Garden Visits: The Phoenix Garden

I always like peering into other people's front gardens as I walk down a street It's amazing how varied and inventive these tiny spaces can be. Even better is to visit  somebody else's garden and last week I discovered a real jewel right in the middle of central London.   

The Phoenix Garden is a truly secret space hidden behind St. Giles Church just off Shaftesbury Avenue. It sits on what was once a WW2 bombsite and then a car park and now it is a community garden and charity managed by residents of the surrounding flats. 

Entrance to the Phoenix Garden

 The garden is surrounded by a tall red brick wall, covered in ivy and other greenery and is described as "an ornamental wildlife garden". It is an energising  breath of nature in the centre of city bustle. The area is not huge but it is made to seem much more spacious by paths laid out in meanders and circles, by  hidden vistas, tall trees, evergreen shrubs, densely underplanted with ornamental annuals and perennials with the odd fruit tree or bush flourishing in amongst it all. 

Fantastically coloured autumn spindle (Euonymus europaeus) berries against a wall

There are also log piles, insect and bird nest boxes, serious composting bins, and nettly wild areas. No wonder there were so many birds flitting about in the trees and fish in the ponds and my sister actually saw a  mouse. There are benches round every corner and stone seats dotted around inviting you to rest and enjoy. 

                                         

Not surprisingly, the ground is still full of rubble and very shallow, so the plants grown are those that grow well  in dry, stony areas and won't need too much help including several exotic blooms such as  echiums native to the Mediterranean and North Africa, as well as lots of native plants. 

A quote from the website says: 

"At the Phoenix Garden we believe

• There are no weeds
• There are no pests
• There is no need to water
• There is no waste"

We were hoping to get a cup of tea in the glass-fronted modern visitor centre, but that's closed at present due to Covid. Stupidly, I had left my phone at home, but luckily my sister had hers and the photographs here were take by her.  

This  is truly a garden after my own heart and I would like my  garden to be just like it. 

Fine out more from: www.thephoenixgarden.org