Walk through many of London\u2019s new public spaces, and a strange sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu begins to emerge.<\/p>\n
Not in the architecture, but at ground level. In the planting, a striking uniformity has slowly taken hold.<\/p>\n
Across projects as varied as Strand Aldwych, Elephant Park and the Embankment, different clients, different design teams and different urban contexts often arrive at remarkably similar planting outcomes:\u00a0Birch. Amelanchier. Pittosporum. Lavender. Euphorbia.<\/p>\n
All common and reliable species. All proven performers. Yet together they increasingly amount to an emerging horticultural monoculture \u2013 a narrow urban palette deployed across significantly different places.<\/p>\n
The concern is more than aesthetic. It is ecological and urbanistic.<\/p>\n
At a critical moment when public realm is expected to support biodiversity, climate resilience and place identity, many of London\u2019s landscapes are converging rather than diversifying. We are drifting towards a kind of copy-and-paste landscape. When every development draws from the same limited palette, we are not creating resilient places; we are delivering monoculture.<\/p>\n
The rise of the safe palette<\/p>\n
There are logical reasons these species dominate contemporary public-realm schemes. Urban planting is difficult. Heat stress, drought, pollution, compacted soils and shrinking maintenance budgets all encourage developers to opt for low-risk solutions. Contractors favour species they know can be sourced at scale and within budget. Facilities teams prefer predictable performance and low management requirements. Once a particular palette is seen to work commercially, technically and visually, it rapidly becomes a precedent.<\/p>\n
Bazalgette Embankment Gardens is a new 0.6ha riverside space, forming the largest public realm of the Tideway scheme. Despite the project\u2019s innovation, its planting lacks biodiversity and climate resilience, offering only a limited and standardised set of species.<\/p>\n
The result is an industry feedback loop. Nurseries stock what is repeatedly specified. Designers specify what is readily available. Clients choose the safe option. Innovation becomes harder to justify.<\/p>\n
Placemaking starts with planting<\/p>\n
Architects routinely invest enormous effort in creating buildings that respond to context and express a distinct identity. Yet the surrounding landscape is becoming standardised.<\/p>\n
If architecture seeks to create places that are memorable and rooted in their setting, planting should be considered part of that ambition rather than a finishing layer applied at the end. While buildings remain relatively fixed, planting evolves through the seasons, responding to local conditions and reinforcing sense of place.<\/p>\n
What if palettes responded more directly to the microclimates created by surrounding buildings? To variations in soil, wind and moisture? What if they drew inspiration from London\u2019s river edges, brownfield ecologies, woodland remnants or meadow systems?<\/p>\n
Beyond biodiversity<\/p>\n
The issue isn\u2019t just visual. Homogeneous planting produces a homogeneous habitat. A limited range of species supports a narrower range of insects, pollinators and birds. More subtly, planting begins to lose its role in helping shape local identity. Public spaces start to feel interchangeable, detached from the ecological and cultural conditions of their setting.<\/p>\n
The irony is that architects increasingly speak the language of biodiversity, regenerative systems and climate adaptation. Yet many schemes remain driven by predictability, visual control and maintenance efficiency.<\/p>\n
This is not an argument for novelty for its own sake. Public landscapes must remain robust, maintainable and commercially viable. Nor should every scheme become a horticultural experiment. The challenge is to avoid allowing resilience and practicality to become excuses for repetition.<\/p>\n
Designing living systems<\/p>\n
Some examples do point towards a different approach. Phoenix Garden in Camden, established and maintained by the local community since the 1980s, remains one of central London\u2019s most authentic urban biodiversity spaces. It is messy, habitat-led and ecologically rich \u2013 qualities often edited out of commercial public realm.<\/p>\n
A more diverse urban ecology will require change across the industry. Architects and landscape architects should consider planting earlier in the design process, treating it as infrastructure rather than decoration. Planting palettes should be shaped by microclimate, soil conditions and local ecological character. Clients may also need to accept landscapes that evolve over time rather than appearing fully resolved on practical completion.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the question is about what kind of urban nature the city wants to cultivate.<\/p>\n
One version is safe, dependable and endlessly repeatable. The other is diverse, site-specific and ecologically alive.<\/p>\n
Phil Allen is a director at landscape architect PAD landscapes\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walk through many of London\u2019s new public spaces, and a strange sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu begins to emerge.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[26],"tags":[4920,29859,1165,27],"class_list":["post-77439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-biodiversity","tag-climate-resilience","tag-landscape","tag-london"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116872241736350948","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}