Kew Gardens in West-London are worth a visit, regardless the season. The gardens have great importance for science, landscape gardening and plant preservation.
What’s in a name
Everyone talks about Kew Gardens, but the venue’s official name is Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The latter is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Kew Gardens contain:
- more than 28,000 taxa (taxonomic units) of living plants
- an herbarium of approximately seven million dried specimens
- a library of some 130,000 volumes in addition to archived materials, periodicals, and prints and drawings
Gardens for all seasons
At the time of writing this blog, I’ve visited Kew Gardens twice: once in winter and once in summer. They comprise 120 hectares. Enough to explore for at least one visit every season …
The collections of tropical orchids, succulents, tropical ferns, and Australian plants are exceptionally fine. I like the arboretum, too. All perfect for a winter visit! Attention: the gardens close early on winter days, and last entry to the glasshouses is even earlier.
Late spring and summer is the perfect time to stroll through the Kitchen Garden at Kew.
December 2023 = Kew Gardens month!
Discutafel’s podcaster Ivonne visited Kew Gardens twice.
We release a four-part podcast series on these famous gardens in December 2023. Learn about the highlights, listen to some very special sounds.
To accompany the podcasts, we publish blogs about Kew Gardens, their history and importance for now and for our future.
Importance
Science
Since their creation in 1759, Kew Gardens have made a significant and uninterrupted contribution to the study of plant diversity and economic botany.
Landscape gardening
The landscape gardens at Kew, created by celebrated artists such as Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, reflect the beginning of movements which were to have international influence.
Preservation
Since 1965 Kew has administered a botanical outstation at Wakehurst Place. In 1974 the seed bank was established there.
In the 90’s, the seed bank endeavour grew to become the Millennium Seed Bank Project to mitigate the extinction of at-risk and useful plants through seed preservation. Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank is the largest wild plant seed bank in the world.
Video
If you can’t get to the gardens like your lucky podcaster, let the people of Kew bring the gardens to you! Watch the video.
Fabulous start
Privately owned gardens were tended at Kew from as early as the 16th century. The site was acquired from the Capel family in 1731 by the Prince of Wales.
Princess Augusta, mother of King George III, established a garden for exotic plants within the pleasure grounds at Kew in 1759. Ten years later, it contained more than 3,400 plant species. A fabulous start for these gardens!
Some interesting historical facts
- 1759: Princess Augusta founds a nine-acre botanic garden.
- 1762: William Chambers builds the 10-storey Great Pagoda
(in case link doesn’t work, please try https://www.hrp.org.uk/kew-palace/whats-on/the-great-pagoda/) - 1768: Joseph Banks sends seeds to Kew whilst on Captain Cook’s voyage to South Seas.
- 1840: Kew transferred from the Crown to the government, gardens opened to the public.
- 1841: Joseph Hooker brings plants from Falklands to Kew in glazed Wardian cases, a new way to keep plants alive on voyages.
- 1896: Women are first employed as gardeners at Kew.
- 1939: Dig for Victory! Vegetables and medicinal plants are grown at Kew to support the war effort.
- 1952: Crick and Watson discover structure of DNA; a breakthrough that underpins Kew’s current scientific research on genetic diversity of plants.
- 1965: Seed research begins in Kew’s Plant Physiology department.
- 1970: Biochemical systematics word takes off at Kew.
- 1997: Wellcome Trust donation enables construction of the Millennium Seed Bank.
- 2003: Kew Gardens is officially inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
