Trees of Fulham Cemetery
A love of trees is at the heart of Fulham Cemetery Friends' formation. Fulham Cemetery is a precious urban forest, although it has lost many great trees over recent years. Fortunately, a new programme of tree planting started in 2024.
Fulham Cemetery tree map
Fulham Cemetery Friends maintains this custom Google Map showing the locations of the most interesting trees, and all new trees. Open the map in a new window to show or hide the layers, many of which are described below.
Map shortcut: bit.ly/fulhamcemtrees
Champion trees
Here are some of Fulham Cemetery's most interesting trees, many unfortunately declining due to age.
Learn more here: Champion trees 👉
(including the story of cherry trees in Fulham Cemetery)
"Kanzan" Japanese cherry
The southwest avenue of pink cherry blossoms is one of the cemetery's most distinctive features. Probably planted in the 1950s, only 6 trees remain, approaching the end of their natural life.
Tai-haku "great white" Japanese cherry
Only 1 of the 3 cherry trees in this photo from 2011 remains, in what used to be an avenue along the northwest path. There are only 3 of these magnificent spreading trees remaining in the cemetery.
"Ukon" Japanese cherry
There is only a single specimen of this tree with its unusual creamy-white, almost greenish blossoms. It grows right behind the large Cross of Sacrifice war memorial.
Purple maple "crimson king"
This large purple leaved maple tree grows right in the centre of the cemetery on the main avenue. In spring it's covered by yellow-green catkin-like flowers.
Japanese crabapple
Several of these showy trees grew along the southeastern path. Only two remain, in poor health. Likely Malus × floribunda Siebold ex Van Houtte.
Medlar trees
Just one medlar fruit tree remains. At least another 4 were lost over the previous 20 years. There are not many medlar trees in London!
Magnolia & climbing rose
The magnolia blooms in spring and the rose in summer. Underneath there is a secret green room for children to discover.
Zelkova serrata
Also called Japanese elm or keyaki, this large tree with its distinctive saw-toothed leaves is in the north of the cemetery, with a mysterious plaque dedicated to one Spider Baker.
Learn more about these trees: Champion trees 👉
New trees 2024
As of 14 January 2024, 36 new trees have been planted:
23 Japanese cherry trees
5 Tai-haku, 6 Shirotae, 3 yedoensis (white blossoms) and 9 Kanzan (pink blossoms)4 crabapples
2 Malus trilobata, 2 Malus sylvestris2 magnolias
2 cedars
Atlantica, Deodara1 Scots pine
2 silver birches
1 Norway maple
1 Indian horse chestnut
View the tree map to see where each type of tree has been planted. Photo album
View the tree map to show the paths layer.
Existing paths and tree avenues
These layers show the main paved and unpaved paths in the cemetery.
Fulham cemetery has the remnants of several avenues of flowering trees that were probably planted in the mid-20th century. This includes white and pink Japanese cherries, medlars, crabapples, and plum trees. Most of these avenues have lost some or all their trees in the past 20 years.
North western path: Japanese cherry, Prunus Tai-haku "Great White". Was 8-10 trees, only 1 remains.
North central path: Japanese cherry, Prunus Tai-haku "Great White". Only 2 trees remain. Unknown how many there were, but there are at least 5 stumps.
South western path: Pink Japanese cherry, probably Prunus serrulata 'Kanzan'. 6 trees remain, 1 near death. At least 6 stumps.
South eastern, south central, and south path: Medlar, crabappple, and plum avenues. 1 medlar, 6 crabapple, 2 Japanese crab, and 1 plum remain.
Lime & ash avenue: Unlike the flowering avenues, this one is still in rude health. Running the full length of the south half of the cemetery, it changes from lime trees to ash near the top.
Principal avenue: The path from the gate at Fulham Palace Road to the war memorial was tree-lined since the cemetery's inception. It was cut down in the late 1960s or 70s, probably due to Dutch Elm Disease. A variety of trees today grow along it, including several cedars, dating from the 1980s.
Champion trees
This layer shows some of the cemetery's oldest and most impressive trees.
Potential tree locations
This layer shows 50 locations where new trees could be planted.
Water points
The paths layer also shows the location of the water points in the cemetery.
Lost trees
Here are some of the trees lost over the past 20 years.
Weeping cherries
There was a line of these small umbrella-shaped cherry trees along the path from Munster Road. All are gone now, but new cherries have been planted in 2024.
Crabapple trees
This beautiful lone crabapple grew in the northwest corner of the cemetery. It blew down in early 2024. Along the south path many more crabapples have also been lost.
Cherry tree avenues
These pictures were taken 16 years apart, 2007 and 2023, at the same spot looking north on the south-western path, with the lodge at the end of the path on the left. Only 3 of the 10 "Kanzan" pink cherry trees in the first picture remain.
Note: this area is currently affected by a fungus, which is why there have been no new trees planted here.
More cherry trees planned!
Fulham Cemetery Friends hope to gradually restore these cherry tree avenues with new plantings. 23 new cherry trees were planted in 2024, but there are still many gaps in the erstwhile avenues.
In March 2024 we received agreement in principle from the Sakura Project for a grant of an additional 16 cherry trees, to be planted in winter 2025/26, at the locations shown.
Elm tree avenues
In an aerial photo taken in 1966 you can see neat lines of trees along the principal avenue and the north-south avenue. In an aerial photo from 1981 these trees are all gone. If you look at Margravine Cemetery in the same photos, you can also see the disappearance of their elm tree avenue. It seems very likely that these two cases had the same cause.
Since the late 1960s a new aggresive strain of Dutch elm disease has spread very rapidly in Britain, killing many millions of elms and causing great changes in the appearance of many landscapes. Today, most people born after the mid-1970s have never seen a mature elm tree.
Read more:
Since ancient times, the elm has held associations with death and the supernatural — perhaps because of the tree’s ability to resurrect itself from a stump. Coffins were commonly made from elm wood, as was the notorious ‘Tyburn Tree’ gallows in London.
Margravine Cemetery's elm tree avenue in July 1966. Photo: NCAP
You can see a photo of them in 1976 on the London Picture Archive.
In the past
In Victorian times, mention was made of the cemetery's beautiful trees. C. J. Fèret wrote in 1900 of "the principal avenue, which is prettily overarched with trees through a portion of its course".
The Principal Avenue and Entrance, 1897.
These look like lime trees, which still border Fulham Palace Road today.
In April 1949, almost no trees can be seen. The trees in the cemetery today are all younger than this.
Tree database
Fulham Cemetery Friends maintains a database of all new trees planted in the cemetery. The plan is to add all trees to the database eventually, to make it easier for the public to find out information about them.