Postcards from the Park

Following the success of last year’s Postcards from the Park competition, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery Fund (BIG) have again joined forces with GreenSpace to re-launch this exciting photo competition.

The organizers have £1,000 in Jessops vouchers up for grabs for the lucky overall winner, and all regional and country finalists and runners-up will have their photos professionally curated for a national exhibition. They’ll also be turned into postcards, which will be distributed at Lottery-funded venues across the UK.

To take part, just log onto www.postcardsfromthepark.org.uk to enter, and to find tips on how to take that perfect photo. You can also take a photo on your mobile phone and send it in by MMS. Text PARKS, followed by your name and where you’ve taken your photo in the subject header, to 07803 851 600. The MMS is charged at your operator’s standard rate.

The closing date is 1 August 2008 – so get snapping!

Discover London's Secret Open Spaces

Visitors will have a rare opportunity to peer behind the walls of many of London's private community gardens and squares over the weekend of 7 and 8 June during Transport for London Open Garden Squares Weekend. Over 170 venues will take part, offering a range of horticultural delights and curiosities including formal set-pieces, typical English flower gardens and the prison gardens at Holloway, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs.

Organised by the London Parks & Gardens Trust, the event aims to celebrate London's open spaces and highlight the important contribution they make to the life of the capital. Transport for London is supporting the event and encouraging people to make the most of their visit with the help of the walking journey planner www.tfl.gov.uk/walkingjourneyplanner .

Gardens taking part in the annual event for the first time range from former stately homes to private courtyards. Highlights include:

• 13 acres of lawn and gardens still reflecting the 18th-century landscape design at Fulham Palace, the home of the Bishops of London until 1973
• the walled gardens at Charlton House, one of the finest surviving Jacobean manor houses in England
• Hothouse Loddiges Garden - dedicated to the Loddiges family, who managed one of the most notable 18th and 19th century plant nurseries, with planting based on illustrations from the 18th century periodical The Botanical Cabinet by Conrad Loddiges
• Conisbee Courtyard - featuring a vertically planted wall, an experimental rubble roof and central water feature. Designed by Landscape Architect / Garden Designer Marie Clarke
• Maggie's Centre - which will open in April 2008 and offer support to those affected by cancer. The building has been designed by Lord Rogers and the garden by celebrated garden designer Dan Pearson
• The sunken gardens in Malet Street, which offer a haven of peace in the bustling Bloomsbury area
• Waterlow Court - designed in 1904 by the architect H.M. Baillie Scott as part of the development of what are now Grade-II* listed Edwardian cloistered flats originally commissioned by the Industrial Model Dwellings Company as a communal residence for professional single women
• The formal garden and Old Varieties Orchard at Heathfield in Croydon

Old favourites such as Edwardes Square, the hidden gardens of Notting Hill, Garden Barge Square and the artistic Bonnington Square will once again participate in the 2008 Open Gardens Squares Weekend.

Date:

Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2008

Venues:

Over 170 gardens and squares in London

Tickets:

£6.00 advance - one ticket allows entry to all venues over entire Weekend.
Advance ticket hotline 020 8347 3230 (Mon to Fri 9am to 6pm) and on-line booking provided by Capital Gardens (www.capitalgardens.co.uk) until Monday 2nd June.
£7.50 on the weekend from the Britain and London Visitor Centre, 1 Regent Street, SW1Y 4XT, and selected gardens.

Information:

www.opensquares.org

Additional Information

• Full details about all the participating gardens and squares are included in the guide which is given free with tickets. Information can also be found at www.opensquares.org along with the latest on special events.
• Open Garden Squares Weekend is run by the London Parks & Gardens Trust to raise awareness of the significant social, cultural, environmental and economic contribution that squares make to the capital and its inhabitants. The Trust provides a centre for education, research, and creative projects for the improvement and conservation of London's green urban spaces. www.londongardenstrust.org
• In 2008 Open Garden Squares Weekend celebrates its 10th Anniversary. Originally London Garden Square Day, it was initiated in 1998 by a local resident who imagined a day 'when all the gardens could be open to the public when local communities could celebrate the day with fêtes and fairs'. 40 private garden squares participated in the first year.
• The London garden square is one of the capital's most popular and valuable features, with a rich history stretching back to 1631 when the Covent Garden Piazza was completed. By the late 18th century the square design had been perfected, with Bedford Square, WC2, a shining example. For further information, please see www.londongardenstrust.org/history/squares.htm
• In addition to private and limited access gardens and squares, a selection of public gardens will participate in the event.

Kew and British Museum combine to cultivate China in the heart of London

In a unique partnership, the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have conjured up a stunning China landscape in the forecourt of the British Museum this summer. The landscape celebrates the two institutions' shared vision to strengthen cultural understanding and support biodiversity conservation across the world. The experts at Kew have selected and provided the plants and design, the British Museum has provided curatorial expertise and the location. The landscape follows on from the successful Africa Garden created in 2005, and future collaborative projects are planned.

Inspired by the collections of both Kew and the British Museum, the landscape reveals some of the connections between China’s natural habitat and its culture. Trees, shrubs and flowers are both cultural symbols and resources, used for building materials, food, drink, clothing and medicine. The landscape is a celebration of natural beauty and the bounty it provides. Visitors are able to wander around the fragrant trails of wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), admire the beautiful White Mulberry (Morus alba) and historic handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata), whilst also absorbing a strong conservation and sustainability message.

Most of the plants selected by the experts at Kew are native to the mountains of Sichuan province in south-west China and have been chosen for both their natural beauty and for the active role they play in China’s cultural identity. The landscape features an example of a maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba), the only surviving member of the ancient group of plants which was widespread at the same time as the dinosaurs, 180-200 million years ago. They have only been saved from extinction through cultivation and today provide a range of medicinal benefits; they are used for treating chronic coughs and asthma and leaf extracts are used to treat circulatory problems and memory loss.

Conservation is a strong theme in the landscape. The handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata) is beautiful but also vulnerable in the wild; in 1899, an amateur British botanist in China alerted Kew to the alarming impact that the charcoal industry was having on the forests of Yunnan province, home of the handkerchief tree. Although now widespread in cultivation as an ornamental, thanks to botanists and horticulturalists worldwide, the handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata) continues to be classified as a rare tree in the wild.

Visitors are also able to learn about the economic properties of plants in this beautiful landscape. Bamboo (notably Phyllostachys aurea and P. nigra) is one of the fastest-growing plants on earth and treated bamboo is strong and lightweight. In China it is used to make everything from chopsticks, hats and musical instruments to houses, bridges and scaffolding. Its fibres are used for paper, fabric and medicine. The young shoots are edible, the sap is made into sweet wine and the leaves are used as food wrappers. Bamboo features in Chinese culture as a symbol of integrity and outstanding character, it bends in the wind but never breaks. A lacquer tree (Rhus verniciflua) is also on display. These are cultivated for their sap, which is used to make a durable coating called lacquer. Lacquer can be polished to a high gloss, and the sap can be coloured by adding the mineral cinnabar or carbon black to make red and black. The seeds and leaves are used in Chinese medicine to treat internal parasites and to stop bleeding

China is famous for its classical scholar’s gardens – picturesque places suited for social gatherings and silent contemplation. This tradition is reflected in the landscape by the inclusion of a trellis, a scholar’s rock that symbolically evokes the power of a mountain, and a rock inscribed with calligraphy - because no Chinese landscape is complete without a touch of poetry. The landscape also directs visitors to the Museum’s Chinese collections, where it is possible to see some of the plants used to make objects (lacquer and bamboo) or to see them as art motifs (chrysanthemums, willow trees and peonies) depicted on a range of ceramic objects. A huge contemporary rock sculpture by the artist Zhan Wang, on display in the Great Court, complements the garden alongside the temporary exhibition ‘Fascination with Nature’ in room 91, featuring wonderful examples of Chinese nature paintings.

After the closure of the landscape on 26th October, Camden Council will relocate many of the plants to Brunswick Square and Kew Gardens as a lasting legacy of the China Landscape. The Landscape is in association with China Now.