St James’s Tiny Park

With the rise of automated ticket machines, hundreds of ticket offices across the London underground network became redundant. Instead of allowing these prime locations to fall into disuse, an innovative initiative emerged to transform the former ticket office windows into "Tiny Parks."

The first of these miniature gardens, introduced in 2017 at St James's Park Station in partnership with The Edible Bus Stop, aims to bring greenery into urban spaces, where it is often lacking. Nine of these pocket-sized parks are currently located throughout the London underground network, with each station selected for its botanical name. St James’s Park has two, Wood Green and Kilburn Park each host three, and Belsize Park has one.

Establishing these unique ecosystems involved more than a year of planning to create optimal conditions for these obscure oases to thrive in their confined spaces. Each tiny park is filled with plants chosen for their resilience and ability to flourish with minimal care, including succulents, orchids, and ferns. These carefully curated collections are designed to require watering only once a month, a task entrusted to dedicated staff known as tiny park rangers. With the hardy plants needing little care, the rangers are free to add personal touches. Visitors can look out for these little details like dinosaurs and butterflies hiding within the foliage.