),

• Sweet Gum Tree (Liquidambar styraciflua).

This half is distinctly densely tropical and with a jungle feel as you weave through the walkways. There are benches and places to sit scattered throughout the garden, the perfect lunch time oasis for the nearby workers or local residents, a great place to escape to. The lower-level planting is just as impressive where phormiums and cordyline’s thrive in this beautiful microclimate.

The Eastern Hemisphere

Fargesia rufa (Dragon Head Bamboo)

This side has a different feel, definitely more oriental and southeast Asian, with bamboos and acers complimenting the beautiful design detailing and construction. Key plants include.

• Black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra)

• Golden bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea)

• Veitch bamboo (Sasa veitchii)

• Japanese maple (Acer palmatum)

• Northern Japanese Magnolia (Magnolia Kobus)

I was particularly taken with this block planting of ferns, an easy idea to replicate at home in a shady corner, a mass of fronds providing both visual interest and brilliant ground cover, smothering those pesky weeds.

Polystichum polyblepharum (Japanese Lace Fern)

Throughout the garden are interesting sculptures juxtaposed with the exotic foliage and creating places to stop and observe.

The West entrance in the daylight

The garden is open all day and free to enter. It closes at 9.00pm however it’s beautifully lit at night creating a truly magical and impressive vista. It’s somewhere I’d like to keep coming back to when I get a chance.

For more information follow this link https://canarywharf.com/open-spaces/crossrail-place-roof-garden/

The west entrance at night

The Flower Garden - Greenwich Park

The next garden visit was a suggestion of our friends, knowing my keen interest at anything horticultural. Tucked away at the top of Greenwich Park is The Flower Garden, part of The Royal Parks. Laid out in the 1890s the garden has a beautiful Edwardian feel to it. A tranquil oasis in the big metropolis, in the sunshine it felt like a million’s miles away from the big smoke.

A mass of Cloth of Gold (Achillea filipendulina)

A good portion of the garden is laid out in the very traditional style of large circular beds enclosed by lawn with paths slowly wandering through the space. Further out are large expanses of more modern perennial planting such as the mass of Achilleas in the photograph above. I love that contrast of old and new side by side which adds a visual dynamic that we can adopt and adapt for ourselves.

Bold and dramatic annual planting

I’ll be very honest here; I’m not and never really have been a fan of annuals planted in beds, either in a domestic setting or a municipal one. I think I’ve been a bit of garden snob in the past, viewing annuals as something you plant when you don’t understand the value of perennials, with large sweeping perennial borders being the sign of a true gardener. My visit to Greenwich Park may have changed my view though as I found the planting dynamic and exuberant, with strong colour combinations. Clearly a huge amount of work goes in to planting and maintaining such magnificent borders.

Rudbeckias en masse

Even as an experience gardener, I was blown away by the range of Rudbeckias used in the border. So many tones of gold, burnt orange and deep toffee creating an endless range of hues and complementary yet contrasting combinations. I really loved this bed, and it got me thinking about how I could do this on a more domestic scale.

Deep purple/bronze vs gold

Another bed that really caught my eye was this combination of very deep purple, the almost black, of the Hibiscus and Cannas against the bright and uplifting gold of the Rudbeckia. It’s a classic yet also modern contrast which is easy to replicate at home. I often use the dark purple bronze foliage of Berberis or Continus with a lighter lime green such as Philadelphus aurea although this combination is much more intense. The three plants are (as best as I can tell).

• Red leafed Hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella)

• Canna ‘Tropicanna Black’

• Rudbeckia hirta ‘Prairie Sun’

If you’re are in the Greenwich area, it’s easy to do both of these gardens in a couple of hours and best enjoyed on a sunny day. I’ll be sharing more of my garden visits in the future and the host of photographs I’ve taken too.