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The Royal Parks has set out its first horticultural vision, proposing more varied and climate-resilient planting across four London parks. Projects include heat-tolerant roses in Hyde Park, camassia bulbs in The Green Park, exotic plants at Kensington Gardens’ Italian Gardens and cherry trees in Greenwich Park.
The Royal Parks has published its first horticultural vision, setting out four planting projects across Hyde Park, The Green Park, Kensington Gardens and Greenwich Park to adapt historic landscapes to hotter, drier and more unpredictable weather. The plan points toward more diverse planting, including heat-tolerant roses and plants from warmer regions, while retaining traditional garden features.
The vision is led by Matthew Pottage, head of horticulture and landscape strategy. The Royal Parks says it will test a broader range of species and focus on soil health, with the aim of finding planting that can cope with extremes including heat, drought, frost and flooding. The plan does not mean bedding plants and roses will disappear; the report says they will remain part of the parks’ horticultural character.
At Hyde Park’s Rose Garden, the proposal includes varieties of Rosa persica, a rose with origins in the Middle East that the report describes as uncommon in UK gardens. It would be planted among about 20,000 plants and up to 100,000 bulbs in pink and purple tones. The report says visitors can contribute £25 toward a rose and add a name to a celebration board.
In The Green Park, thousands of camassia bulbs are planned as a reference to the River Tyburn, which once ran through the area and is now piped underground. Kensington Gardens’ Italian Gardens are set to feature plants suited to warmer climates, including water plants such as waterlilies and lotus. In Greenwich Park, 130 cherry trees are already in the ground and are expected to form a blossom valley between the Grand Ascent and One Tree Hill.
How Planting Plans Address Climate Stress
The vision matters because it proposes changing what grows in some of London’s most visited public landscapes as weather conditions become less predictable. Heat, drought, heavy rain and flooding can place pressure on established planting and increase the demands on park maintenance. Choosing a wider mix of plants that can tolerate different conditions may help the parks remain attractive and usable as those pressures continue.
The parks also serve residents who may not have access to private gardens, as well as tourists and people working nearby. The projects combine climate adaptation with visible, place-specific designs: the camassia planting recalls a buried river, while Greenwich’s blossom valley connects with the park’s blossom-viewing tradition. These are stated aims and plans, not evidence yet that the new approach will reduce water use or improve resilience in practice.
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A Shift Beyond Victorian Planting
The Royal Parks manages a group of historic green spaces in central London, where the urban heat-island effect can make local conditions warmer than those in surrounding areas. The report describes scorched grass after a long, hot summer and links the horticultural review to a broader pattern of drought, wetter winters, flooding and unpredictable weather.
The new vision marks a move away from relying mainly on the inherited Victorian planting palette, toward experimentation with a more varied selection of species. It is not presented as a wholesale replacement of traditional gardens: the report says roses and bedding plants will continue, alongside trials of plants expected to handle climate extremes better. The four named projects show how that approach could appear in specific park settings.
“Stop visitors in their tracks and see something memorable whether that is a river of blue flowers over a lost London River or a tunnel of scented wisteria in Hyde Park.”
— Matthew Pottage, head of horticulture and landscape strategy at The Royal Parks
Project Timelines and Results
The published report does not give a full schedule, budgets or completion dates for the four projects. It says the 130 Greenwich Park cherry trees are already planted, but it is not clear when the Hyde Park, Green Park and Kensington Gardens work will be carried out or how much of each proposal has been funded.
It is also too early to know how the plantings will perform through future heat, drought, frost or flooding. The report describes intended climate resilience, but provides no measured results for water use, survival rates or maintenance needs. The scale of any changes to existing planting is not specified.
Planting Work and Performance Monitoring
The Royal Parks’ stated approach is to diversify species and experiment with planting suited to more extreme conditions. The next visible developments will depend on the schedule for the three projects without confirmed completion dates, alongside the maturation of the cherry trees already planted in Greenwich Park.
Visitors can expect the proposals to take shape as planting work proceeds, but the source report does not set out a monitoring timetable or say when performance data will be published. Updates on delivery, funding and how the plantings fare in changing weather would clarify whether the vision achieves its intended benefits.
Key Questions
Which parks are included in the horticultural vision?
The four projects cover Hyde Park, The Green Park, Kensington Gardens and Greenwich Park.
What is planned for Hyde Park’s Rose Garden?
The proposal includes Rosa persica varieties among about 20,000 plants and up to 100,000 bulbs. The report describes the roses as suited to heat and drought and says visitors can donate £25 toward a rose.
Are the projects intended to replace traditional planting?
No. The report says roses and bedding plants will remain, while the parks add a wider range of species and test planting that may better tolerate weather extremes.
Have all four projects been completed?
No. The source says the 130 cherry trees in Greenwich Park are already planted. It does not provide completion dates for the other three projects.
What results have been confirmed so far?
The vision and its four project proposals have been announced, but measured results are not yet available for plant survival, water use or resilience to climate extremes.
Source: rss
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