A Tale of Two Beehives

Near the busy Highbury and Islington roundabout sits probably the smallest garden open on Open Garden Squares Weekend – the Melissa Garden Bee Sanctuary. It lies in a pocket of land behind a Georgian house in Compton Terrace, with an atmospheric access via a dark alleyway down the side of the famous Union Chapel.

 

The tiny garden has room for three beehives in total, one tucked up high on a wall buttress, and two in the garden. A bench, table and chair, and a proliferation of bee-friendly blooms fill the remaining space. The garden was created in an abandoned area at the back of the house used by the New Acropolis Cultural Association, with the support of Union Chapel. Designed by landscape architects led by Miha Kosir and Asia Milewska, the bee-friendly plants include lavender, mint, melissa and geranium. Weeds already growing in the backyard were also incorporated. This intended haven for honey and bumble bees attracted 400 Open Garden Squares Weekend visitors last year.

The two beehives shown in the picture above are two very different designs. The larger one on the right was purchased first. It's a minimalist, super-eco design, made to house honey bees, not for the extraction of their honey. Designed originally by an Argentinian natural bee keeper, it's called a Peroni hive. Inside there is a log on the floor and wooden slats across the top, the idea being that bees form their own honeycomb around the log and hang from the slats. A year and a half ago, honey bees from a July swarm moved in and seemed to be settling in well, but a harsh, long, cold winter took its toll and they never made it. True to folklore, a swarm of bees in July isn't worth a fly. They left behind a beautiful heart-shaped spiral honeycomb around the log though.

The second beehive is much smaller, as it was felt that the larger, Peroni hive could have been too big for a new bee swarm. This one is a Warre hive (designed by a French nineteenth-century priest) and includes a luxury, sheep's wool lining, to keep the bees snug and warm in the future. There are windows on the side to check on the hive's inhabitants, and the design has room for the expansion of additional floors.

Sadly both hives sit empty. Although Melissa Garden Bee Sanctuary has been on two waiting lists for swarms, none has been forthcoming so far. It's a salutary tale of the dangers faced by our honey bee population, which has fallen by about a third every year over the last five years. They, and we, hope that next May or June their luck will be in and a swarm will get relocated to their garden, but swarms only form when bees outgrow their homes, so it's a waiting game.

As well as tending their own garden and giving talks on the importance of bees to the environment, members of the New Acropolis Society help out in Compton Terrace Gardens at the front of the house. The gardens have anchor shaped beds, about which various myths exist . Were they connected to the nearby Hope and Anchor public house? No-one knows. The sight of colourful annual plants in these beds was a feature of the past, but volunteers are patiently creating some pleasing perennial herbaceous areas in their stead. Corporate volunteers are also building pathways for children's play in another corner and a variety of fruit trees have been planted, including medlar, quince, pear and crab apple. Herbs are grown for local residents to use and enjoy - the chef at Union Chapel uses them to spice up the cooking.

New Acropolis believes in cultivating the better part of the human spirit and putting it to good use in the city. Its bee sanctuary garden is a noble project and, if you hear of a swarm of bees needing a loving home, don't hesitate to contact them, so that next June 14-15 there will be full hives to view as you sit in their garden, eating one of the best slices of Victoria sandwich cake on offer anywhere and learning about bees.

Further information on visiting the Melissa Garden Bee Sanctuary  »

The Covert Combe

 

 

As you leave Hampstead Underground Station and head due north up Holly Hill, you enter into steep and undulating terrain. Apart from glorious Hampstead Heath, housing now dominates the land, but, if you look hard, traces remain of the old countryside. Here the founder of the John Lewis Partnership, John Spedan Lewis, occupied a large Edwardian mansion, complete with gatehouse and extensive grounds. The houses have long since been redeveloped into private and council accommodation, but part of the gardens were squatted and gardened by local people and now comprise Branch Hill Allotments.

32 allotments are arranged across the combe in the land, where it descends and forms a small hollow below the old gatehouse, and they can be spotted by peering through the iron gates on the corner of Oakhill Way, Branch Hill and Frognal. When I visited in November, the winter’s manure for next year’s vegetables had just been delivered and had been distributed amongst the plots. Like much on the plot, the gardeners plan collectively and share the costs of gardening.

 

 

The collective spirit of gardening is strong – there are no individual sheds on each plot and people come together in a communal area in the centre, sheltered by trees, and sporting garden tables and chairs and barbeque. This results in a relatively open, uncluttered feel. Come spring, the gardeners will jointly tidy this outside space and use it for rest from their digging. It has become the place to meet and converse. Tools are housed in a communal shed, built into the hill, which was once occupied by a tramp, who, according to legend, lived on a pile of beer cans and was a real character. In fact many of the original occupants of the site were characters in their own right. The site had been abandoned, but they found their way in through a gap in the fence and simply dug and established their own vegetable plots – a coming together of the freedom of the Wild West in staking out one’s territory, and the collective spirit of the hippy era. Such freedom did not last forever and the uncertain status of the collective allotments gave way after the 70s and 80s to a campaign in the 1990s for official recognition from Camden Council. The Heath Society supported the gardeners in their quest, Branch Hill Allotments Association was born and a good relationship was established with the Council, which lasts to this day. The Council first laid out the existing plots and landscaped the site and has negotiated a shared management system with the tenants.  

William Tanner, Chair of the Branch Hill Allotments Association, will open the iron gates for you to see the plots, should you pass by when he is there digging. The gates were built with left-over iron fencing from Russell Square. The tenants are aware that they should share their fortune with others, and do so readily, not only on the Open Garden Squares Weekend. There are only 200 individual allotments plots in Camden and waiting lists are long closed. Branch Hill has 500 on its waiting list. Schools visit regularly, and there are many friends of the allotments who help out.

They also take seriously safeguarding the local wildlife. Along the length of the site, a corridor of green, wild woodland is kept, a borough site of nature conservation importance, as part of Camden’s biodiversity plan. Beehives, both the old traditional wooden variety and the modern plastic sort, are scattered around the edges of the plot. Many of the honey bees died after last year’s cold winter, but have now been nurtured back and restocked. And down in the bottom of the combe lies a wildlife pond, created from the boggy marshland created by the old Westbourne River. It’s all delightful, from the plot of a recently deceased founder (Don Hill), which is now lovingly maintained by another tenant until it is reallocated, and from the autumnal peace of the wildlife areas to the bustle of spring and summer conversations and activities. It’s well worth a visit next June.

Peace by the Tracks

Hidden behind the busy Hampstead overground station, the World Peace Garden promotes a powerful philosophy of peace to its neighbourhood. You have to be observant to spot the triangular strip of land whose hypotenuse borders the railway tracks. It’s 42 metres long, tapering from 20 to three metres and straddling the steep slope down to the station. But, once inside, the landscaping, atmosphere and messages draw you into another world.

Jonathan Bergman looked over the street railings here 10 years ago and saw a dumping ground for the railway, complete with used needles and rats. His vision was to transform the space and, without external funding, he - and a small group of local businesses and residents - stumped up their own private funding to buy the land. They had grand visions of vertical walls, tumbling with plants, to distinguish the space from the railway. Although they secured planning permission for this vision, they also had the sense to conduct some real community consultation first. The community gave a strong thumbs-down to any plan which obscured the railway, meetings got bigger and the World Peace Garden came into being.

Starting by picking up the rubbish by hand and then wielding pick-axes, the community made inroads into the space. The ugly graffiti on the concrete walls was covered with bamboo matting and decking, and they gladly accepted the offer of free railway sleepers. Once space was carved out of the trees and saplings, the logs and woodchips they generated were used to make paths on the plot, all the way down to the railway tracks.

It is surprisingly peaceful sitting in the garden, and the rhythmic rolling and rumbling of the trains adds to the serenity, believe it or not. The community was right to insist on including the trains. Having a train at the end of your garden brings back the warm glow of books like The Railway Children and sitting watching passengers come and go is a wonderful, free, café-like experience. A giant autumn crocus, alongside camellias and Cornus, caught my eye on the woodland pathways as I sat dreaming.

There has been a lot done to make children feel at home here in the form of a wishing-well and a tree of hope (a beautifully pruned hawthorn, shaped into a parasol). Primary and nursery school children come here to hang luggage tags with their handwritten wishes to its branches. And there are plans afoot to build a puppet theatre under the tree canopies in the future.

One of the old, ugly walls is adorned with glass tiles containing mottos and sayings – created by local artist Melissa Fairbanks, daughter of Douglas Fairbanks. Continuing the message theme, there is also an intriguing box on the railings with cards containing thoughts for the day. On the day I visited the thought was “Call the Bluff – One of my favourite definitions of fear is False, Evidence, Appearing Real.” All the cards are gone at the end of the day.

Like many community gardens, the World Peace Garden is continually evolving.  All the trees have been numbered and labelled.  A link has been established with the nearby Fenton House (also open on Open Garden Squares Weekend) to give advice on trees, a local yoga group has donated a cedar of Lebanon and Simon Berry of Natures Balance has given landscaping support.

As a non-profit-making organisation, the garden’s main need is for more volunteers to come forward to help with maintenance and planting. When I visited, a couple stopped by, bringing wooden pallets for a future composting project, and every few moments passers-by would call over and wave from the street. In a month when we celebrate Armistice Day, this garden is the perfect place to visit to contemplate peace and to learn from its philosophy, which is that peace starts within yourself – I can only do me, I can’t change the world.

Garden's web site

Visiting the garden on Open Garden Squares Weekend

An Open Secret

A select few of the gardens listed in Open Garden Squares Weekend are open all year round and, if you ever wondered why such gardens are included, a visit to Arlington Square in Islington would answer why. Arlington Square and its residents always put on lots of special events for the visitors, and the open weekend is a way of showing off the square’s charms to a wider London audience.

The residents of the square and its neighbouring streets are a glowing example of what nurturing a community spirit really means. Three years ago a passer-by would not have spared a second glance at the garden in the square – instead hearts would have sunk at the poor, dry and impoverished soil and the litter and debris lying about. But, luckily, some residents of a nearby street had already enjoyed the benefits of gardening and reclaiming public spaces. Ahead of the trends now very evident through initiatives like the Chelsea Fringe and Edible Bus Stop, they had created gardens in three, tiny plots in front of an electricity sub-station and under the street trees. Emboldened by the joy the plantings brought to all, they moved on to their public square around the corner... and never looked back.

Now the square oozes colour and scents. Woodland plantings around the edges were inspired by the work of Beth Chatto and Karen Junker. Here there are Japanese maples ('Osakazuki', 'Kinshii', 'Koto-no-ito', 'Corallinum' and the coral-bark maple) and magnolias (M. x Soulangeana 'Alba Superba',  'Genie' and the summer-flowering M. sieboldii), creating a second storey of plants under the trees, with rhododendrons and camellias planned for 2014. The paper bush plant (Edgeworthia chrysantha) flowers in winter, and an ornamental blackberry (Rubus cockburnianus) shows off its silver-white stems.

In the middle of the square, the tired old rose beds have been replanted and transformed and even when the scent of roses is almost gone in autumn, the Verbena bonariensis lingers on, swaying gracefully in the breeze, and the 'Little Carlow' aster comes into its prime. Hundreds of allium bulbs put on a wonderful show in late spring and, as the rose petals fall, industrious residents gather them up for pot-pourri bags, which are on sale during the Open Garden Square Weekend. Olive oil has also been sold then, from the Spanish estate of a resident, and now the square has its own two, mature olive trees, so watch out for home-grown olive oil in the future. All the proceeds from these sales go back to the garden – to fund new plants and projects.

There is always something new happening in the square. Last year, they developed a herb garden, taking back a corner used for dumping assorted rubbish; and now people literally do pop out of an evening to get some rosemary or thyme for the evening meal. They’ve taken the difficult decision to exclude dogs, but have worked hard to include local children in a variety of events throughout the year. When I visited people were gathering to sort out bric-à-brac for their forthcoming fête, at which there would be an Arlington bake-off with a gardening theme, an egg-and-spoon race and tug of war, all to the tune of a local band. Posters also promised poetical music in the local church.

As if all this wasn’t enough, the residents have also taken on the project of creating a new garden for a sheltered housing group in the square, and are working with contractors to plant new trees at the end of local roads blocked off to through traffic. Once you’ve visited and seen all this activity next June 14th and 15th, we hope you will agree that Amazing Arlington Square really is an open secret.

Further information on visiting Arlington Square »

A Sanctuary for Soldiers

Gardening Leave is a very special sort of garden, one of several run by this charity. Located in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, it’s a very different, tranquil and quiet space from the hustle and bustle of the well-known Chelsea Flower Show. Founded in Ayrshire six years ago, the charity specialises in horticultural therapy for ex-military personnel with mental health problems.

On arrival it can be a bit tricky finding your way to the garden, faced with the railings and gates which surround the Royal Hospital; but, if you look out for the brightly coloured elephant, you’ll know that your destination is close by.

Look out for the brightly coloured elephant.

 Two years ago this garden started life and it’s still being developed and improved. They hope to have new raised beds installed in the autumn so that soldiers in wheelchairs can benefit even more from the experience they offer. The clients at present are survivors from the wars in Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Bosnia and the first Iraq war. It can take a decade or more for the signs of post-war mental illness to manifest themselves and support for the garden in terms of facilities and staff training needs to be continued so it is in a position to provide a haven in the future for survivors of the Afghanistan and recent Iraq conflicts. Miracle-Gro supply compost and funding for the project.

A tiny shed provides a snug and cosy space for the garden’s HQ, and it looks out onto beds of mainly vegetables and fruit. There is a gardening club for Chelsea Pensioners and the charity wants to actively encourage the Chelsea community to come in and see the garden. Salad veg are grown for the café attached to the new Margaret Thatcher Infirmary and cut flowers for the Chapel and State Apartments.

Quirky and imaginative touches are found at every turn. On the ground there are crushed seashells instead of gravel, one of the windows in the greenhouse is made of stained glass, gutters are used for planting – every bit of this small plot goes to good use.

Gutters are used for planting.

The list of produce is long – apricots, apples, sweetcorn, broad beans, kale, squash, strawberries, blackberries, leeks, onions, garlic, peas, lettuce and radishes. Fundraising is a constant issue and the Birds Country Club have made twee and appealing bird boxes for sale, which might even make it to Chelsea next year. Terracotta flowerpots containing seeds, straw and compost were lined up for sale when I visited – visitors and clients can paint the flowerpots before they are bought. There are also plants and delicious biscuits for sale when the garden opens for Open Garden Squares weekend.

The Birds Country Club have made twee and appealing bird boxes for sale.

As well as the busy growing space, there is a nearby private garden for veterans, serving and ex-service personnel to use, where Ceanothus and Choisya ternata bloom merrily away. It also provides a space for quiet contemplation. Many of the veterans who come to Gardening Leave suffer from hyper-vigilance and the work of the charity and the skill of the horticultural therapists help to alleviate their ailments. Here, whilst flowers and veg are grown beautifully, the emphasis is on the therapy. There are plans, as well as for new flower beds, to develop their services to include dementia gardening.

This project ranks high amongst worthy causes to support and opens your eyes to the post-traumatic stress and its effects suffered by soldiers and service personnel. The horticulture therapists are an inspiration to be seriously admired.

The Plantswomen’s Garden

When you imagine a private London garden square, you think of it surrounded by stout black railings, with high, terraced houses on both sides and trees soaring skywards. Peeping through the railings should offer some vistas to intrigue and delight. Here in Warwick Square, an easy walk away from Pimlico or Victoria Stations, peering through the railings reveals all manner of plants for all seasons, with a central, ivy-clad, round bed from which different combinations gush forth. To top off the bed’s display, there is a statue of a pensive lady - everything in place to enthral the passer-by.

The square has serious history and was laid out in the early 1840s by Thomas Cubitt as part of his development plan for Pimlico. The plane trees are reputed to be the second oldest in London, and planted by Cubitt himself. The garden square assiduously maintains its architectural heritage – six of the original lamp posts are still there, the railings have been replaced and the hoggin paths and rope-edge tiles have been reinstated.

The delight of the garden lies in the new plantings and the skill of the head gardener, Sarah Syborn, who chooses the plants, and her able assistant, Mandy. Mandy started as a volunteer and became Sarah’s apprentice, taught mainly on the job with a little help from a Royal Horticultural Society course. Their teamwork and dedication make the garden what it is today. Whenever a new spot of sunlight appears (old trees don’t live forever), they are ready to reconfigure and renew the beds below. With an emphasis on plants from the Victorian era, they have established a succession of different plantings with sights and especially smell and scents for every month. I visited when the July heat wave was an unimaginably long way off, tulips were still in full bloom (950 bulbs in the central display), and pavements were strewn with blossom like confetti showers. Euphorbia mellifera exuded its honey smells, different pittosporums, deutzia and philadelphus were waiting in the wings and the pergolas were about to be replanted with roses and clematis. Unusual irises – white and brown – poked up their buds, and epimediums (yellow, white and orange) had come and mainly gone. The snowdrop tree, Halesia, was strutting its stuff.

The garden abounds with different types of camellia, often found alongside a combination of daphnes and ferns, with summer bulbs, cosmos and lilies for July and August. Peonies nestle beside tree ferns. There are Himalayan lilies and Tricyrtis, toad lilies.

The garden has an Iochroma australe, whose beautiful, cornflower-blue, bell-like flowers are usually covering the tree (about 10ft) in time for Open Garden Squares Weekend. There is also a marvellous azara and about 5 different abutilons, including an A. megapotamicum that even flowers in the winter, its flowers looking like little lanterns on the pergola.
The plantswomen have successfully created a vision of the countryside in the middle of the city, often transporting the plants they have sourced by bicycle themselves across London.

The gardeners are also mindful of the many uses the residents have for the square – and they try to accommodate them all. Children can play on the re-landscaped Victorian mounds – which have a timber fort and winding paths. The grass under the trees is left long for children and birds to enjoy until July, and this year wild flower seed has been sown there too. Dogs are allowed in on their leads, but not in the children’s area. There are tennis courts and a quiet area and teas are served either in the local church or in the garden itself on Open Garden Squares weekend (the weekend of June 14th and 15th next year). Every November there is a popular firework party for residents, which entertained over 500 local residents last year. For creating such beautiful spaces and organising such inclusive events, the gardeners deserve medals.


Further information on Warwick Square

Behind the Convent's Walls

Across the road from Ham Common stands St Michael's Convent. Its walls are built to safeguard the seclusion of the nuns inside, so the uninitiated might know nothing of the wonder and delight of the four-acre garden they contain.

Anglican nuns are a bit of a rare breed. The nuns here are part of an order established in 1870, and so it has fallen to the Community of the Sisters of the Church here to cherish the gardens of the convent and this duty has been taken up by their inspirational gardener, Dominic and his assistant. Dominic describes his work as 'the best job in the world' and it only takes a short walk around the grounds to see how his love of the gardens manifests itself in every nook, cranny and garden bank.

Cajoled and corralled to the banks of paths, wild garlic winds a white and green carpet to stun the visitor.

The grass across several of the acres is kept long, with swathes of paths cut through it to guide the visitor from one area to the next. Entering the main wild area in early summer shows the clever use of wild flowers. Instead of lamenting the spectacular spread and growth of wild garlic, it is feted here and allowed to show off its fluttering flowers. Cajoled and corralled to the banks of paths, it winds a white and green carpet to stun the visitor.

You are led through grassy orchards with benches aplenty

 Onwards from the wild garden you are led through grassy orchards with benches aplenty where you can stop and drink in deeply the sights and smells of the flowers, fruit and ornamental trees around you or wander off to the Labyrinth or Bible Garden. The Bible Garden is undergoing a revamp this year to prevent some invasive plants, such as the bay laurel, taking over. The hyssop is being restored to its rightful place, along with other plants named in the Bible. A nun designed the idea of a Bible garden several years ago, an innovative and inspired concept.


The wild garden will be spreading to the vegetable garden this summer, where a bed has been planted with wild flowers, Olympic Park-style. What is especially striking is that all this beauty has been achieved on a shoestring budget. The vegetable beds are lined with sasta daisies, marigolds and step-over gooseberries. Dominic usually only gets enough each year for seeds (for supplying the convent with fruit and vegetables), and grows comfrey to feed the veg but longs for more supplies of compost.

The greenhouse in the kitchen garden houses a vine said to have been a cutting from Hampton Court centuries ago and the wide lawn at the back of the main building sports a 300-year-old mulberry tree. Sadly the tree's age is beginning to tell and its boughs are nearly prostrate - lovingly supported by some wooden struts, but in serious need of some stouter props and professional advice to prolong its life. I hope it hasn't decided to give up the ghost at the sight of a new, young, mulberry tree waiting in the wings and planted nearby, just in case.

The mulberry tree's age is beginning to tell and its boughs are nearly prostrate.

This garden has participated in Open Garden Squares Weekend for six years and we look forward to welcoming it again for next year’s event on 14 & 15 June 2014.  It's definitely one not to be missed and shows what a debt we owe to committed and talented gardeners like Dominic.

Further information on St Michael's Convent garden »

More photos »