The London Blossom Garden

• Please be considerate to others who are also visiting the Garden and please take any litter with you.
• We understand it is popular to fix ribbons to trees but please understand our trees are young and are still growing, therefore anything tied to a tree will be removed. Similarly, please do not fix anything into the ground.
• We welcome flower tributes – these should be placed in the designated spaces for flowers next to the two information boards. These will be checked regularly by the gardening team with dead/dying flowers removed.
• More information about memorials on the Park can be found here.
• Feel free to sit on the benches or the grass, but if you would like to picnic, please make use of the surrounding parkland areas which are more suitable. More information can be found here.

The garden has also been designed to support nature as well as visitors. It has large beds of perennial planting and species-rich grassland, a vital part of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s ecology. This will help create habits for wildlife all year round.



Pollinator-friendly species have been chosen to support bees and insects. Flowers, like echinacea, will provide a home for local species, including the rare Amara bifrons beetle, found in the south of the park.



The different varieties of trees will blossom at different times to extend the blossom season in the spring. These blossoms will provide food for pollinating insects, and their fruit and berries will sustain migrating birds, such as fieldfare and redwing, which arrive at the park each autumn after long journeys from Scandinavia and other colder countries.



The garden fits into the Biodiversity Action Plan of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. We have also assessed its potential impact on local wildlife.



Tree and Plant Species

• Crataegus laevigata 'Paul's Scarlet’ - Hawthorn
• Malus ‘Evereste’ - Crab apple
• Malus ‘Mokum’ - Crab apple
• Prunus ‘Accolade’ - Cherry
• Prunus ‘Shirofugen’ - Cherry
• Prunus ‘Taihaku’ - Cherry
• Prunus cerasifera ’Pissardii’ - Cherry plum
• Prunus x yedoensis - Yoshino cherry

Perennials that attract pollinators (accredited by Royal Horticultural Society):

• Eupatorium maculatum ‘Glutball’ - Eupatorium 'Riesenschirm'
• Helenium autumnale - Sneezeweed
• Knautia macedonica - Scabious
• Leucanthemum x superbum - Shasta daisy
• Liatris spicata - Gayfeather
• Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant’ - Cat mint
• Phlomis russeliana - Turkish sage
• Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii - Coneflower ‘Goldsturm’
• Salvia x sylvestris ‘Mainacht’ - Salvia
• Scabiosa caucasica – Scabious

The London Blossom Garden is fully accessible with a hard-standing path through the centre. Three seating areas have been designed to be accessible for those transferring from a wheelchair, and with adjacent spaces for wheelchairs and buggies.



Nearby, the Timber Lodge Café is fully accessible and has a Changing Places toilet.



Three dedicated Blue Badge parking spaces are available for visitors to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park located on Olympic Park Avenue close to the garden.



Read more about accessibility at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

In October 2020, Rosetta Arts, a local community arts organisation ran workshops for local people and key workers. People were asked about their experiences, feelings and thoughts around the pandemic as well as providing their thoughts on what the overall tone and feel of the garden should be, how affected communities and key workers should be represented, and how the space should be used and developed over time.



We would like to thank all the participants for taking the time to work with us on the project.

Sustainability is at the heart of the London Blossom Garden. All of the timber comes from the UK’s only FSC-certified reclaimed tropical wood supplier. This can be traced back to London sites such as Duke Shore Wharf and Woolwich Ferry Terminal. Some of the wood even came from fenders from an old canal lock within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park itself. The timber will last much longer than other types of FSC hardwood making it a sustainable option, reducing the impact on natural resources in the future.



The path is made mainly from concrete which includes local recycled materials. The strength and durability of the concrete will ensure it creates the lowest carbon footprint for a material of its kind over its lifetime.



The seating has been made by local artists whose workshops are close to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This has enabled the project to support the local economy as well as keeping transport emissions low.



Perennial plants have been grown peat-free and all trees have been grown in the UK.



The garden’s design supports sustainable drainage. A swale, or sunken channel, runs alongside the path, providing a wetter, marshy habitat for wildlife. This helps to reintroduce rainwater into the soil, reducing surface water flooding and helping to prevent our drains and sewers from becoming overloaded. The term for this is infiltration.