Inventory Site Record

OmVed Gardens was founded by Karen Leason in 2017, but was the site of Highgate Garden Centre up until 2013. Prior to this there were a number of nurseries in this area from at least the late C19th, marked on the OS maps from 1893 onwards. By 2017 it was a vacant site, little more than a tarmacked hillside. Committed to connecting people to nature, community and sharing knowledge, the aim was to create an urban greenscape, restore the ecosystem and increase biodiversity using permaculture principles. Designed by Paul Gazerwitz the new landscape comprised a number of different spaces: a sinuous path through landscaped beds; a wildflower meadow; a willow circle; a vegetable garden surrounded by an orchard; and a pond at the bottom of the hill. Built structures include a geodesic dome, the kitchen and a pavilion. Since 2022 OmVed has provided outdoor and garden education in partnership with Camden Public Health, working particularly with Brookfield School as part of its commitment to engage schoolchildren with the natural world and where food comes from as well have an impact on mental wellbeing.

Site location:

1 Townsend Yard, Highgate

Postcode:

N6 5JF

What 3 Words:

lungs.limit.bronze

Type of site:

Private Garden

Borough:

Haringey

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

Open for events only
Has taken part in Open Garden Squares Weekend 3 times, most recently in 2025.

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

See OmVed website for details of programme

Public transport:

Tube: Highgate, Archway (Northern) then bus. Bus: 143, 210, 263, 310

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

31/05/2025

Last minor changes:

31/05/2025

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. https://omvedgardens.com/

The area north of Highgate Village and the High Street, now known as the Highgate Bowl, was used for agricultural and horticultural purposes until well into the C20th. From early days it was used as pastureland by the drovers coming into London after a new drover's road was made in 1380 from the City to the north, forming a junction with a track running along the current location of Hampstead Lane and Southwood Lane. This junction (and later the tollgate) established the core of Highgate Village. Land in this area had long been used for horticulture, with nurseries marked on OS maps from at least 1893 (see OS 25ins to the mile, London XIX edition revised 1893/4, showing Nurseries north of the High Street). The OS revision of 1936 (London II.9) marks 4 separate Nurseries in the vicinity. The topography of the area mitigated against building development due to its steepness even as the traditional uses declined. Part of the area now comprises dense woodland. 

Highgate Garden Centre had been in operation here since at least the 1940s, but by the 2010s was struggling financially and its then owners, Capital Gardens, sold the freehold in 2012 and the garden centre eventually closed in 2013. The site was purchased by Omved International Limited for £2m. At that time, local groups, Highgate Neighbourhood Forum and the Highgate Society among them, were keen for the new owners to engage with the community, and for the space to retain some horticultural use. 

OmVed Gardens was founded by Karen and Lekhu Leason in 2017 by which time the former plant nursery was little more than a tarmacked hillside. Committed to connecting people to nature, community and sharing knowledge, the aim was to create an urban greenscape, restore the ecosystem and increase biodiversity using permaculture principles. A series of different landscaped spaces were designed by Paul Gazerwitz: a sinuous path that leads the visitor through planted beds; a wildflower meadow with a path running through it provides a seasonally-changing habitat for insects and other creatures; a willow circle that provides a shaded place for events and retreat; a permaculture kitchen vegetable garden with raised beds of weathered steel, designed with circularity in mind using nature as the model, surrounded by an orchard of pleached apple trees, as well as pear trees; a pond dug at the bottom of the hill. The glasshouse was restored by local architects HASA, and used for exhibitions, performance, screenings, workshops, talks and yoga and other events. Built structures include a geodesic dome that provides the warmer temperature needed for growing seedlings and other plants. Near the pond, a pavilion designed by the Madrid-based architecture atelier Selgascano was built in 2022, initially to host OmVed's 'Saving Seed' garden at Chelsea Flower Show that won a silver medal, but now provides a flexible space for reflection, education and events. OmVed had initiated the Seed Saving Network in 2020.

The kitchen is at the heart of the garden providing a space for cooking, learning and sharing with the focus on sustainable culinary practice. OmVed hosts an annual Chefs' Manifesto bringing together chefs from across the world to discuss a more sustainable global food system and regular events are hosted in support of the UN World Food Programme, as well as community harvest feasts. Arts events, which  aim at diversity and inclusivity, have regularly taken place, including Symbiocene, a day comprising interactive workshops, music and garden tours by Nowadays on Earth, and 'Roots to Rise' an outdoor dance performance created by Nandita Shankardass through workshops held at OmVed with Southeast Asian women, both taking place in 2024. OmVed runs a programme of courses from biodiversity to foraging and since 2022 has provided outdoor and garden education in partnership with Camden Public Health, working particularly with Brookfield School as part of its commitment to engage schoolchildren with the natural world and explore where food comes from as well have an impact on mental wellbeing. 

New additions to OmVed Gardens, opening in May 2025, are a greenhouse, kitchen with rooftop garden, a seed library and a new event  space, The Barn, together with a new woodland garden. The new sustainably-designed timber buildings are the work of architect Piers Smerin and will enable the project to open all year round. In summer 2025, 'Into the Seeds of Time', an exhibition curated by Vivienne Schadinsky following her residency at OmVed and focussing on the importance of beans and legumes as a biodiverse, climate-resistant food, will be shown at OmVed Gardens.

The name of the garden is derived from Om, "a sacred sound considered by many ancient philosophical texts to be the sound of the universe", and Ved meaning knowledge. "Our name is therefore an expression of our desire to listen and pay more attention to the sound of the universe, balance old and new wisdom and share knowledge."

Sources consulted:

OmVed website: https://omvedgardens.com/
Amie Keeley, 'Highgate Garden Centre to close down fuelling speculation that luxury homes could be built in its place', Ham and High, 5 July 2013: https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/21381026.highgate-garden-centre-close-fuelling-speculation-luxury-homes-built-place/; Molly Blair, 'London garden opens pavilion from star Madrid architects', Gardens Illustrated, 23 August 2022: https://www.gardensillustrated.com/news/selgascano-omved-gardens-pavilion; Miriam Habaate Sellasi, 'OmVed Gardens: Encouraging Diversity of Place and People', London National Park City, 19 August 2024; Jareh Das, 'The Pleasure Garden Reimagined',  Financial Times, 3 May 2024; Bridget Galton, 'OmVed Gardens builds UK's first food and ecology centre', Ham and High, 15 March 2025, https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/25003358.omved-gardens-builds-uks-first-food-ecology-centre/

Grid ref:

TQ285874 (528515,187419)

Size in hectares:

1.21

Site ownership:

OmVed

Site management:

OmVed

Date(s):

2017

Designer(s):

Paul Gazerwitz landscape architect; Piers Smerin architect

Listed structures:

None

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Highgate

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

Other LA designation:

Local Open Space

OmVed Gardens, June 2023. Photograph Sally Williams

Click a photo to enlarge.