Tim Matcham Garden Design

For some time I have promised myself a visit to The Green Dock at the Thames Barrier Park in London and I used my trip to this years Chelsea Flower Show to do just that.

A peaceful summers afternoon with the sun out and the endless pounding of a pile driver on the building site next door! I guess that’s the price of regeneration projects!

This is a relatively new London green space with a mix of parkland and more formal garden areas. When I say parkland its not anything like the scale of say Hyde Park and the layout is much more formal and structured. The tree planting is what strikes you first with areas of single species of tree planted in extensive grids

 with paths mown through the wider meadow grass areas guiding you through form one area to the next – with views out to the engineering feat that is The Thames Barrier.

Large groups of school children snake through the park or sit in attentive circles and still the peace is shattered by the endless pounding!

There is a pavilion which acts as a memorial to The Victims of War in the London Borough of Newham – it bears a striking resemblance to the pavilion used by Robert Myers in his Chelsea garden for Cancer Research UK with the circular cut out in the roof.

The element of the garden that I had particularly come to see however was the large rectangular formal garden with ribbons of topiarised Yew hedging trimmed in undulating waves running the entire length of the garden, crossed overhead with angled walkways.

The dominant yew was broken with subtle blocks of colour again using single species of plants as block planting, including Iris, Geranium, Perovskia, Hemerocallis, Choisya, nepeta, Ceanothus, Lavandula, Rosmarinus, Sedum, Potentilla, Acanthus, Philadelphus, Anemone, Salvia and others.

The effect was perhaps best seen from overhead (the garden is almost underground) as closer scrutiny identified the problems associated with maintaining such an elaborate garden.

 Some of the yew was in less than prime condition and it was evident that the irrigation system appeared to be in hot demand and not really up to the job. Light availability caused by the ever hungry Yew hedges also had an impact – but this is perhaps to be over critical of a hugely adventurous garden that was a pleasure to be in and enjoy – below ground I was also impervious to that wretched pounding too!

One aspect that both surprised me and inspired me was the way that the boundaries of the park had been carefully constructed to fit in to its immediate surroundings – plants, trees and shrubs formed symbolic barriers in the form of the structure over the river and the blocks of flats that run along its western boundary.

This shows that even in an urban environment you can help a garden fit in wherever you are.

I am glad I made the effort to go and spend some time here and it lived up to my expectations well – so if you fancy exploring London beyond the normal limits, take a trip on the Docklands light railway and enjoy The Green Dock  – it will improve with maturity – not least because they will have finished the pile driving before too long so then you will be able to enjoy it in peace!

Tags:   development · garden design · gardening · imagination · Inspiration · sunshine · value6 Comments