My Visit to the Garden Museum in London

I spent four days in London this past September. Searching for places to visit (of course there are innumerable possibilities) I found the Garden Museum. Filling the bright and soaring interior of a former church, St. Mary’s at Lambeth, the Museum more than met my expectations on a rainy, dreary day in London. I found my way by riding two buses, which in contrast to the Tube I had been using, allowed me to see London sites from Bloomsbury to Lambeth Bridge. The names of structures were vaguely familiar to me from hours of watching PBS British series.

The Museum offers exhibitions, archives, events and garden visits. There is a meeting and event space and the Garden café with a view of the Sackler Garden which I enjoyed during lunch.

I sat on a bench on the balcony level to watch short films. The six films are delightful portraits of British landscape designers all landscape designers have studied. The archive, which I did not visit, also includes many drawings. I was particularly interested in the films about John Brookes and Beth Chatto.

I walked through an exhibit of Lady Bird Books, a British Children’s book series begun in the 1960’s and well known by children and their families since then. Botanical and landscape artists created the realistic and colorful watercolor and oil paintings used in the books. Many scenes of are families in the garden. The newer books cover modern themes such as one on climate change with HRH The Prince of Wales as co-author. I bought an autographed copy, “Charles.”

The museum and entry garden fit inside the church and churchyard without touching the old walls or disturbing ancient burials. This garden though welcoming and peaceful, on this wet and dreary early fall day, had a slight feeling of decay.

The Sackler Garden, accessed from inside the Museum and designed by Dan Pearson, is a newer garden in a courtyard setting. He designed the garden around the tomb of the Tradescant family. The church is the burial place of John Tradescant (c1570 – 1638), the first great gardener and plant-hunter in British history.

As I left the museum, I walked along the Thames skirting many deep puddles due to the continuous rain. I decided to walk across Westminster Bridge before catching a subway back to my B&B.