In the Japanese seaside resort of Atami, a little south of Tokyo, the cherry blossoms are already turning the landscape a delicate shade of pink. Before too long, it will be London’s turn to burst into bloom, with the mild winter expected to result in an early spring for the capital’s cherry trees. For those eagerly awaiting the arrival of the stunning abundance of petals that London’s cherry trees deliver, it’s time to head to Wembley Park – the capital’s most exciting new neighbourhood.
Cherry Blossoms In London's Wembley Park
About Wembley Park
Wembley Park is London’s most exciting new neighbourhood. Already home to The OVO Arena Wembley, Wembley, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre and Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park is building on its international reputation for music and sporting events and becoming a landmark destination with culture, entertainment, and community at its heart. As a neighbourhood, Wembley Park includes over 4,700 new homes, shops, and places to work, as well as attractive public spaces, with parks and gardens, public squares and wide boulevards for locals and visitors alike to enjoy. When completed, nearly half of the 85-acre site will be open space and private gardens and Wembley Park will be home to the largest single-site of Build to Rent in the UK, with over 6,000 homes, all managed by Quintain Living.
The three-acre southern section of what will be the seven-acre Union Park is the latest milestone in the transformation of Wembley Park, including brand new amenities such as a children’s paddling pool, a playground, a pond, new trees, and expansive lawns, as well as outdoor training equipment.
The neighbourhood continues to welcome innovative food, retail, and leisure experiences, including Amazon Fresh, The White Horse pub by Fuller’s, Black Sheep Coffee, Bread Ahead, Pasta Remoli, Haute Dolci, Masalchi by Atul Kochhar, Chop-Chop London, Out of Office Coffee, Studio 5ive and MoreYoga. The presence of four hotels, London Designer Outlet (LDO), which includes over 70 shops and restaurants with premium brands that offer 70 percent off RRP, and BOXPARK Wembley, which has brought independent street food traders to the area and a dedicated floor to gaming including Pop Golf, Bad Axe and Meetspace VR, make Wembley Park an exceptional destination for culture, entertainment, food, and shopping. Wembley Park’s cultural strategy features a year-long programme of free public events. Recent highlights include International Busking Day, an annual festival celebrating the art of busking and street performance; Wemba's Dream, a performance festival co-produced with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which will soon be moving its headquarters to the neighbourhood. An extensive public art programme animates Wembley Park’s open spaces, with recent commissions by JR, Jason Bruges, Mr. Doodle, Pref, Miriamandtom, Vivien Zhang and Maser. A new purpose-built community centre, The Yellow, provides a weekly programme of free community activities, ranging from youth theatre to Indian classical dance. Follow Wembley Park on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
Londoners on the hunt for urban cherry trees will be delighted by Wembley Park. The place to be is Market Square, which connects the bustling Olympic Way to Wembley Park Boulevard. There, urban landscaping and creative design have joined forces to deliver an abundance of beautiful white cherry blossom, set against the backdrop of the world-famous Wembley Stadium arch.
In 2022, the first cherry blossoms along Olympic Way appeared toward the end of March, but Wembley Park Estate Landscape Manager David Hughes believes the 19 trees in Market Square could bloom earlier this year: “Climate change is doing all sorts of unusual things, with many UK plants now flowering a month earlier. With the extremely mild winter we’ve had (overall), I would not be surprised if the cherry trees started to bloom by mid-March.”
Market Square isn’t the only location in Wembley Park where the spring blossom is eagerly awaited. Repton Gardens – the latest residential development from the award-winning Quintain Living management company, which oversees the rental of more than 3,650 apartments in Wembley Park – features mature trees in its central podium garden. The aspen, birch, and cherry trees are encouraging insects and birds to the development, which is focused on botanical living both inside and out (the three buildings are actually named after the trees – Aspen, Birch and Cherry House).
For those who can’t wait until March, there is another option for enjoying the refreshing sight of cherry blossom locally in Wembley Park – Haute Dolci. The restaurant is famed for its delicious and innovative desserts, which diners can enjoy while sitting beneath the branches of a huge and very Insta-friendly indoor cherry tree.
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