Secret gardens

Unfortunately, most of the rest are hidden behind the houses. In Richmond Road, one I have enjoyed is laid out in formal beds, each one coming to its best as the weather tempts one further away from the house, and ending up in an arch of cypresses. Another has a vine-shaded arbour. In Walton Street, one garden has a long brick wall covered with perfectly trained fruit trees. Victor Street also has some imaginative gardens. One skilful gardener, who unfortunately cannot bend, has lifted the whole garden using raised beds to make it accessible at waist height. A neighbour has a labour-saving garden redolent of Provence - simply made of terraces of white pebbles and dark-leafed shrubs, along with an old pear tree and, in the summer, brilliant pots of geraniums. Those with a sporting inclination might be inspired by a cricket enthusiast in Cranham Street who has created a ‘pitch’ where he practices all summer by hitting a ball swinging on a long string from a tree.