Our upcoming garden opening

On Sunday 7th September we will be opening our garden as part of the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) to raise money for charity. 

 

The NGS says of our garden:

An exotic garden full of the exuberance of late summer, inspired by travel in Southeast Asia. A lush and naturalistic jungle of big leafed plants and bold colours and shapes including cannas, bananas, bamboos, tetrapanax and towering paulownias.

Huge ‘hidden’ garden, created in 2010 from buying derelict land which had been the bottom halves of two neighbour’s gardens gives the garden an unexpected size. Three ponds, a productive area and contemporary sunken terrace full of pampered prized plants.

We deliver on the ‘wow’ factor with visitors being surprised by the scale of the garden and getting lost in the exotica. The garden changes and improves every year as the plants grow bigger and the feel gets ‘junglier’.

The lower lawn has lots of seating (30+) and hidden corners give space to sit and enjoy. Renowned for good teas and home-made cakes.

Live music! The Secret Life Sax Quartet will play at 2 and 3pm.

Featured on BBC Gardeners World, BBC Instant Garden, Garden News, Independent magazine, and Simple Things magazine.

Last admission at 4:30.

Full details on the NGS website here

 

Where are we? We are at 24 Grove Park, Camberwell, London, SE5 8LH. Aim for the Chadwick Rd end of Grove Park. Peckham Rye or Denmark Hill Stns, both 10 min walk. Good street parking. If you are driving note how the road is blocked for roadworks between Chadwick Road and Grove Park, just follow diversions.

How much does it cost? Where does the money go? £5 entry. All monies raised go to the NGS whom them distribute to different charities. This year they donated £3.5million. Core beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queens Nursing Institute. 

How good is the cake? It is worth coming for the cake alone….

How accessible is the garden? The garden is on a slight slope/different levels and so does include some steps. Some paths are uneven and made of wood chip, others gravel. Sadly, we are not wheelchair accessible. 

 

 

Getting going

Things in the garden are looking good! It has been an interesting year as June and July were very hot and very dry. I am sure that a hosepipe ban may be imminent.

As a quick overview of where we are at:

So far this year I have got through about 25 bags of well-rotted manure and 35 bags of compost, a new record! where does it go?

The heat has done a great job at kick starting the banana trees into life and they were out early and have been putting out new leaves super quick.

Colocasia Pink China has also been doing really well and is a bit of star of the garden. The contrast with the other Colocasia I grow C.gaoligongensis  is quite marked as Pink China was up and running whilst the other was still sulking.

Plants that haven’t coped include the Schlefferas and I lost 3 young plant which is rather frustrating. The stuff I bed out like the Tithonias, Ricinus and dahlia have also struggled to get going and still need some love.

The Dicksonia tree fern also did something very weird in the heat in that the crown lost all its structure….it has been a bit like someone has sat on the crown causing all the fronds to go into weird directions. I have had to spend a lot of time and string trying to tie them all up!

A small tree I had an obsession over and which is doing well with me is the Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) look at those leaves! After growing a bit too well for me it has thankfully responded well to a hard prune. I have been trying to propagate it and the cuttings I took last autumn are still alive but sulking. However it has been popping up all over the place so takes well from root cuttings!

Rarer things and slight obsessions include with Oreopanax, Brassiopsis hispidia (but I would love a B. mitis) and Impatiens auricoma. I hope I have just finally bought a Mandevilla laxa

Brassiopsis

Impatiens auricoma

As always, we are looking forward to our garden opening and are enjoying visiting other gardens. I have been particularly inspired by Jonathan and Robs garden in Sears Street, Camberwell. They have a true plantsman’s garden full of things which I couldn’t name!