The Royal Parks in photos - February

We look back at February through some of our favourite photos, past and present.

February saw some frosty mornings give way to the first signs of spring, along with some welcome sunshine. The hard work of the parks teams through the winter months paid off, with flashes of colour in the form of snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils flowering around the Royal Parks.

A frosty morning view of a willow tree over a pond
© Sue Lindenberg
Bushy Park
A tall tree with some blossoming branches from another tree coming across it
Richmond Park
A rainbow over the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park
Hyde Park
A rainbow over a bowling green in a park
© Luke Brosse
Hyde Park
Spring daffodils
St. James's Park

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Around the parks

In the Bog Garden, found in Richmond Park's Isabella Plantation, all five deep pools have been desilted. The nutrient-rich silt taken from these pools has been dried alongside the waterbodies and will be spread around the garden. Beds have been cleared of plants and topped up with soil.

Work will begin in March to resurface paths, replace the central deck area, and renew bridges and log stepping stones. Then comes replanting the flower beds with a mix of plants lifted and divided from the original scheme, as well as a selection of new plants to help restore this area to its original glory. 

Isabella Plantation Bog Garden viewed from above
Richmond Park

In the Pembroke Lodge area of Richmond Park lies the Cottage Garden. Over the years the garden’s more competitive plants have outcompeted the less vigorous and short-lived herbaceous perennials that bloom in the warmer months and die back in the cold. This autumn our gardeners and volunteers removed and stored plants from all beds, allowing for weeding and moving irrigation points.

Beds were dug over and left fallow for the winter to aerate and break up the soil, then in early spring they will be replanted following the original plan with a few tweaks to remove the plants that tend to take over. 

The Cottage Garden viewed from above
Richmond Park

Two inlets were made in the banks of Bushy Park's Heron Pond recently, reinstating the flow of water from the pond to the land alongside it. Over time this will become valuable wetland habitat supporting more varied plant life, which will in turn be a great benefit for wildlife.

One particular plant we hope to encourage is the nationally scarce Mudwort (Limosella aquatica) which favours the damp and boggy conditions created by the works. The presence of deer will help to maintain patches of exposed mud which in the past has encouraged this plant to thrive. We will be keeping a close eye on the area waiting for it to appear.

Heron Pond viewed from above
Bushy Park

The newly-painted Richmond Park minibus free bus service is starting up again this March and will run for the whole of 2025. The bus runs three days a week and when not in service is used to bring local community groups and school classes to Richmond Park that may not have been able to access it otherwise.

A green bus in a park
Richmond Park

Our wildlife officer invited our Access and Engagement team to feed the pelicans in St. James's Park. They were joined by a family group from Cardinal Hume Centre, a local charity who support families and young people facing poverty and homelessness. The team works with local communities around the Royal Parks to help them discover all that the parks have to offer, with a particular focus on those who face barriers to fully accessing and benefitting from these green spaces. 

Four people smiling by the lake in St. James's Park
St. James's Park

While the parks burst into bloom for spring, the Hyde Park nursery team are already looking ahead to summer. They grow around 20,000 plants of around 140 different varieties from seed for the season each year. 

Seeds growing in the Hyde Park nursery
Hyde Park

A look back in time

Men in The Regent's Park working in the boathouse in February 1935, in preparation for the peak season. Boating is still a popular activity in the park today, with the team currently getting everything ready to welcome people to the lake again from April.

Boatmen in The Regent's Park boathouse
William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Getty Images
The Regent's Park & Primrose Hill

The lake in St. James's Park being cleaned, also from February 1935. The lake, well known for being home to the park's resident pelicans, was last drained in February 2009, to clear its bed and refill it with fresh water. Over the years items including an unexploded bomb have been discovered.

Two swans watching the cleaning of the lake in St. James's Park
Austrian Archives (S)/Imagno/Getty Images
St. James's Park

Nannies pushing prams in Kensington Gardens, 1933. The park has long been a favourite destination for families with young children. Author J.M. Barrie was inspired by Kensington Gardens and he commissioned Sir George Frampton to build a statue of Peter Pan, which has been a favourite feature of the gardens since 1912.

Nannies pushing prams in Kensington Gardens
Douglas Miller/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Kensington Gardens

The carriage carrying the Queen, Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and the Princess Royal through Hyde Park for the funeral of King George VI, 15 February, 1952. The Royal Parks host around 30 ceremonial events each year, some of which are broadcast all over the world.

The Royal carriage travels through Hyde Park during the funeral of King George VI
Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
Hyde Park

Do you have a photo of one of the Royal Parks that you’d like to include next month? Or an old family snap from decades past? Please get in touch on digitalcomms@royalparks.org.uk, we’d love to hear from you. 

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