Open Gardens

This new nationwide festival, a collaboration between the Society of Garden Designers and the RHS, takes place over three Sundays in 2011: May 1, Jun 26, Sep 25. London gardens include May 1: Maggie's Centre, Charing Cross Hospital, designed by Dan Pearson, and a private garden in Wimbledon designed by John Brookes; Jun 26: roof garden of IPC Media, Southwark (The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, SE1 0SU; noon-6pm; adm free); Sep 25: designers Charles Rutherfoord's plantsman's garden in Clapham (51 The Chase, SW4 0NP; open noon-4pm) hidden behind a pierced wall of railway sleepers covered in roses, which features a geodetic dome where seedlings, succulents and subtropical plants are grown, and Emma Plunkett's garden in Shepherd's Bush (49 Loftus Rd, W12 7EH; open noon-4pm; adm free) . Operating as both a showcase and a laboratory, Plunket's narrow, west-facing walled garden backs onto an orchard and is organised around a central path with fruit, vegetables and herbs growing in on either side in a cold frame and raised beds.See the website for full details.