Open Garden Squares weekend: embrace a greener London

Next weekend, London's private gardens and squares are open to the public. Expert urban explorer Todd Longstaffe-Gowan plots his path through the best

Open Garden Squares Weekend is the London Parks & Gardens Trust's highest profile event and, since 1998, has become a regular fixture in the capital's garden calendar. Held annually (June 8&9 this year), it seeks to increase knowledge and appreciation of London's many and varied green spaces.

The weekend, which is presented in association with the National Trust, provides an opportunity for non-residents to explore private gardens that are not generally accessible to the public, and to enjoy them in a relaxed and convivial atmosphere of open-air concerts, exhibitions, craft displays and wine tastings.

The jewel in the crown of this year's Open Weekend is the garden of No 10 Downing Street. Its combination of inaccessibility and pedigree makes it one of London's more intriguing garden destinations. It was not, therefore, surprising that there was an instant and rapturous response when a limited number of places to visit the garden were offered as the prize in a ballot.

All the places are now taken, of course, but there is no reason why you shouldn't enjoy a tour of some equally intriguing private squares.

This year brings the opening of more than 200 gardens across 27 London boroughs, including community allotments, prison gardens, squares, rooftop gardens, livery hall gardens, burial grounds and wildlife and ecology areas.

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