The award-winning Tate Britain garden, which won an RHS gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, is set to transform the gallery's Millbank site. Designed by landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, the garden is a microcosm of a major redesign for the gallery's outdoor space, which will open next spring. The current unloved patch of lawn will become a horticultural haven, featuring exotic plants such as magnolias, sago palms, a chinaberry tree, a pineapple guava, a pomegranate and a fig tree, reflecting London's increasingly Mediterranean climate.
The garden is part of a broader trend of cultural institutions in London rejuvenating their outdoor spaces. The Natural History Museum's South Kensington gardens, which reopened in 2024 after a £25m revamp, attracted over 5 million visitors in its first year. Similarly, the Barbican has filled its Sculpture Court with 30 tonnes of soil for Colombian artist Delcy Morelos's installation Origo, while Kew Gardens hosts the world's largest outdoor exhibition of Henry Moore's sculptures.
Other venues across the UK, such as Compton Verney in Warwickshire, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and Hepworth Wakefield, have successfully integrated art, architecture, and nature. Sculptor Barbara Hepworth once said, 'I prefer my work to be shown outside... sculpture grows in the open light and with the movement of the sun its aspect is always changing.' The Tate Britain garden includes a Hepworth sculpture, a rare feature at the Chelsea Flower Show.
These projects address contemporary issues including the climate emergency, biodiversity loss, and the human need for connection with nature. While expensive makeovers rely on charitable donations, access to both the Tate Britain and Natural History Museum gardens is free. This is vital in a city where private gardens are an unaffordable luxury for many. Gardens, like galleries, offer beauty and tranquillity, and this blending of art and horticulture should be encouraged to flourish.
