Southwood Garden awarded Green Flag

Our garden at St James’s has once again received a Green Flag Award for 2024/25. But I never take it for granted – the scheme keeps us on our toes, reminding us that we need to keep meeting their high standards. Green Flag judges are not just looking for a well maintained and lovely garden but need to see evidence of a range of achievements including a commitment to biodiversity and sustainable practices as well as the provision of a welcoming, well used and safe green space. St James’s estates team are responsible for meeting this criteria.

It has been a particularly good year to be the gardener at St James’s Church. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in Chelsea Flower Show. The experience of seeing the designs for our garden made real, was profound as well as helpful – a life size, living prototype giving the client a rare chance to reflect on the design before it is implemented.

St James’s show garden at Chelsea was beautiful – sophisticated and natural, private and public, underpinned by an elegant structure which all made sense.

The most compelling argument for me for redesigning the Southwood Garden or ‘green churchyard’, was to make it accessible. So many gardens are a ‘no go’ area for people with mobility issues, with steps, narrow paths or gravel into which a wheelchair sinks and grinds to a halt. Robert Myers’ design included a natural surfaced, wheelchair friendly path, edges softened by planting, which took you by hand and led you through the garden.

I loved talking about the plants and the Wren project to the visitors at Chelsea although I was surprised by the fact that only four species dominated our conversations: the cornus kousa, pittosporum, rose mutabilis and the martagon lilies. One man asked if the cornus, in full flower (or bracts) was one plant or more. I went and peered at its base and came back with an answer – it was a single multi-stem plant. He said growers sometimes place a football on top of the plant to stimulate lots of stems rather than just one. You always learn from other gardeners.

A highlight of St James’s show garden at Chelsea was the treatment of the seventeenth–century urn, normally found at the back of the Southwood Garden. I’ve always found it underwhelming – why? because its decoration is poorly defined – its surface rubbed away over time and because the garden’s layout means it can’t be aligned as it needs to be. So I was amazed by its transformation at Chelsea. Here it was given centre stage, raised up on a simple fountain, surrounded by water, framed by a stone capped wall and appearing sharper than I’d ever imagined it could. I found the fact that the same component, when given a different role in a new design, can look and feel different – this demonstrated the power of design. I look forward to that – when the new garden at St James’s Piccadilly is created for the Wren Project and old elements – plants, sculptures, habitats and histories, are mixed with the new, creating a reimagined garden with greater clarity and a more resonant experience for those immersed in it.

The day I was at Chelsea, it poured non-stop for seven hours. It was cold for May. Not having anticipated rain, in desperation I put on two of our biodegradable ponchos trapping a layer of rainwater between them. This heated up and acted like a wet suit. Not the best look but warmer.

Unlike me, the Southwood Garden has benefitted greatly from our wet spring and summer. This dry, shady garden has shown stronger growth and less mildew and disease. The roses, Japanese anemones and hydrangea have all done better than usual. London has had 11 consecutive months of above average rainfall since July 2023. That is until we reached June when it fell 30% below the average.  The new garden for the Wren Project is going to have to deal with these types of weather extremes and more. Not all plants can adapt to such contrary conditions so we are likely to lose species. Another good reason, therefore, to take a fresh look at the garden and what’s in it. Chelsea reminded me how wonderful the world of gardening is, how huge the range is of ornamental plants from around over the globe and how resourceful and committed many in that world are to tackling these challenges and protecting nature.