Matthew Pottage has been a well-known name within the industry for the last two decades working with the RHS, now taking on his latest venture as Head of Horticulture and Landscape Strategy at The Royal Parks charity. 

Pottage fell in love with gardening from an early age, a passion shared by his grandmother who was happiest in her garden. This led to training at Bishop Burton College near York, followed by 20 years at the Royal Horticultural Society, where nearly half of his time was spent as Curator of RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey. 

“I find the plant world fascinating, and have always felt an emotional connection to trees, and to old landscapes,” says Pottage. “I love the positive impact gardening can have on both people and biodiversity.” 

Pottage oversaw RHS Garden Wisley as curator through its the largest chapter of change in its history. The RHS Key Investment Programme saw some £80m being spent on the flagship garden and its infrastructure, and alongside that, Pottage delivered a horticultural development plan which saw many new features for the garden, including a new landscape by Piet Oudolf, a 75m-long Wisteria Walk, an Exotic Garden and a new orchid house.  

Of course it’s not just about projects; Pottage more than doubled the volume of National Plant Collections held there and raised the standards of gardening across the whole site, while adopting ‘no-dig’ practices – to support soil organisms and structure – and ditched historic chemical spray programmes. 

Now working with The Royal Parks, the charity is dedicated to caring for the most famous collection of urban parks in the world. “Our role is to conserve and enhance this parkland for the permanent benefit of the nation, so that everyone will always be able to enjoy these exceptional green spaces,” says Pottage. 

The Royal Parks include Bushy Park, The Green Park, Greenwich Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, Richmond Park and St. James’s Park.  

“But we also look after other important public spaces in London, including Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens.” 

The charity has a number of objectives; protecting, conserving, maintaining and caring for the Royal Parks, including their natural and designed landscapes and built environment to a high standard – consistent with their historic, horticultural, environmental and architectural importance. 

“The parks are here so that visitors can enjoy using the green spaces for recreation, health and well-being,” says Pottage, “The charity provides a wide range of sporting and cultural activities and events.” 

The teams deliver numerous initiatives to maintain and develop the biodiversity of the Royal Parks, including the protection of their wildlife and natural environment, and they work to manage these spaces in a sustainable way. 

“We deliver learning and training activities to numerous groups to support their understanding of the history, culture, heritage and natural environment of the Royal Parks and to inspire interest in the natural environment more widely.”  

The eight Royal Parks have been around for many centuries, and The Royal Parks charity manages the parks on behalf of the government. The charity itself was created in March 2017 to manage the 5,000 acres of historic Royal parkland across London. 

By becoming a charity, the team have achieved greater flexibility to invest in longer-term restoration and conservation projects. Examples include the completion of a four-year, £12million Greenwich Park Revealed restoration project which has restored the 17th century landscape of this historic park, has created new learning and training opportunities for the local community and has improved the natural environment within Greenwich Park.  

“We also deliver a wider range of conservation projects, for example, we have created reed beds at St. James’s Park – and are now starting to see kingfishers,” says Pottage.  

“These projects help us to boost the parks’ biodiversity by creating and protecting the habitats of the wonderful wildlife within. In other words, we’re ‘bringing the countryside back into central London’. Projects such as these support a more sustainable future for the parks and will help to ensure that they are always here to welcome everyone who needs them.” 

Having joined the team in June 2024, Pottage believes that The Royal Parks manages some of the most significant parks in the world, bringing together people, biodiversity and horticulture, and the opportunity to support both the planet and its people through these landscapes excites me. 

“The Royal Parks has a Corporate Strategy to Conserve and Enhance the park landscapes, which includes world-class excellence in horticulture. So, my role, which is new to the charity, will be working across all eight of the parks to support the Head Gardeners and Park Managers, to realise this in a way which is sensitive to the different characteristics of the parks, and in a way which is both sustainable and able to deal with our changing climate.” 

Over the years, there have been several challenges within the horticultural industry, with the changing climate is perhaps the most significant, “and it isn’t simply about hotter, drier summers, but it’s also about huge weather extremes and trying to work within those parameters,” says Pottage. 

“It feels like Mother Nature throws a new weather pattern at us each year, which can have a lasting impact on our parks and gardens, especially for older trees. 

“London’s micro-climate often emphasises the long-term warming effects that the climate is transitioning to, and we have an opportunity to be experimenting with a broader range of plants in the parks, especially in conditions where our native plants are no longer flourishing. We cannot sit still, and pretend climate change isn’t happening. But we can, and must, diversify our planting palettes and move away from traditional monocultures.” 

For Pottage, his next steps are very much focused on learning about all the parks, and where the opportunities lie to further delight and inspire the visitors through exciting horticulture that really puts The Royal Parks firmly on the map for those wishing to see inspirational planting that is sensitive to the changing climate.  

“There is already lots of wonderful content in the parks, but more that we can do.”