Britain's twin towers memorial garden to be open by second anniversary of attacks

A garden of remembrance bedecked with plants native to Britain and America is to be the UK's official memorial to the victims of the terrorist attacks on 11 September.

A plaque bearing the names of the 67 British victims of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon will be at the centre of the memorial in Grosvenor Square Gardens, opposite the American embassy in central London.

The oval design, featuring an oak pergola, has been produced in consultation with the families of the victims by designers who devised the Princess Diana Memorial playground in Kensington Gardens and landscaped the Eden Project in Cornwall. The families will help to choose the plants.

Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, announced the project, which will be paid for by a £1m government grant. She said: "Our intention is to provide a garden that will be simple, dignified and designed to the highest quality. It will also allow for privacy and seclusion for visitors ... It is fitting that the garden should be complete in time for the second anniversary of this terrible tragedy."

Plans were also announced for a service of remembrance at St Paul's Cathedral, to be attended by the Prince of Wales, William Farish, the American ambassador, and relatives of the British victims on the first anniversary of the disaster.

Patricia Thompson, whose son Nigel died in the World Trade Centre, said: "I think it is a very good thing to have this garden for people to visit and remember people they lost."

Laura Eaton, from Brighton, whose son Robert, 37, worked on the 105th floor of the World Trade Centre, added: "It will be lovely to be able to go and visit the garden and sit there."