Babbs - My garden, the city and me : rooftop adventures in the wilds of London

MY GARDEN, THE CITY AND ME

Rooftop Adventures in the Wilds of London

HELEN BABBS

Copyright 2011 by Helen Babbs. All rights reserved.

Illustrations 2011 by James Nunn. All rights reserved.

Published in 2011 by Timber Press, Inc.
The Haseltine Building
133 S.W. Second Avenue, Suite 450
Portland, Oregon 97204-3527
www.timberpress.com

2 The Quadrant
135 Salusbury Road
London NW6 6RJ
www.timberpress.co.uk

ISBN-13: 978-1-60469-167-2

Printed in the United States of America

Catalogue records for this book are available from the British Library
and the Library of Congress.

THE GLOOM AND THE GLORY

What sorts of Londoners grow vegetables? Ones that live in domestic bliss, whatever that may be? Ones that are married, have a dog and can conjure up home-grown culinary masterpieces without a bead of sweat or an angry word? Well, thats definitely not me. I dont live in circumstances Id describe as even faintly blissful. My kitchen is pokey and my bathroom borders on mouldy. I rent my room; I dont have a husband, a cute canine or a proper garden. If Im honest, Im not even a very good cook.

I am, however, guilty of being a sometime melancholic and an over-thinker. Someone who courts doubts that drum out of tune. But I think we probably all have at least one thing that we can get sickeningly pleased about. Something thats consistently cheering.

Green space, wildlife and the anatomy of London, my home city, are definitely three things I find heartening. When all is gloomy, there are camouflaged places to escape to ones with thick foliage and rolling London views. And then there is my rooftop.

This is a book about the glory of growing things, about nature and the ecology of a city. Its about a side of London thats not often explored, and its also somewhat about being here in your unsettled mid-twenties. Its intention is to reveal how much wildlife a city can support, and hopefully inspire you to see built-up spaces in new ways. Its also an ode to how satisfying gardening can be, no matter how hopeless at it you are. Its by no means a how-to guide, more the story of a first gardening year and the adventures that ensued.

So, welcome to my imperfect world, where in a landscape thats unrelentingly urban plants grow, creatures roam and I attempt to seek out idylls in the chaos.

WELCOME TO THE ROOF

My bedroom has two doors in it. One is the usual sort an internal entrance and exit, the way to the kitchen, the bathroom, the street but the other one opens out onto my downstairs neighbours kitchen roof. This one leads to an escape, a hanging Mary Poppins-style place, all chimney stacks, tree tops and huge skies. Other peoples gardens lie below the roof, while the backs of houses surround it. From here you can see no roads and no cars, but you can see a sycamore tree and, behind it, a random patch of wilderness, a marooned island of knotty tree and bush thats strangely managed to escape being built on.

Ive lived here for a while now, renting a room in what has got to be one of the smallest apartments in the world. My flatmate and I share a tiny, postage stamp sized place but, despite the spatial limitations, we like it here. We moved out of the house from hell to this little slice of calm at the end of a charmed cul-desac just over a year ago. Weve exchanged damp problems, mice infestations and high maintenance flatmates for something thats a lot less hard work. The flat is in a particularly chaotic bit of north London, sandwiched between the Camden and Holloway Roads, but somehow, when you turn the corner into our street, the city is less loud and theres peace.

Although you can hear traffic, aeroplanes and sirens from the roof, the dominant sounds are often the wind, birds and domestic life. This is a space watched over by many private windows, of people indulging in washing up daydreams and contemplative cigarettes. The roof garden isnt remote or silent, but this actually makes it more interesting. I like to think of it balancing on a cloud of city noise and dust, part of something bigger but also a little bit removed.

When I say roof garden perhaps Im exaggerating somewhat, as its quite sparse. I began experimenting with growing things last year but wasnt terribly successful. This year things are going to be different. Im going to transform what is currently an unimpressive, small outdoor space into an organic, aerial, edible garden full of fruit, vegetables and flowers a true living room.

The rooftop is like a large balcony, just under three metres square in size. The sycamore tree is my nearest neighbour and its frequented by several squirrels and many birds. The roof gets sun all day long and the sunsets are particularly brilliant at this time of year, when the leaves are gone and tree skeletons are silhouetted against glowing winter skies.

Its currently home to a table and chairs, a couple of lavender plants and three small heathers. Its a bit empty and rather bleak, but Im looking at it as a blank canvas where great things will happen.

As is traditional in winter, Im dedicating my first few months as a wildlife friendly, organic kitchen gardener to planning. Im reading books, writing lists, drawing strange diagrams and considering what essential hardware to buy, like secateurs, a trowel, perhaps even a broom. I really am starting from scratch last years token planting was done with a childs blue plastic spade I bought at the seaside, which is more suited to sandcastle construction than horticulture. So far the main priorities for the garden project are that its cheap, doesnt swallow too much time, and produces fairly instant results. Patience isnt one of my strongest virtues and I want to see the roof developing into something special quickly.

I moved to London when I was eighteen to go to university. Now in my mid-twenties, Im a committed city girl with no gardening experience but I do feel a strong connection to the natural world. Im fascinated by urban wildlife and am keen to do something environmentally positive in an age of eco doom and gloom. I want to invest something into the place where I live, to do something creative and weave living walls around the building that I currently call home. The idea that my fingers will turn green seems quite fantastical in a way, but I love the thought of turning a little bit of city grey into a little bit of city green.

WHY GARDEN?

One fifth of London is garden. There are over three million of them and theyd span an area equivalent to the size of 268 Hyde Parks if you stuck them all together in one great lump. Thats a massive amount of space with enormous potential. We all know that plants soak up carbon dioxide, tree planting being the most popular way for us to ease our environmental consciences after taking a flight. But green spaces are more than just co2 sponges. They provide valuable shelter and shade, as well as soaking up excess water.