Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Around the Globe: Inside 10 of London's Secret Gardens

Who doesn't love a beautiful garden? Conde' Nast Traveler takes us on a gorgeous pictorial tour of  London's Open Garden Squares Weekend, June 9 and 10, one ticket bought access to more than 200 gardens, 120 of which are private. Here’s a peek at some of our favorites.






In Notting Hill, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant climbed over the fence to enter Rosmead, but visitors on Sunday can stroll right in. (Photo: Sarah Jackson)







The private garden of the 600-year-old Draper’s Company has raised beds and five mulberry trees. (Photo: Drew Bennellick)








Belgravia’s Eaton Square is one of London’s most exclusive addresses (Neville Chamberlain lived at number 37, Vivien Leigh at number 54). But it welcomes the common people on Sunday with Caribbean food, a steel band, and a Punch & Judy show. (Photo: Gavin Gardiner)









Hampstead’s 17th-century Fenton House is a National Trust property that's open to the public, with formal gardens and an orchard growing 30 varieties of English apples. (Photo: Sarah Jackson)









Southwark’s Garden Barge Square is made up of verdant barges floating in the Thames; it offers great views of Tower Bridge. (Photo: Drew Bennellick)













Built in 1938 atop a department store, the elaborate Roof Gardens now belong to Virgin’s Richard Branson. It has three themed sections: the Tudor Courtyard, English Woodland, and Alhambra-inspired Spanish Garden. Four flamingos roam the premises. (Photo: Courtesy of The Roof Gardens)








A small black gate in Little Venice opens to Crescent Garden, one of the city’s largest private squares, where wide lawns beckon lucky children. (Photo: Sarah Jackson)













Plants and produce will be for sale at Fulham Palace Meadows Allotments this weekend. These 406 plots sit on an Anglo-Saxon site enclosed by the giant moat around the palace. (Photo: Gavin Gardiner)







One of the city’s four Inns of Court—like colleges for barristers—the Inner Temple has a beautiful three-acre garden, open daily to the public. Parts date to the times of the Knights Templar; Dickens and Thackeray lived here too. Just off Fleet Street, it’s a hidden respite from the crowds. (Photo: Barbara Neumann)






 
 
 
Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, built on a disused railway line, opened in 2010 to give Hackney much-needed green space. Its acclaimed eco-conscious design includes butterfly bushes, tomato plots, and a wooden pavilion for neighborhood activities. (Photo: Sarah Blee)