London is hardly hurting for green spaces, but OmVed Gardens is something special. Tucked away down an unassuming side street in Highgate, it’s a slice of the countryside in the city. It’s a scorching heatwave morning when director and founder Karen Leason shows me round, but all you can hear are the patter of sprinklers on leaves, the buzzing of bumblebees — and the sounds of my sneezing, despite a hefty dose of antihistamines.
The community garden has been operating since 2017, but has only recently reopened after a refresh that has added new spaces and a whole programme of events focused around art and ecology, food and climate resilience. This revamp has introduced a constellation of buildings designed by landscape architect Paul Gazerwitz, in collaboration with London-based practice Smerin Architects.
