The Gardens needs your help to protect and care for our trees!    Trees are vital for life and the environment, and essential in our fight against global climate change and increasing biodiversity by providing clean air, shelter, and a natural habitat for wildlife. They provide daily life with astonishing beauty, changing colour and structure as the seasons pass and can live for hundreds and even thousands of years. Birmingham Botanical Gardens is home to over 500 magnificent indigenous and non-native trees and are proud to be part of the International Conifer Conservation Progr ..read more

We are very excited to announce that our appeal to raise funds for the Composting Project has been successful, and work will commence shortly. Thank you to Veolia Environmental Trust, via the Landfill Communities Trust, and everyone who has supported this project; every donation makes a difference, thank you.  Since the gardens opened in 1832, composting has been a vital procedure to dispose of green waste, condition the soil, and improve its fertility. The Composting Project means we can replace the existing 60-year-old structures with new facilities to process green waste and establish ..read more

Happy new year! We hope you had an enjoyable festive season with your loved ones and friends. You’ll notice that we’re enjoying a little more daylight every day – by the end of the month, we’ll be enjoying a whole hour of extra light – and the gardening team will take advantage of every additional minute. January is one of the coldest months, but the gardening team will keep warm by doing their regular outdoor exercise of cleaning paths of leaves, and of snow and ice if there is any. At this time of year, we can’t blame visitors for dwelling a little longer than usual in the warm glasshouses ..read more

Can you believe we are almost at the end of another year? And what a year it has been at the Gardens! We have been awarded £590,814 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore our four historic glasshouses and have also secured £40,000 from Veolia Environmental Trust via the Landfill Communities Fund to build new, environmentally sustainable composting facilities. We hosted the Queen’s Baton Relay for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in the summer, took part in the magnificent PoliNations event in the city centre, and earlier in the year, also welcomed a new chief executive and a ..read more

Contents  Birmingham Botanical Gardens Lickey Hills Country Park Forge Mill Lake Sutton Park Moseley Bog and Joy’s Wood Kings Heath Park Warstone Lane Cemetery Edgbaston Reservoir Harborne Railway Walkway Livery Street Bridge to the Mailbox Explore the Gardens with our map   As winter overtakes autumn in the seasonal race, the thought of venturing into the chilly outdoors might make your teeth chatter.  With the inviting hug of Christmas just a few weeks away, who can blame you?  But before you reject the idea of leaving your house for unessential trips to work or the sho ..read more

As Trustees’ Week is underway (November 7-11), we want to celebrate the talented group of individuals that make up our board of trustees. Sue Beardsmore, chair of trustees, explains what the role is – and why it is so rewarding. What attracted you to being chair of trustees at Birmingham Botanical Gardens?  Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a great treasure, in need of help, and I’ve been a member for more than 30 years. The Gardens are nearly 200 years old, but if they’re to survive into a third century they need huge support and a lot of work. We’ve just been awarded a National ..read more

It may only be November, but we are preparing for Christmas. If like us, you love the festive season, you’ll be pleased to know we’ll be taking delivery of our Christmas trees on November 15. As usual, we’ll be placing a stunning 15ft-high tree in the car park to welcome visitors and we’ll place smaller ones in the front entrance. We promise they will be a sight for sore eyes and will help to get you in the festive mood over the following few weeks. Talking of Christmas, we’re hosting a fantastic winter trail from November 26. Luminate is an almost mile-long trail of gorgeous lights, light pla ..read more

The extra layers are out of the wardrobe and the thicker socks are already keeping the feet warm – that nip in the air means autumn is here. But what a beautiful season it is. We can already see the lush reds and golds forming in the trees, ready to start carpeting the lawns later in the month. Before we get on to the task of sweeping up all the fallen leaves, the gardening team will be busy lifting the cacti and other succulents from the Loudon Terrace. Don’t worry if you’re visiting the Birmingham Cactus and Succulent Annual Show on October 2, though, as you’ll still be able to admire them ..read more

  Birmingham Botanical Gardens has been awarded £590,814 from the The National Lottery Heritage Fund – with the potential to secure a further £4.4 million – to restore its four historic, listed glasshouses. The Gardens, a Grade II* listed charity based in Edgbaston, has received the development grant so it can develop plans for its £13 million ‘Growing our Green Heritage’ project, which aims to restore its historic glasshouse estate, as well as additional visitor and community resources, to create a place of horticultural excellence and outstanding green space. As the project progresses ..read more

Our horticulturalists have reflected on the incredible time they had at the PoliNations festival in the city centre. Wayne Williams, head gardener, and Chris Howell, worked with community organisations to plant a variety of plants for the garden festival in Victoria Square, which took place between September 2 and 18, and then gave free daily guided tours to visitors. Wayne said: “We were really proud to be part of such a fantastic festival. The Botanical Gardens are a real celebration of different cultures and horticulture and PoliNations echoed that, on a dramatic scale in the heart of the c ..read more