A major programme of clearance and replanting has transformed parts of the park over the winter. Thanks to a combination of factors, the workforce has been significantly larger in recent months, enabling badly needed work to be completed in time for summer 2009.

Every Friday afternoon during term times, ten students from nearby King's College School have been helping Cannizaro's own gardeners to clear badly overgrown parts of the park including Lady Jane's Wood and the Mediterranean Garden. As a result, the staff have been able to plant some 80 new rhododendrons (above left) and other shrubs and trees, open up a new vista towards the south (above centre), and restore the remotest part of the park, The Retreat (above right). This had become virtually inaccessible last autumn and the Mediterranean Garden had become a wilderness. The wheelchair ramp ruined by erosion has been repaired.

Gardener Abi Rose said: "We have also had one extra member of staff since last October. John Macy, a highly experienced man, has joined us from South Park Gardens while that park has been closed for restoration. He has been working in the Rose Garden, allowing us more time to carry out the new planting elsewhere. This has made a huge difference for Cannizaro as we have been able to achieve so much more. It has shown just what a difference even one extra team member can make."