London Glades

Did you know...

• This 'edible forest' has tiered planting: trees, shrubs, perennials, ground cover, roots and even mushrooms
• Instead of lawn, there's a tapestry of herbs and other dense matrix planting that encourages you to explore barefoot
• Designer Jon Davies describes his garden as urban farming: 'You don't need an allotment to grow your own,' he says

About the Garden

Designed for the over-structured urban setting, this garden is a space to relinquish control and allow for natural process to take centre stage.

The garden represents the beauty found in the wild with calm shadows at its centre and an open vista at the highest point for views chosen to inspire admiration of its surroundings. A place where structure and order is left in the hands of nature, the client can de-stress in awe of natural process and enjoy harvesting produce and its gentle cultivation. The space, which looks wild and beautiful, is based on forest gardening techniques, meaning that almost every plant has an edible quality. Spontaneous seeded vegetables and green manures flow around generous planting in this natural, low-maintenance garden.

The topography of the garden is created by an ancient process called Hugelkultur (hill culture), in which rotting wood and garden waste is mounded and covered with topsoil, thus mimicking the natural environment of the forest floor. Alternative lawn covers are used to create the paths and there is no hard landscaping throughout the space.