The Citizen Gardener: ‘Let’s bring out the green, lush, deep unknowns’

This wattle fence was built at Mabley Green by a local guerilla gardener using a technique that dates back to the Neolithic period. Photograph: Daniel Burke

Back gardens in London. What are they? A scrub of old turf with some concrete pavers, just wide and deep enough to nuzzle and jostle? Maybe a picnic table and chairs for a summer sitdown with two shop-bought instant barbecues?

Push aside the dense and sticky weeds with your leg outstretched for the cooking zone. Birkenstocks and socks have made their way outside, just about holding up to the task. Comfort. React hastily to the cruel and unruly nature of the yellow thing above us that shines bright now and then.

Quick, let’s cook on coal out here! Bring the speaker too! The neighbours are invited so they can’t get annoyed as the music dips and weaves seamlessly from our starting point of ‘Everybody loves the sunshine’.

The stage is set. Some old yellow bricks that have been hiding behind the shed for 14 years only need the cobwebs brushed off with the back of a hand before they sit proudly beneath the throwaway barbecues. Elevation. Safety. One for the snags and the meat and one for the veggies. Zero cross contamination here. We’ve got this thing locked in, sewn up.

There’s warm cider and wine in one bucket, and to a table to your right there’s some offy-bought vine leaves, crisps, hummus and a hexagonal array of dips steeping to perfection in the heat.

Anything that resides peacefully in the garden has suddenly become a cooking utensil. An old hoe, a scrap of wood or the jackpot: the dog end of an old cast iron gate – long enough to stay away from the flames and strong enough to reuse.

We all bank on this dream of the outdoors – a primal urge – but with the modern compulsion for al fresco dining and good times in the sun.

The afternoon sun peeks through the clouds, overlooking the Mabley Green Boulder. Photograph: Daniel Burke

This is how I see Hackney gardens, and as they say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. It’s funny that the cold in January has taken my mind here – wishful thinking perhaps?

I have, though, been fixing this ‘problem’, or joyous dilemma, for the last nine years. I’ve renovated or rebuilt many a Hackney garden, and I can tell you that the dream of the outdoors isn’t actually all that common.

Having a designated area to throw barbecues isn’t necessarily what people who buy houses in the borough want, but when they do, you’d better make sure it’s built using Corten steel with a bespoke opening hatch made of cedar wood battens, stainless steel hinges and lined to perfection for that easy clean-down.

Often what people really want is a sleek, slick, carefully designed new garden – a safe haven to enjoy with a high end finish. They want a wow factor to impress their mates that involves little to no maintenance but with loads of plants; sustainable but full of concrete, super impermeable stone and lots of imported timber.

Brill, let’s go! I’m here for it all. And who can blame them? I’d want all the bells and whistles too if I was forking out and investing in my forever garden. Plus, it pays my way and it’s great fun.

Is there a middle ground though? I don’t have a garden myself, so I’ve been forced to look at parks and outside spaces. Perhaps I can leave a mark on those? Am I allowed? I’m not sure. Guerrilla gardening, let’s try that! The lavender vigilante, if you will.

I’m going to buy some plants and get them in the ground of a public park. The first spot on my hitlist is Mabley Green. I love this park and feel a few hardy herbs that can withstand the cold are in order.

I’m interested in the balance between connection and convenience, something all outside spaces have, especially in Hackney.

Let’s strive to find a gardener’s keep and unleash secrets found through the trees, sounds and all the hidden troves. Let’s bring out the green, lush, deep unknowns, the hides and seeks, the thoughts held deep. Let’s grow the plants that weep at city streets.

Daniel Burke is a trained gardener with almost 10 years’ experience. He is a founder of a community interest company, The Hackney Flower Show, which aims to renovate public spaces and create an annual community event celebrating the borough’s horticulture.