GREEN ESCAPES: The Guide to Secret Urban Gardens
By Toby Musgrave
Phaidon • $29.95
Green is the color of happiness in this insider’s guide to the best secluded patches and pocket parks in cities around the globe. Toby Musgrave – who contributed to the BBC radio series “The British Garden” – leads us down the garden path to more than 260 charming but little-known green spaces where urbanites and travelers can linger for two minutes or two hours. Often small, the spots may not be on the tourist trail, but all are open to the public. The sunkissed list, with 350 illustrations, is one of our favorite spring picks. Travel with Toby to 150 cities, from Tokyo and Venice to Chicago and New York, finding magical places such as Elevated Acre, a rooftop haven overlooking Manhattan’s Financial District; Theatrum Botanicum at the Cartier Foundation in Paris; and the Vasconcelos Library Greenhouse in Mexico City. The book includes maps and icons that tag destinations by type, such as edible, historic or museum. Go forth and garden gaze. We plan to board a bus to NYC and check out Elevated Acre ASAP.
On the QT Like the best gardeners, Toby Musgrave weeded and pulled until this collection was exactly to his liking.
“My passion for gardens is in my blood. My grandparents were fantastic gardeners and some of my earliest memories are of sowing seeds with my grandfather in his garden shed,” Musgrave states. He grew up in Bristol in the UK; from age five, he had his own small vegetable patch.
Next time you travel, take a leaf from his book and make room for green spaces on your itinerary, next to hunts for the best craft beers, local grapes, truffles, beaches, fine dining, shopping and museums.
“I would encourage any traveler to visit gardens. They are a high form of art and a revealing form of cultural expression that tell you a lot about a place,” he adds. Even if you live in these cities, Musgrave’s discoveries may surprise you.
Two important trends he sees: the repurposing and greening of abandoned land, such as the Rail Park in Philadelphia (inspired by New York City’s High Line), and the urban movement for growing fruits and vegetables in cities.
“Community gardens offer healthy food of known provenance, grown organically and with a low carbon footprint,” he says.
New York City corners the market for pocket parks – small public spaces, usually tucked in vacant building lots. “Their main purpose is to be a calm, green escape from the hustle and bustle of the urban jungle. In New York City, most pocket parks are scattered across Manhattan, south of Central Park – and most include seating and some have small cafés.”
This is all-weather turf. “Spring is great for flowering bulbs and shrubs, summer for perennials and vegetables, fall for fruit and leaf color, and in winter, deciduous trees look their most sculptural.”
With the tiny house trend, is there a tiny garden fever rising? “I hope so,” he expresses. “If anyone has a corner or nook that can be made into a garden, it should be. I am so impressed with what creative gardeners in Japan achieve in the tiniest spaces.”
Musgrave’s gardens grow in Denmark now. “Our apartment has two large and verdant balconies and we have an organic garden for heirloom fruits and vegetables,” he notes. “What’s lovely about gardening is that you never stop learning and you can always try new things.”
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