Behind the Scenes: Small exclusive to LOG garden tours

Winner of Islington’s Best Community Park in 2020’s Islington In Bloom, Lever Street Community Garden has also won the coveted Green Flag Award with their emphasis on sustainable environmental practises and management.  

Local resident and Chair of Lever Street Community Garden Rose Heatley, the driving force of the garden, will explain not only how the garden works and how tasks are shared in the group, but will also look at the benefits of gardening communally. She will talk about various management challenges and successes from the creation of the garden to the present day.   

Together with a team of volunteers and the support of Islington Council, they have regenerated the square and created a welcoming oasis to appeal to historians, families and garden enthusiasts alike. Walk around the square with Anna and hear about the development and maintenance of horticultural features such as the sensory border and the rainbow perennial border, and admire the Byzantine and Art Nouveau architecture of the arts and crafts library. A Q&A session will follow the talk. 

Set on top of an Edwardian primary school, in the heart of the City of London, this roof top garden is part allotment and part nature reserve. It is, essentially, an ‘intensive’ green roof. The space was formerly a playground before being converted into a growing space where the children now learn about growing in an urban environment. Catherine is a professional gardener with a particular passion for biodiversity and the urban environment, reflected in her deep understanding of plants and the natural world.  

Her school gardening sessions are designed for children to discover how to manage a garden for biodiversity and also investigate current day environmental concerns. The exciting research work by Imperial College on biodiversity, and the findings of Pollinating London Together, form part of the daily gardening experience for the children and visitors will look at these results in more detail during their visit.   

Catherine will also discuss how to create a process child-led learning environment in the garden so that each child has a sense of involvement in the creation and maintenance of the space. She believes that gardens and gardening can transform lives and have a huge positive impact on health and well being.

On the way back, the group will walk along the woodland/grassland edge and talk about what interventions, methods and structures worked and why, in the effort for species recovery over the past three years.

The team has been removing non-native invasive plant species and planting reedbeds and other vigorous marginal species in their place. They have installed in-channel structures to increase river flow complexity, built habitat for small mammals as well as making many other ecologically beneficial interventions. This work has been guided by the economy and the need for any structures and plants to be robust, due to the strength of the flow of the river and the impact of people. 

Discover hidden corners of ‘countryside within the town’, and see first hand how the team promotes biodiversity. Whether you’re a garden lover, history lover, or just curious, this is a great opportunity to explore and appreciate the work and challenges that keep this green oasis thriving.

Margravine cemetery is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, but with the majority of graves removed or buried it has a distinctly different feel from most cemeteries.   

The team would love to share how they plant and care for a diverse selection of trees, control invasive species, and have adapted the large central bed – the turning circle for horse-drawn carriages in Victorian times.

The Friends won the London Community Tree Award 2023 and have regularly attracted Outstanding London in Bloom awards.   

Come along and experience the tranquillity, beauty, and dedication that make this place very special.

Passionate about horticulture and wildlife, Nic’s enthusiasm for all things green will delight visitors. He has a wealth of plant information and is an inspiration for gardeners to consider new biodiversity gardening practices.  
 
Come and learn about the history of this beautiful site and discover and share Nic’s gardening experiences, stories and wisdom.  

After his talk, Nic is delighted to escort any visitors who would like to visit The Secret Garden at Aldgate, five minutes away. This is Nic’s plant rescue garden which is a haven of green plants all brought on by Nic and his team.

This glorious site, used often for filming and events in the Square Mile, is a true gem. Created within the walls of a Sir Christopher Wren church, the garden sits enclosed and hidden within the urban environment of the City. It has a wealth of interesting and unusual plants, and is of great historical importance in the rich tapestry of Wren Churches built in the ruins of the Great Fire of London in 1666.