Give a plant a home! Adopt a plant for free with Wayward at National Trust’s Morden Hall Park

Following a successful collaboration in 2018, the National Trust is once again teaming up with landscape, architecture and art practice Wayward to facilitate a plant give away event. This innovative project will allow several thousand plants and materials from the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival to be rehomed. This is your opportunity to take home a stunning plant completely free and bring some green living into your home.

On Saturday 27th July, members of the public can come to Morden Hall Park, a free to enter National Trust property in South London, to adopt a plant for free. By filling out a Wayward Plant adoption form, stating how they will care for the plant and where it will live, visitors will be able to rehome a plant from one of the world’s most prestigious flower shows.

This plant recycling scheme is part of the House of Wayward Plants, a long-term project that facilitates large-scale community plant exchanges and adoption events for unwanted plants. This will be the fourth year that Wayward is the Official Reuse Partner of the RHS, with more than 5000 plants going to over 80 community spaces and school gardens from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show alone – with aims to double that number at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.

This year, the National Trust have expanded this exciting partnership, developing a long-term vision for the plant reuse initiative. In October, Morden Hall Park will become a base for the House of Wayward Plants, creating a permanent plant recycle-reuse centre, while acting as a hub for education and engagement on the site. The reuse centre will be an opportunity to collect, care for and distribute surplus plants and materials to benefit community green spaces year-round. The new space at Morden Hall Park will include the House of Wayward Plants: Smithfield Greenhouse, a pavilion designed by Wayward and commissioned by Culture Mile for Smithfield Rotunda Garden, as well as the House of Wayward Plants adoption booth designed to travel between the RHS Flower Shows.

The July plant adoption coincides with London’s National Park City Festival and, as well as the public adoption, the National Trust is working with Wayward to facilitate giveaways of these rehomed plants to schools and community groups around its London properties. During the National Park City Festival week (20th – 28th July 2019), the National Trust will be teaming up with additional community and creative partners to carry out greening activities beyond its walls. Morden Hall Park will be working with nearby Pollards Hill residents to breathe new life into the estate grounds. At Sutton House the National Trust will be working with local residents and businesses to green up Homerton High Street and at 575 Wandsworth Road, the Trust will be working with residents of two neighbouring estates to create mobile gardens inspired by the house.

Michael Parsons, General Manager of Morden Hall Park comments, We are delighted to welcome the House of Wayward Plants back again this year. There was such a buzz last year with people from all over London coming to rehome these wonderful plants, many of which are quite rare. Living in such a hectic city the adoptions are a great way of connecting thousands of people with new plants, bringing with it a responsibility to care for and encourage nature. The team here at Morden Hall Park is really looking forward to re-homing some of them ourselves – we will be working with young people, using the plants to improve community green spaces in the Pollards Hill Estate, All Saints Recreation Ground in South Wimbledon and the new Farm Road Community Garden, with the aim of improving access to nature and enhancing wellbeing.

Heather Ring, Creative Director of Wayward, comments, We’re thrilled to continue and expand upon our long-running partnerships with Royal Horticultural Society and the National Trust, and to create a base for the House