Matt Pottage, Head of Horticultural Landscape Strategy for the Royal Parks.

Posted: December 7th, 2024

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Perhaps every reader will have walked in one of the Royal Parks. I, for one, have often admired the striking planting in Regents Park and St. James’s Park as I hurry along. But I must admit that I have never given much thought to the care of the gardens or their history.

The other day I spent an enthralling hour interviewing Matt Pottage, who has recently been appointed the first ever Horticultural and Landscape Strategy for the Royal Parks.

Matt is one of the most charismatic figures in the contemporary world of gardening.  Extraordinarily knowledgeable, very charming with a down to earth approach, Royal Parks are lucky to have him.

‘My aim is to help the Royal Parks deliver their objective of world class horticulturein all the eight parks that constitute the Royal Parks.  They have lovely bones stretching back to Charles Bridgeman 1690-1738 and John Nash and beyond.’

The parks are:  Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Green Park, Greenwich Park, Victoria Tower Gardens, the Regents Park, St. James’s Park and surprisingly Brompton Cemetery.  Each park has its own Friends Group.

Apart from the anomaly of Brompton Cemetery, the parks were originally used for hunting by many courtsey of King Henry VIII.  They cover almost 5,000 acres in total.

Matt has to draw up a horticultural strategy for all the parks as well a developing what he calls  ‘iconic horticultural statements.’  Many of the parks have bedding and most of them have roses, but doese every park need the same? Then there are myriad possibilities, such as autumn bulbs, jungle planting, a modern rose garden or how about an autumn flower garden.

Both Bushy and Richmond Parks are triple SSI’s due to acid grassland habitat which has to be respected.  He is realistic in that not all the parks necessarily need something new but could look better in places’. ‘There are so many people walking through the parks it ought to be exciting for them.’

One exciting idea is to plant up around the waterfall in the Dell in Hyde Park.  An RHS archivist unearthed a photograph c.1910 showing it awash with tree ferns and palm trees.  ‘At the moment it is rather over grown, we could liven it up taking it back to that Edwardian moment’.

A two acre garden including a meadow garden to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II has been designed by HTA Design collaborating with Noel Kingsbury for Regents Park.  ‘It is quite edgy.’  It will incorporate the crushed up remains of an old horticultural nursery that used to cover the site that has now been moved to Hyde Park with soil and low fertility planting.

What does he think of rewilded gardens, I bravely ask? He retorts the royal parks are large enough to have both native meadows and planet-friendly gardening.  But who wants to see plants that you see by the side of the road or train track in a designed garden? Good point.

Matt finds the unique microclimate of London very exciting. It is much warmer than elsewhere.  He cites a house in West Kensington with has a bougainvillea flowering for six months a year. But he points out that climate change is a significant challenge as are compaction and extreme rainfall. Where does the water go in winter?  The parks are very well used. These are all problems to contend with.

Matt’s excitement is infectious, and I suspect it won’t be long before members of the public he describes as ‘plant-blind’, who  notice the greenery but not the plants, will be spotting the changes.  He wants to create a sense of theatre, introducing unusual plants, and creating a sense of awe and inspiration.  He points out that people travel to Japan specifically to admire the cherry blossom or Canada to see autumn colour.  ‘We can have these moments too in our parks. Going into a garden is to step through a portal to another world.’

Brompton Cemetery sits oddly within the curtilage of the Royal Parks. Originally planned as a ‘garden cemetery’ in 1840, and still a working cemetery, it underwent a £6.2 million renovation a few years ago.  It had degenerated into a bit of a state before the Royal Parks took it on. Now it is a haven of wildlife and tranquillity. The popular guided tours take in such horticultural luminaries as the great 19^th century Scottish plant hunter, Robert Fortune and members of the Veitch family of the famous nursery fame.

I thought that the Royal Parks were funded by the Crown.  It was a surprise to discover it is a charity with a small fund-raising team. Until 2017 it was run by the Department of Culture Media and Sport.  A large proportion of the income comes from events in Hyde Park, boating on the Serpentine, the hire of deck chairs and several other commercial activities.

A lot of the maintenance is outsourced to contractors. Just before Matt arrived, head gardeners were appointed to each park. ‘Giving them support and help is a large part of his role. Your team are your right and your left hands.  I believe that you have to be kind to people.  Long-standing staff are special to you’. He says that two trustees of the Royal Parks, Wesley Kerr and Aurora Antrim are inspirational and understand what good horticulture is as does the Director of Parks, Darren Share.

Still ridiculously youthful, Matt has had a stellar career.  His passion for gardening began as a child helping his grandma with her garden in Yorkshire. Luckily his parents’ lack of enthusiasm for all things horticultural gave him free rein to experiment in their garden.  From an early age he was captivated by succulents and cacti, an enthusiasm that shows no signs of abating as those of you who read the article on his Fulham garden in The Garden a few months ago will know. Another love is for monkey puzzle trees.  When he was in year 6 at school his teacher brought in a few monkey tree branches.  ‘I thought she had made them.’  On leaving school he enrolled in a horticultural degree at Bishop Burton College.

His tutor, recognising his prodigious talent, urged him to apply to Royal Horticultural Society’s Diploma at Wisley in Surrey. ‘Suddenly I was a normal person.  Everyone was talking about plants and gardening,’ says Matt describing what it was like on arriving at Wisley to do the two-year Diploma course. He was the youngest student on the course aged 18.

At the time he graduated in 2006 the RHS were building a big glasshouse at Wisley and expanding the team.  He was asked to look after the cacti and succulent collection. The perfect job.  At the same time he enrolled on the RHS Master’s of Horticulture.  At the time it was quite a struggle studying every evening after a day of physical work.  But it proved a wise move. Matt was rapidly promoted at Wisley and the qualification gave him the kudos to prove that he knew what he was doing.

In his mid-twenties he was appointed to his first management role, looking after the woodland garden team. He was appointed Curator at the tender age of 29, the youngest curator ever.  He modestly ascribes part of his success to the fact that he knew the two-hundred acre garden extremely well and also how the RHS functioned. ‘I had a head start but I have to admit that it was challenging.’

He delivered a ten-year strategy plan.  ‘It felt like a crossroads as I was coming to the end.’ It was time to move on.  He jumped at the opportunity to join the Royal Parks.

It will be fascinating to see what changes Matt makes in his tenure at the Royal Parks.