Buckingham Palace garden

Explore this hidden oasis in the heart of London

Buckingham Palace across the lake (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

Buckingham Palace viewed from across the garden’s 3.5 acre lake. The garden is His Majesty The King’s private London garden.

It also welcomes thousands of visitors to Garden Parties each summer. Rare and unusual flora and fauna are still being discovered within its walls.

Buckingham Palace garden - Herbaceous Border (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

The garden’s 156 m (523 ft) long Herbaceous Border ripples with colour and texture, brimming with a huge diversity of plants

from stately delphiniums and romantic phloxes to warm-coloured daylilies and heleniums.

Buckingham Palace garden - Magnolia Dell (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

The Magnolia Dell is filled with spring-flowering trees, which were introduced to the garden by Queen Mary, wife of King George V in the 1930s and 1940s

The tree-lined curving path leads to the Rose Garden.

Buckingham Palace garden - Rose Garden (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

The immaculate Rose Garden is the jewel in the crown of this magnificent garden.

The formal beds were planted in the 1960s in a Victorian style, the creation of garden writer and rose expert Harry Wheatcroft.

Buckingham Palace Garden - The lake (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

One of the garden’s resident coots glides along the 3.5-acre lake, in the middle of which sits a secluded island, itself a miniature landscape and a haven for birds and other wildlife.

Buckingham Palace garden - beehives (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

The garden is home to five beehives nestled in a secluded spot on the island. The simple wooden hives are positioned so that the bees take off over the lake, away from summer party guests. The bees are a relatively gentle species, Apis mellifera ligustica, also known as the Italian honey bee.

Buckingham Palace garden - Waterfall (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

The garden’s picturesque waterfall also serves a practical purpose: it helps to circulate water in the lake, thereby oxygenating and revitalising it.

Buckingham Palace garden - Victoria & Albert plane trees (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

Known as Victoria and Albert, the garden’s two most famous plane trees were planted by Queen Victoria and her consort more than 150 years ago. No one knows who planted which tree.

Autumn leaves (2019) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

In autumn the garden undergoes a dramatic transformation. Its usually green backdrop becomes a mesmerising centrepiece, as leaves slowly start to glow.

Snowdrops in the lawn (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

By late winter the garden starts to show signs of fresh growth. In the wild grass areas, masses of snowdrops make their appearance and sweet violets and cyclamen add colour to woodland areas.

Stachyurus praecox (2019) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

As well as displaying the finest horticulture, the garden harbours an astonishing diversity of plants and wildlife. A miscellany of flowers, seeds and fruits grow through the year.

Stachyurus praecox ‘Issai’ produces catkin-like clusters of pale yellow flowers in February and March.

London plane tree fruit (2019) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

The garden’s many London planes produce these spherical fruits made up of a dense cluster of individual seeds.

Callicarpa rubella (2020) by John CampbellRoyal Collection Trust, UK

Callicarpa rubella, also known as beautyberry because of its jewel-like, purple fruit.

Buckingham Palace: A Royal Garden book cover, Royal Collection Trust, 2021, From the collection of: Royal Collection Trust, UK
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All of these works are taken from the book 'Buckingham Palace: A Royal Garden'

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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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