Editing Richmond Park (section)

===Plantings and memorials===
[[File:Isabella Plantation - geograph.org.uk - 587462.jpg|thumb|left|[[Azaleas]] flowering in [[Isabella Plantation]] in springtime]]
[[File:Prince Charles' Spinney, Richmond Park - geograph.org.uk - 349496.jpg|thumb|upright|"Handkerchief" tree (''[[Davidia involucrata]]'') in Prince Charles' Spinney]]

The park's open slopes and woods are based on lowland [[acid soils]]. The grassland is mostly managed by grazing. The park contains numerous woods and copses, some created with donations from members of the public.

Between 1819 and 1835, [[Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth|Lord Sidmouth]], Deputy Ranger, established several new plantations and enclosures, including Sidmouth Wood and the ornamental [[Isabella Plantation]], both of which are fenced to keep the deer out.<ref name= "Landscape History"/><ref name = "Cloake 196"/> After World War II the existing woodland at Isabella Plantation was transformed into a woodland garden, and is organically run, resulting in a rich flora and fauna. Opened to the public in 1953,<ref name= "Pollard and Crompton 32">Pollard and Crompton, p. 32</ref>  it is now a major visitor attraction in its own right. It is best known for the flowering, in April and May, of its [[evergreen]] [[azaleas]] and [[camellias]], which have been planted next to its ponds and streams. There are also many rare and unusual trees and shrubs.<ref name="TRP Isabella">{{cite web | url=https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/richmond-park/isabella-plantation| title=Isabella Plantation | publisher=[[The Royal Parks]] | work=Richmond Park | access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref>

The Jubilee Plantation was created in 1887 to commemorate the [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rabbitts|2014|p=120}}</ref> Prince Charles' Spinney was planted out in 1951<ref>McDowall, p. 131</ref> with trees protected from the deer by fences, to preserve a natural habitat. The bluebell glade is managed to encourage native British bluebells. Teck Plantation, established in 1905,<ref name= "McDowall 122">McDowall, p. 122</ref> commemorates the Duke and Duchess of Teck, who lived at White Lodge. Their daughter Mary married [[George V]].<ref name="McDowall 70"/> Tercentenary Plantation, in 1937,<ref name= "McDowall 122"/> marked the 300th anniversary of the enclosure of the park. Victory Plantation was established in 1946<ref name= "McDowall 122"/> to mark the end of the Second World War. Queen Mother's Copse, a small triangular enclosure on the woodland hill halfway between Robin Hood Gate and Ham Gate, was established in 1980<ref name= "McDowall 122"/> to commemorate the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

The park lost over 1000 mature trees during the [[Great Storm of 1987]] and the [[Burns' Day Storm]] of 1990. The subsequent replanting included a new plantation, Two Storms Wood, a short distance into the park from Sheen Gate. Some extremely old trees can also be seen inside this enclosure.<ref name="Listed"/>

Bone Copse, which was named in 2005, was started by the Bone family in 1988 by purchasing and planting a tree from the park authorities in memory of Bessie Bone who died in that year. Trees have been added annually, and in 1994 her husband Frederick Bone also died. The annual planting has been continued by their children.

The park's Platinum Jubilee Woodland, marking the [[Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II]], was opened by Sir David Attenborough in 2023.<ref name="Jubilee woodland">{{Cite web |date=20 March 2023 |title=Sir David Attenborough plants a tree for a new woodland in Richmond Park to honour the Late Queen Elizabeth II |url=https://www.frp.org.uk/sir-david-attenborough-plants-a-tree-for-a-new-woodland-in-richmond-park-to-honour-the-late-queen-elizabeth-ii/ |access-date=2 April 2023 |website=Friends of Richmond Park}}</ref>

====James Thomson and Poet's Corner====
[[File:Ian Dury-Memorial Bench.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ian Dury]] [[memorial bench]]]]
Poet's Corner, an area at the north end of Pembroke Lodge Gardens, commemorates the poet  [[James Thomson (poet, born 1700)|James Thomson]] (1700–1748), who was living in Richmond at the time of his death. A curved metal bench inscribed with lines by Thomson and known as ''Poet's Seat'' is located there. Sculpted by Richard Farrington, it was based on an idea by Jane Fowles.<ref name="Farrington">{{cite web | url=http://www.richardfarrington.com/seats_richmond.htm | title=Richmond&nbsp;– Poet's Seat | publisher=Richard Farrington: Sculptor | access-date=28 February 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042022/http://www.richardfarrington.com/seats_richmond.htm | archive-date=4 March 2016 | df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Monuments">{{cite web | url=https://www.royalparks.org.uk/press-and-media/factsheets-on-the-royal-parks/monuments/monuments-in-richmond-park | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511191959/http://www.royalparks.org.uk/press/factsheets-on-the-royal-parks/monuments/monuments-in-richmond-park |archive-date=11 May 2012 | title=Monuments in Richmond Park | publisher=[[The Royal Parks]] | access-date=7 February 2015}}</ref>

A wooden memorial plaque with an [[ode]] to Thomson by the writer and historian [[John Heneage Jesse]] was formerly located near Pembroke Lodge stables, where it was installed in 1851. The plaque was replaced by the [[Selborne Society]] in 1895.<ref name="Monuments"/>

In 2014 Poet's Corner was re-sited to the other side of the main path and the ode, on a re-gilded board, was installed in a completely new oak frame. The new Poet's Corner, funded by the Friends of Richmond Park and the Visitor Centre at Pembroke Lodge, and by a donation in memory of Wendy Vachell, also includes three curved benches made from reclaimed [[teak]]. The benches are inscribed with a couplet by the Welsh poet [[W. H. Davies]], "A poor life this, if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare".<ref name="New Poet's Corner">{{cite journal | title=New Poet's Corner | journal=Friends of Richmond Park Newsletter |date=Autumn 2014 | page=6}}</ref>

Benches, also sculpted by Richard Farrrington,<ref name="Farrington"/> at King Henry's Mound are inscribed with a few lines from  [[The Seasons (Thomson)|Thomson's poem "The Seasons"]].<ref name="Monuments"/>

Poet's Corner is linked to King Henry's Mound by the John Beer Laburnum Arch, named after one of Pembroke Lodge Gardens' former charge-hands. The arch has a display of yellow [[laburnum]] flowers in May.<ref name="FRP Guide73">{{cite book | title=''"Gardens" in'' Guide to Richmond Park | author=Jo Scrivener|publisher=[[Friends of Richmond Park]] | year=2011 | page=73|isbn=978-0-9567469-0-0}}</ref>

====Ian Dury====

In 2002 a "musical bench", designed by Mil Stricevic,<ref name="Stricevic">{{cite web | website= Milish|title=Reasons to be Cheerful 2000| url=https://www.milish.studio/#/reasons-to-be-cheerful/| access-date=14 February 2024 }}</ref> was placed in a favoured viewing spot of rock singer and lyricist [[Ian Dury]] (1942–2000) near Poet's Corner. On the back of the bench are the words "[[Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3|Reasons to be cheerful]]", the title of one of Dury's songs.<ref name="Monuments"/> The [[solar-power]]ed seat was intended to allow visitors to plug in and listen to eight of his songs as well as an interview, but was subjected to repeated [[vandalism]].<ref name="Mirror">{{cite news | url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/the-blockheads-star-ian-durys-musical-203992 | title=The Blockheads star Ian Dury's musical memorial repeatedly vandalised in London's Richmond Park | work=[[Daily Mirror]] | location= London|date=26 January 2012 | access-date=4 July 2024}}</ref> In 2015 the bench was refurbished and the [[MP3 players]] and solar panels were replaced with metal plates on which a [[QR code]] can be scanned via a [[smartphone]]. Visitors can access nine [[Ian Dury and the Blockheads]] songs and hear Dury's ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' interview with [[Sue Lawley]], first broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] on 15 December 1996.<ref name="Dury bench">{{Cite web |url=https://iandury.co.uk/memorial-bench/ |title=The 'Reasons to Be Cheerful' Sonic Vista Bench |website= [[Ian Dury]]|access-date=1 January 2024}}</ref>