SPACE FOR EVERYONE?

We could take down the boundaries that define our front gardens and turn streets into green spaces that are free for everybody to enjoy, suggests Susanna Grant

- ILLUSTRATION ROSANNA MORRIS

There's a front garden I pass that always stops me in my tracks. It contains grasses, erigeron, a large silver birch and a water trough. Large clumps of rosemary spill onto the pavement. It doesn't have railings, a wall or hedge. It feels like a garden its owners see in the same way wildlife might - space for everyone.

I have many favourite plants in front gardens across London: a gnarled, leggy Fuchsia 'Hawkshead' spilling over a low wall in Camberwell; a monkey puzzle tree monopolising a tiny space in Hackney; and a waterfall of Rosa banksiae 'Lutea' in Islington are just a few.

I want to see into everyone's front gardens. They can disclose so much about the gardener while also contributing to the making of a community (human and nonhuman) and a better natural ecosystem.

I like gardens that don't treat nature as something owned, fenced-off or overcome; they have a generosity of spirit. Homogeneous, dense, clipped privet hedges surrounding a small patch have the opposite effect. They are akin to 'keep off the grass' signs. Removing these boundaries can take some bravery but letting go could give us back so much.