Today I want to share my London garden ideas with you. Whether you’re looking for small London garden design ideas, London front garden ideas, or London back garden ideas, this blog post will help. It has inspiration from gardens around the city and annual events like the Chelsea Flower Show and the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. It even has indoor gardening ideas if you don’t have outdoor space for planting.
London Garden Ideas
These London garden ideas range from home gardens to flower beds in the Royal Parks. They’ll show you what’s in season at different times of year and give you tips for how to make the most of the space you have for growing things.
Whether you want to create beautiful a small garden design in London or a big back garden extravaganza, it will help you come up with a plan and a way to execute it.
From urban gardening to indoor house plants, courtyard gardens to trees and flowers, this guide has it all.
1. London Front Garden Ideas
The first of my London garden ideas is for front gardens. Given my love of walking around the side streets of the UK capital, I see lots of them every day.
From seasonal blooms to perennials, bulbs to climbing vines, there are countless ways to make a London front garden come alive.
I love seeing front gardens with great color schemes and those that incorporate doors in the planning. Whether it’s with frilly tulips, pink roses, or wisteria arches, there are lots of ways to cheer up the space in front of a house.
If you want good London garden ideas, I recommend taking some of my self-guided London walks. They’ll guide you around the prettiest streets in London, and you’ll see a lot of beautiful front gardens as you go.
2. London Back Garden Ideas
Next on my list of London garden ideas is inspiration for back gardens. You can see lots of these at events like the Chelsea Flower Show, National Trust London properties like Carlyle’s House, and English Heritage sites in London like Eltham Palace.
From flower beds full of seasonal blooms to vegetable gardens like the Royal Kitchen Garden at Hampton Court Palace, there are lots of places you can find ideas.
You can add everything from gazebos to fountains and water features, too. Small ponds, tables, and barbecue areas can also make for eye-catching places to entertain guests and enjoy the sunshine when it graces London with its presence.
3. Small London Garden Ideas
If you’re looking for small London garden ideas (and most of us are), there are lots of places to find them.
Many of the show gardens at the Chelsea Flower show and Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival are the same size as the back gardens in London houses and flats.
Even the bigger ones can often be modified to fit into a smaller space with a bit of creative design and outside-the-planter-box thinking.
There are lots of small London garden ideas in the book RHS Small Garden Handbook: Making the Most of Your Outdoor Space, too.
This Royal Horticultural Society publication is a comprehensive guide for small-space gardeners interested in designing, growing, planting, and landscaping a garden. If you’re in the UK, you can get a copy here. If you’re in the US, you can get one here.
4. Indoor London Garden Ideas
If you want London garden ideas but don’t have outdoor space at home, there are plenty of ways you can bring your gardening indoors.
Whether you want to grow an indoor herb garden for your cooking needs, start a windowsill garden, or nurture house plants and succulents, there are lots of ways you can add life and color to your interior spaces.
Visual search engines like Pinterest are great for getting ideas for where to place house plants in terms of design and style.
There are also great books like Wild at Home: How to Style and Care for Beautiful Plants that can give you inspiration. If you’re in the UK, you can get a copy here. If you’re in the US, you can get one here.
If you want a starter kit, you can get great ones that will help you set up an indoor herb garden. If you’re in the UK, you can get a kit here. If you’re in the US, you can get one here.
5. London Garden Ideas from the Parks
Parks are great places to get London garden ideas, too. From the Royal Parks to the many secret gardens in London, there are lots to discover around the city. They’re ideal for seeing what’s in season at specific times of year.
Many of London’s parks have beautiful gardens, including the formal gardens in Hyde Park, the manicured flower beds in Kensington Gardens, and the conservatories in Kew Gardens.
The tulip gardens in Holland Park and Golders Hill Park are some of my favorites in spring, and Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in Regent’s Park is one of the most famous in summer.
In south London, the Sexby Garden in Peckham is just the thing for spring wisteria pergola inspiration, and the American Garden in Dulwich Park is great if you like rhododendrons and azaleas.
The gardens at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill are great for color blocking ideas, and the Chelsea Physic Garden has lots of medicinal and historical inspiration.
If you want seasonal inspiration, I’ve published blog posts about the best spring gardens in London and the best summer gardens in London. They can give you ideas for what to plant in your London garden.
6. London Garden Ideas from the Flower Shows
One of the best places to get London garden ideas is from the annual flower shows and garden festivals in the city.
The Chelsea Flower Show is the most famous, and its show gardens and pavilions are great places to get ideas for how to design a garden in London.
Running alongside it is the Chelsea in Bloom festival, a floral extravaganza in which shops and businesses around Chelsea vie for the title of best-decorated facade. It’s a fun place to get inspiration for how to use the flowers you grow in your garden.
Additionally, the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is the largest flower show in the world. It’s sure to give you good inspiration for what to plant and how to style your front or back garden.
7. Garden Shops in London
If you want London garden ideas from shops, there are plenty of them in the city. My favorite place for garden inspiration in London is Petersham Nurseries. Their Richmond location has plants galore.
There are also good local shops around the city, my favorite of which is The Nunhead Gardener in south London. With locations in places like Nunhead and Camberwell, it’s perfect for inspiration.
Shops selling house plants abound, too. I love Forest and Pearspring in East Dulwich. They both sell a wide variety of succulents and beautiful pots to put them in.
Many London markets sell plants, too. The most famous is the Columbia Road Flower Market, but other local markets around the city have lots on offer.
London Garden Ideas
I hope you’ve enjoyed this London garden ideas guide. Whether you have a big outdoor space, a small courtyard, or a windowsill garden, there are lots of ways to get your planting fix in the UK capital. Happy gardening!
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