Battersea Park unveils £150,000 winter garden

The award-winning landscape designer Dan Pearson has restored a neglected area of the park with trees and shrubs to provide a year-round attraction for visitors.

The project was not eligible for Heritage Lottery funding so volunteers raised £150,000 to complete the work.

The garden is in the south-west corner of the 200-acre park.

Originally a heather garden laid down in the 1970s, the park now contains more than 300 trees, 22,000 perennials, two sculptures and a plaque.

The garden is a memorial to Elaine Hodges, a founder member of the charity Friends of Battersea Park, and the inspiration behind the winter garden project.

The design process began in 2004, with a £10,000 bequest from Ms Hodges, and planting ended in 2010.
Dog memorial

Friends of Battersea Park raised the remaining funds with the help of Wandsworth Council, their team of gardeners and Dan Pearson Studios.

The winter gardens was officially opened by London mayor Boris Johnson.

Battersea Park dates back to 1858 and prior to 1846 it was known as Battersea fields.

The park is host to many memorials and sculptures including the Brown Dog statue which commemorates the 232 dogs that died in 1902 as a result of medical experiments.

From 2002 to 2004 £11m of refurbishment works, part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, were carried out in the park and it was re-opened by the Duke of Edinburgh.