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The public gardens are on the former churchyard of St Mary Abbots, Kensington Parish Church. There has been a church here since Norman times. St Mary's Church was rebuilt in the early C18th and its churchyard extended in 1763, but the current church dates from 1868. The former churchyard opened as a public garden in 1953, when the brick pergolas were constructed; a number of tombstones remain. The garden has roses, floral displays, grass and mature trees.

St Quintin's Gardens was formerly a privately owned green space at the junction of three roads, laid out as part of the St Quintin Estate. In the early part of the C20th the garden was maintained by voluntary subscriptions from tenants of surrounding streets and an annual donation by the freeholder. It is now a triangular public garden with shaped beds set in the lawn with seasonal bedding plants, mature trees as well as those of more recent date.

St Stephen's Church was built in 1867 when new parishes were created in the large parish of Kensington to serve the growing population, as house development accelerated. A small area of the church garden is publicly accessible along Southwell Street with gravel, flower beds and a number of trees. A stone seat was installed here in memory of Susan Sadleir (d.1991). A further area of garden to the south of the church is not publicly accessible, where a Church Room has been built and the trees here have Tree Preservation Orders.

Development of the area took place mainly after the success of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and building began on the Harrington Estate in 1855. Stanhope Gardens was among the terraces to be built from the mid-1860s, and the communal gardens for the residents' use were laid out around the same time. The underground railway track was laid between South Kensington and Gloucester Road in the mid 1860s and runs under the south of the gardens. Harrington Road was constructed in 1867.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

Stanley Crescent Garden is part of the Ladbroke Estate, laid out as a planned garden suburb with a coherent layout of concentric crescents and large communal gardens whose features were first suggested in a plan by architect and estate surveyor Thomas Allason in 1823. His scheme was later modified by others, including James Thomson, although he remained involved until his death in 1852. Building started in the 1840s; the outer concentric crescents date from the 1860s. During the lull in building development, the land was leased for a time for a racecourse, the Hippodrome, which operated from 1837-41. After Allason's death, artist and designer Thomas Allom was responsible for the next phase of development, including Stanley Crescent. This is one of the least altered of the communal gardens on the estate.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

Part of the Ladbroke Estate, laid out as a planned garden suburb with a coherent layout of concentric crescents and large communal gardens whose features were first suggested in a plan by architect and estate surveyor Thomas Allason in 1823. His scheme was later modified by others, including James Thomson, although Allason remained involved until his death in 1852. Building started in the 1840s; the outer concentric crescents date from the 1860s. During the lull in building development, the land was leased for a time for a racecourse, the Hippodrome, which operated from 1837-41. After Allason's death, artist and designer Thomas Allom was responsible for the next phase of development, which included Stanley Gardens.

This area of Earl's Court was developed between 1852-62, prior to which it was fields. Probably the smallest garden square in the borough, this communal garden was provided for residents of Sunningdale Gardens, sandwiched between the terraces either side and blocked off at one end. Its layout today probably dates from the 1930s, with informal planting, a metal arch with roses, decorative lamp post and paving.

Tavistock Gardens appear to have been laid out in the 1990s to serve the residents of the Portabello area and at that time the garden was surrounded by high walls. The gardens were completely redesigned in 2001.

The private communal garden was provided for residents of Tedworth Square, which was built in 1871 as part of the development of the Cadogan Estate. The land was acquired by the Cadogans in 1753 when Sir Hans Sloane's will divided his estate between his daughters, Mrs Stanley and Elizabeth Cadogan. Tedworth Square was named after the wife of Revd. George Sloane-Stanley, who came from Tedworth in Hampshire. The garden has mature plane trees, lawn, flowerbeds, and surrounded by modern railings backed by privet hedge.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

Private communal gardens provided for residents of the houses that surround it, which were built as part of the Gunter Estate development that took place from 1840s. This area of the estate was the first to be developed and the garden is bisected by the oval site containing St Mary's Church also built by George Godwin, the Gunter Estate surveyor. The garden was laid out with trees, shrubs, lawns and flower beds.

Now renamed The Parabola, the Commonwealth Institute was conceived in the late 1950s to house a static permanent exhibition, surrounded by landscaped gardens. Completed in 1962 to a low budget, its main feature was a hyperbolic paraboloid copper roof, and gardens designed by Maurice Lee of RMJM, with contributions from Sylvia Crowe. The building and gardens were opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1962. The landscaped gardens featured large London plane trees, an avenue of lime trees, grassed area, shrubberies, flagpoles, and a water feature with pools and fountains. From the late 1980s the building was used for commercial exhibitions to try to bolster funds, with limited success and in 2002 the building and gardens were closed. In 2007 Chelsfield Partners acquired the site and in 2009 submitted a planning application for a new home for the Design Museum in The Parabola and a residential development, whilst retaining the main elements of the gardens. Planning permission was given and the Design Museum opened in 2016. However, Sylvia Crowe's modernist landscape has been lost and the site was subsequently removed from the NHLE,Register of Parks & Gardens.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

The Roof Gardens, among the earliest in England, were built for the new Derry and Toms Department Store, which opened in 1933. The Gardens were conceived by Vice-President of Barkers Trevor Bowen, who employed landscape architect Ralph Handcock to realise his vision and comprised 3 gardens from the outset: Spanish Garden, English Woodland Garden and Tudor Courtyard. Opened in May 1938 by the Earl of Athlone, the gardens became a popular attraction. Owned by Biba in the 1970s, and by Richard Branson since 1981, the Gardens becoming part of Virgin Limited Edition and hosted a members' club, a private function venue and, since 2001, the Babylon Restaurant on the 7th floor, which overlooks the gardens. They were extensively replanted in 2008/9 and remained home to exotic wildfowl including pink flamingos. The Spanish Garden was planted in the style of the 1950s, while the Tudor Courtyard was based on the Biba ethos and planting from the 1970s. The English Woodland was managed as a C21st environmental and wildlife garden. In 2018 the Roof Gardens closed when Virgin gave up their lease.