This London garden shows what can be achieved in a small north-facing space (approx 22ft x 44ft). The owner makes no secret of disregarding the rule book. He describes it as a fusion of ‘Clapham meets Jamaica’. This is gardening at its most exuberant: a place where bananas, bamboos, gingers, giant tree ferns and fire-bright plants bed down happily amid traditional English cottage garden plants that have been allowed to show their wild side. It is a visual feast for everyone who loves colour and dislikes fashionable trends.
Within a few years this garden was transformed from a building site into a garden thatgives the impression of maturity beyond its years. What makes this garden more remarkable is that it’s been achieved on a limited budget. Plants have been gifted, propagated and grown from seed. In winter months the box room becomes an indoor potting shed as every shelf and mantelpiece is given over to overwintering the most delicate plants.
The pace of busy city life means plants have to be hardy and hard working. Every inch of this urban oasis has been packed with plants that delight the eye. The layout slowly reveals the garden’s hidden gems and as with all tropical landscapes the colours are truly intoxicating. This garden stands testament to the exotic living cheek by jowl with traditional cottage plants of one’s youth. Who says you need the tropics for colour?