Parks and gardens with plane tree collections

This section only includes a selection of sites in London, those with trees of greater interest in size or age, or with variation in variety and form. In most cases the variation is likely not to be deliberate, and to reflect what varieties were available at the time. The list includes some gardens that are normally only open at a charge.

• Central London Royal Parks, that is St. James's Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. They contain different forms in variety, of mixed ages, particularly in Hyde Park.
• Central London squares. The majority of these private communal garders date from the 19th century or earlier. They may have huge trees, and sometimes interesting ones. Public squares worth visiting for the variety of trees are many, and include Brunswick Square and Russell Square Gardens. Access to private squares needs to be negotiated, or obtained on any open days they may hold. For some of these, the trees can be seen from public roads.

• Battersea Park. Has many mature plane trees. It includes good scenic avenues of planes, these include the one on the central east west axis, and the avenue on the north carriage road, beside the river. There are some forms of the oriental plane, and many excellent specimens of the common old forms.
• Beddington Park, though not necessarily with a large range of forms, there are some very large trees.
• Clapham Common The planting includes a number of planes, the range of varieties being typical of a later 19th century park.
• Highbury Fields. Contains some distinctive hybrid trees. Includes especially a clone with a fine shaped crown, undulating branches, and deeply lobed leaves. Specimens on the east side opposite Ronalds Road, and on the west side by Baalbeck Road.
• Green Park and St. James's Park have a good range of old and large trees. Also worth looking at the trees alongside The Mall, which may be mixed forms.
• Hyde Park probably has the greatest range of types in the capital. It includes most of the common forms planted early on, many as very large specimens, as well as a few less common, rarely seen or unknown forms.
• Kelsey Park in Beckenham, a historic park that has some very large trees by the lakes, and some other old variants. The larger forms may well date from from the early 19th century Repton landscaping, or even before that.
• Kennington Park, Lambeth. Has many fine specimen planes, probably dating from its early years in the second half of the 19th to the first half of the 20th century.
• Kensington Gardens has some less common forms, and is also useful for seeing difference between the older clones when planted in mixed avenues; for instance alongside the lawns on either side of the Albert Memorial.
• Kew Gardens is notable for some of the oldest trees, including some interesting varieties that may not exist outside the gardens. There are also some younger trees of botanic interest, especially as more recent plantings are mainly those of botanic interest rather than cultivated forms. Payment needed for entry.
• London Fields in Hackney is parkland dating from the 19th century. The main interest is in some large planes, but there is also interesting variation in a few. Neighbouring roads contain some variable younger specimens.
• Morden Hall Park has some sizable Oriental planes by the river, and other interesting forms, including by the tram line.
• Osterley Park, a historic garden with a historic Oriental plane, and several other types scattered round the land. National Trust restrictions apply for part of the parkland.
• Regent's Park, like the other royal parks has a lot of mature planes. However the range of forms is perhaps not as wide as the central royal parks.
• Russell Square Gardens contains a good range of sizable specimens of different types.
• Southwark Park. A typical range of trees for one of the 19th century parks. There are some avenues and lines where contrasts in form, growth habit, foliage colours, and other aspects stand out clearly, often at a distance. They include many of the older forms common in Inner London.
• Syon Park, Brentford. Historic park, has some interesting specimen planes, including some relatively young ones. Payment needed for entry.
• Victoria Embankment Gardens and Whitehall Gardens. These two spaces alongside Embankment lie on opposite sides of the Hungerford bridge on the north side of the Thames. They contain a variety of differing forms.
• Victoria Park in Bethnal Green has many interesting and sizable trees of the common forms in inner London. As with Southwark Park, differences can be especially noticeable with variation in types of tree in avenues and lines of trees.
• Wandle Park, Colliers Wood, with some big trees and some interesting variants.

Outside London

The principal collections include the following.

• Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire which has the most significant collection, forming the only National Plant Collection for planes. It is also notable for the 'Mottisfont Plane', with a very large trunk, now believed to be caused by the fusion of at least two trees.


• Cambridge Botanic Garden is primarily for botanically interesting specimens, so it has few London planes. There are several Oriental planes, of different forms. Also present here is a tree labelled Platanus orientalis f. Digitata, though quite unlike the more common modern cultivar.
• Jermyn's Arboretum, Hampshire has a limited range of plane trees, which used some years ago to contain the only specimens known to me of the variety 'Bloodgood'.
• Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire has a number of odd forms, as well as some small to medium sized Occidental planes.

Other sites that have a range include the grounds of some older universities and colleges, notably both at Oxford and Cambridge. Many historic gardens also have some uncommon trees.

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28-Dec-2022