On the 8th and 9th of June, some of London’s ‘hidden’ green spaces will be opening their gates to the public for Open Garden Squares Weekend.

Funds raised during OGSW allow the London Parks and Gardens Trust to continue its work to protect parks and gardens that are valuable to their communities but are in decline or under threat of development.

With the purchase of a Weekend ticket, visitors can explore a number of gardens throughout London, and enjoy some family activities too.

While the gardens are dotted all over the capital, there are many on our doorstep…

Emery Walker’s House, Sunday 14:00–17:00 

Emery Walker’s House

This beautiful Arts and Crafts property that was once home to the printer and antiquary Emery Walker, has a pretty garden with a raised platform at the end which overlooks the River Thames, original terracotta tiles from the late 1890s, a Cotswold-stone alpine trough and a grapevine grown from a cutting taken at Hogarth’s House.

William Morris Society, Sunday 14:00–17:00

William Morris lived at Kelmscott House for the last 18 years of his life, and the garden contains some plants which feature in Morris’s textile and wallpaper designs. The shady lower garden features ferns, which thrive in this microclimate.

Fulham Palace Meadows Allotments, Saturday 11:30–15:30

The allotments cover an Anglo-Saxon site of historical importance which is set within a designated Scheduled Ancient Monument area and is under the jurisdiction of English Heritage. The allotment has more than 400 plots.

Roehampton Club, Sunday 10:00–16:00

The Roehampton Club gardens (pictured, top) were laid out when the club was established in 1901 and have many highlights including a sunken garden with ornamental pond, a yew hedge walk, and a pavilion. There is also a rockery and herbaceous walk with seating bays featuring fig, roses and wisteria climbers.

Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, Sunday 11:00–16:00

The grounds of the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability include an award-winning cloister garden and several specialist patient sensory gardens, as well as views over north west and south west London. Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown was involved in the design of the estate and his work is still in evidence today.

Linden Lodge School, Sunday 10:00–14:00

The gardens at Linden Lodge School support the education and independence of its visually impaired and multi-disabled pupils, and visitors will have the opportunity to interact with the gardens as the children do. The rose garden has been restored to Gertrude Jekyll’s original design.

Carlyle’s House,Saturday 10:00–16:00

The Chelsea home of social commentator and historian, Thomas Carlyle, and his wife Jane, is now owned by the National Trust. The rectangular garden is enclosed by high brick walls and laid out with low box hedging, fruit trees, grapevines, herbs, roses and cottage garden plants. There is also a vegetable patch and a small grassed area and the original earth closet building is still used today.

For ticket details and further info: www.opensquares.org