Kew Gardens

Mattbonsai · 09-27-2008, 02:10 PM

Hi all, I woke up this morning, and thought, nice day, let's go to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, (as you do) I grabbed the satnav, jumped in the car and I was off.

70 miles later, and I arrive!

The gardens are massive, and beautiful, although it is more of an Arboretum than gardens, there is very little that isn't a tree or shrub, but, in our bonsai obsessed minds thats a good thing.

I took 160 photos, so instead of filling the site with them, I'll put the best ones on.

Pic 1: London plane.
Pic 2: London Plane's root flare.
Pic 3: Sweet Chestnut tree with beautiful twisting bark.
Pic 4: A Mature English Oak.
Pic 5: Dead wood on the Oak.

Mattbonsai · 09-27-2008, 02:25 PM

Pic 6: Weird Golden Pheasant, there were these and green parakeets running wild around the gardens.

Pic 7: A Nicely shaped tree, turning for Autumn.

Pic 8: A large, what looks to be Georgian house, opposite the main entrance to the Palm House.

Pic 9: A nicely planted bed, there is two of these, symmetrically planted between the Palm house and lake.

Pic 10: The World Famous Palm House

Mattbonsai · 09-27-2008, 02:32 PM

Pic 11: Giant Water Lillies in the Water Lilly house.

Pic 12: A Smaller, but beautiful water lily flower.

Pic 13: A dainty little Passiflora flower.

Pic 14: A Mature and nicely shaped tree, I'm not certain what it is, it may be a Red Oak

Pic 15: A Brilliant Weeping Fagus.

Mattbonsai · 09-27-2008, 02:42 PM

Pic 16: The princess of Wales Conservatory.

Pic 17: A Nice Succulent / Meddeteranean Garden.

Pic 18: This little fella was running around free in the Conservatory.

Pic 19 - 20: Alpine Flower.

Mattbonsai · 09-27-2008, 02:48 PM

21: A waterfall in the Alpine garden.

22: More of the Alpine Garden.

23: I think this tree is a Black Locust, but not too certain.

24: A Large Taxodium distichium

25: Back of the Palm House

Mattbonsai · 09-27-2008, 02:56 PM

26: Some sort of weeping Cedrus, maybe a variety of Cedrus deodar.

27: A bed of Palms.

28: That brown, perfectly straight pole in the centre of the picture, isn't a tree, it is infact one of the support posts for the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway.

29: A view of the Temperate house from the Treetop walkway.

30: A Smooth Eucalyptus Trunk.

Mattbonsai · 09-27-2008, 03:02 PM

31: The entrance to the Temperate House, The worlds largest remaining Victorian Glasshouse.

32: A Large Cedrus libanii

33 - 34: The Massive Japanese Pagoda.

35: A little Bamboo water feature next to the Japanese Gateway.

Mattbonsai · 09-27-2008, 03:17 PM

36: A Hideous London Plane.

37: Queen Charlotte's Cottage.

38: A Later in the day view of the Palm House.

39 - 40: Some may remember it being discussed on the previous site, or may of heard of it, but this Quercus survived the 1987 Hurricane, that devastated hundreds of trees at the Royal Botanic Gardens, it was lifted from the ground, and dropped back in place, giving the tree a new lease of life. This allowed for the research and creation of a technique used to re-vitalise mature trees in public areas where air and Mychorrizal bacteria are blasted into the compacted soil around the roots.

Hope you all enjoyed the brief trip to Kew, it is diffinately a place every horticulturalist has to visit, like Omiya is the Bonsai Mecca, Kew is the plantsmans Mecca.

-Matt-

shrimpy · 09-27-2008, 04:52 PM

Well worth the 70 mile drive.
I'd love to visit Kew myself one day (dreams are free I spose)

Shrimpy

Mattbonsai · 09-28-2008, 01:28 PM

It would be well worth the many thousands of miles you'd have to travel

.

I decided that 70 miles there, and 70 miles back were worth it, as while I'm here, this is the closest I'm going to be to the gardens for a long time, instead of a 500 mile round journey I'd have at home.

I did have a look at Public transport, but financially car was better, I could go and leave when I wanted, with as much as I could fit in my hands, and London public transport is not a good place for someone with Claustrophobia

I was shocked at how cheap it was to enter, £13! its open 363 days a year (excluding Christmas eve and Christmas)

-Matt-

09-27-2008, 04:52 PM	#9 (permalink)
shrimpy Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Waikato, NZ Posts: 112	Well worth the 70 mile drive. I'd love to visit Kew myself one day (dreams are free I spose) Shrimpy __________________ If a man is alone working on his Bonsai and he speaks and there is no women to hear him. is he still wrong ??? Never ever believe anything, Until it has been officially denied:

09-28-2008, 01:28 PM	#10 (permalink)
Mattbonsai Tree Hugger In Training Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Cheshire, GB Posts: 810	It would be well worth the many thousands of miles you'd have to travel . I decided that 70 miles there, and 70 miles back were worth it, as while I'm here, this is the closest I'm going to be to the gardens for a long time, instead of a 500 mile round journey I'd have at home. I did have a look at Public transport, but financially car was better, I could go and leave when I wanted, with as much as I could fit in my hands, and London public transport is not a good place for someone with Claustrophobia I was shocked at how cheap it was to enter, £13! its open 363 days a year (excluding Christmas eve and Christmas) -Matt- __________________ -Matt- http://www.cheshirebonsaisociety.org.uk/index.html R.I.P Our Great Friend - Prowler, 24th November 2008

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