Norfolk growing over 300,000 Olympic Park wetland plants for UK’s largest urban river planting
(Gardenzine news item: October 2009)
The UK’s largest ever urban river and wetland planting will help create a colourful riverside setting and festival atmosphere for the London 2012 Games and new space for people and wildlife in legacy.
Over 30 species of native reeds, rushes, grasses, sedges, wet wildflowers and irises have been grown initially by Salix in its nursery on the Gower peninsular in Wales with around a third grown from cuttings and seeds collected in and around the Olympic Park before construction started in 2008. The plants are now being grown-on in waterbeds and pallets in Thetford.
The Olympic Park parklands will regenerate and open up the waterways that crisscross the area for the public and wildlife. Visitors to the Park during the Games and in legacy will enjoy sloping riverbanks, new riverside cycle and foot paths, wetlands, reedbeds, ditches and swales, ponds and rare wet woodlands. The wetland plants in these areas will create new habitats for a range of native and rare species.
Artists impression
London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe said:
"We set out to ensure that the Olympic Park was just that - a park which as well as being home to fantastic sporting venues, can be enjoyed by local residents, visitors and families for generations to come. The fact that these plants are being nurtured in Norfolk shows how the benefits of hosting the Games are being felt far and wide throughout the country - economic benefits for sure - but also a fantastic sense of pride that the entire nation is part of the Games in 2012."
The Olympic Park will create a green backdrop for the Games and a new green space in legacy for people and wildlife which will host the London 2012 legacy sports facilities including the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velopark, multi-sports arena and Eton Manor outdoor sports complex.
The southern part of the Park will focus on retaining the festival atmosphere from the Games, with riverside gardens, markets, events, cafes and bars. The northern area will use the latest green techniques to manage flood and rain water while providing quieter public space and habitats for hundreds of existing and rare species from kingfishers to otters.
Find out more about the Olympic Park Wetlands on the London 2012 blog
