A City in Bloom
Our spaces may only be small but the Square Mile is home to over 150 different planted areas that provide the City of London’s community with much needed oases of tranquillity in one of the most densely developed areas of London.
The gardens in the City support a complex community of people, wildlife and plants and have won numerous awards for the standard of their planting and the quality of design thanks to the work of the City Gardens team, local community groups and businesses.
Every year the City enter the prestigious London in Bloom awards as a benchmark for its horticultural standards and have been very successful winning Gold in 2012.
London in Bloom
London in Bloom is a campaign and competition where the Local Boroughs including the City of London, communities, residents and businesses can work together to improve the environment of London to make a greener, cleaner place to live, work and visit.
London in Bloom promotes, supports and encourages gardening, horticulture and environmental sustainability across the 31 boroughs and two cities of Greater London. As such, it is one of 17 regional campaigns which make up Britain in Bloom - Europe’s largest horticultural campaign.
Entries are invited annually from local authorities, businesses, community groups and schools across the region who wish to improve their local environment. This engagement with neighbourhoods, towns, boroughs and cities helps to promote to the wider community the benefits of gardening as a healthy and beneficial pastime for people of all ages and experience.
Britain in Bloom
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) run Britain in Bloom, one of Europe’s largest horticultural campaigns. More than 1,100 cities, towns and villages participate each year to demonstrate their achievements in environmental responsibility, community participation and horticulture. The competition incorporates floral displays, permanent planting, environmental issues: biodiversity and sustainability, as well as recycling, and a clean street scene along with generally showing that community groups and businesses take pride in in the City and wish to prove this to others.
To enter Britain in Bloom an entry must win its particular category the previous year.
How can you get involved?
The City in Bloom is for everyone whether your a local resident, business or school in the Square Mile you can help us make the City look colourful and green.
City Resident
If your window box, balcony or garden can be seen from the street by passers by you can help the city in bloom campaign by planting flowers for all to see.
Even if you don’t think you have the space, you could still get together with your neighbours to make a new garden on your estate!
The RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood campaign supports local community groups in cleaning up and greening up their immediate local environment - whether that’s a street, an estate, a park or any other small patch of communal land.
The It's Your Neighbourhood Awards are non-competitive. Groups are visited by community development, horticultural and environmental 'In Bloom' experts and assessed on community participation, environmental responsibility and gardening achievement. They are provided with valuable feedback on current activities and on-going improvements, and receive an RHS certificate of achievement. There is no charge either for participating or for the support available.
City Business
If you are a business in the City you can do your part by helping green your building. By having plants on the outside of buildings in containers can be a of great benefit in terms of improving the visual aesthetics of the City Scape and bringing colour to the streets.
Please let us know if your business has external planting, whether that be in window boxes, planters or office gardens we want to hear from you.
Contact us at parks.gardens@cityoflondon.gov.uk
City School
The City Gardens Team welcomes ideas form local schools around improving the school grounds or surrounding spaces in the Square Mile. If you have a school garden or external planters around your school we would like to hear from you.
Contact us at parks.gardens@cityoflondon.gov.uk