In July 2019, London became the world’s first National Park City, aiming for people, places and nature to be better connected. The climate and biodiversity crises are significantly driven by people’s disconnection from nature, especially in cities. This garden has been conceived and realised by London National Park City Rangers from across the capital. This varied and multi-talented group represent the diversity and talent of Londoners and epitomises a latent desire to start prototyping and enacting grassroots, nature-based solutions to help tackle some of our city’s biggest climate adaptation and mitigation challenges.
The Rangers have sought to use the London National Park City Aster logo as a recurring motif in the garden with the ‘branches’ focusing on the five different senses. A forest garden planting methodology, designed to ignite these senses, is intended to bring nature to life. The use of recycled or easily found items throughout pays homage to brownfield niches and habitats found in post-industrial edgelands. The garden is inspired by the hundreds of community-led public spaces supporting over 15,000 plant species that call London their home.
Visitors will be able to weave through a series of hügelkultur mounds (in which rotting wood and garden waste is mounded and covered with topsoil), planted with a forest garden palette. Surrounding these food forest mounds will be a wild edible meadow.
