Surrounded by Azaleas: The Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park

We're pretty blessed in London to have a large selection of parks to visit, offering a well-needed sensory break from the beige/grey/green palette that the city streets so abundantly grace us with. We'll all have our favourite parks and maybe, like me, you've also got a list of parks that you want to check out. If the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park is not on that list, hopefully, it will be by the end of this mini blog post.

Appearing on maps from the 1770s, what we now call the Isabella Plantation, was then known as The Sleyt or Isabell Slade. Whilst there may have been a Madam or Miss Isabella, the name is more likely to come from an old English word, isabel, meaning a brownish or dingy yellow (which accurately describes the colour of the soil in this section of the park). Sleyt, and later "slade", describes boggy ground or open space between woods or banks - a feature which you can still experience today.

The woodland was established in the 1830s by Lord Sidmouth - park ranger and former Prime Minister - to create a section of woodland free of deer. After World War II and the introduction of azaleas from Japan to the West, the woodland was transformed into a woodland garden and opened to the public for the first time in 1953. In addition to the azaleas, a range of habitats have been nurtured, resulting in a diverse 40-acre woodland garden: a criss-cross of native and non-native species. Underneath oak, beech and sweet chestnut trees lie ponds, streams, bogs, heather, bluebells, magnolia and many unusual shrubs and flowers.

Rhododendrons are some of the most inasive species we have in Britain, preventing the regrowth of many of our native plants and completely changing the acidity of the soil. Whilst it is absolutely imperative that we as a nation remove this species from our gardens, parks and wild lands, the Isabella plantation is an example of how we might address the problem. Many people don’t want to entirely get rid of them as they are very beautiful. The Isabella Plantation, and other sites like it, could be a way to allow people to continue to appreciate a wonderful display of spring flowers as well as become familiar with the plant that they should remove elsewhere, all within a contained and regulated area.

What do you think? …

But why am I telling you about the Isabella Plantation right now???

Because right now the azaleas are in bloom...

... and they're fantastic!

So, if you have the time, head over to the enchanting Isabella Plantation of Richmond Park to get your visual dose of greens, pinks, purples and reds. Take time to look up, look down and look all around. How does it feel to be immersed in these colours? What scents are you picking up? Do you find yourself sticking to the path, or do you allow your curiosity to take you to a bush further away, or follow a butterfly into the bracken? Can you figure out which way is north by the sunrays peeping through the canopy? Did you pack enough snacks? (very important question.)

If you don't live in London or are seeing this after Spring, the Royal Parks have recently released a walkthrough video so you can get a glimpse of what we're talking about.

That's all for now,

Ways of the Wild <3