View across the lake to the Museum
Inside the Lily House
View across the lake to the Museum
Inside the Lily House
Kew Gardens, (in TW9, Kew) lies just to the south of Kew Bridge, between Kew Road and the river Thames. On its south side it adjoins 'Old Deer Park' of Richmond, a golf course.
Kew Gardens is the most important visitor attraction in England for anyone interested in plants. It contains an enormous range of plants and trees, set in a number of gardens and settings.The gardens, formally called the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, extend over 120 hectares on the south-west side of the Thames. They are separated from the river by a ditch and towpath, and from the roads by a high wall. A visitor should allow at least 4 hours to get an idea of the whole grounds..
The prime purpose of the grounds is to be a botanic garden, and to house its plant collections. This has been done, in most cases in a large variety of attractive garden settings.
The systematic garden in the northeast of the grounds contains a series of beds arranged strictly according to their botany. In the rest of the gardens, while there is a focus on one group or other of plants in any area, the overall arrangement is often aesthetic as much as by botany. There are also some gardens and displays where the focus is on other things; including plants for economic importance.Almost all of the trees, and most of the distinct plants are labelled. In addition, there are larger interpretive notices and boards at key locations.
The tree collection includes numerous large and notable specimens for the British Isles.The grounds at the main (north) entrance are formal, and this formality extends south through much of the gardens. In one of the focal points of the grounds, by the Palm House, there are some sets of strongly formal bedding and rose gardens. Elsewhere, there are many other gardening styles on display. These include cottage garden styles, systematic beds as appropriate for a botanic garden, an artificial rock garden (Kew is on the Thames floodplain, not naturally rocky terrain), a knot garden, a Japanese garden, and a number of informal and conservation oriented styles. Most of these gardens also play a part in housing Kew's collection of plants.
The grounds includes many display glasshouses. Most people will have seen photographs of the Palm House and the Temperate House, the two largest ones. These are themselves major architectural works and dominate the areas within their own landscapes.
The newer Princess of Wales Conservatory also has a large capacity, but does not stand out in the landscape as the others do. There are other recent ones, some innovative, such as the new Alpine House.There are a number of smaller and specialised glasshouses. The glasshouses contain collections from across the world, including the best known hot house (the Palm House), and at the other extreme, the alpine houses to provide suitable conditions for arctic plants and those from high mountain areas which are cooler than southern England.
There are numerous historic buildings, structures, and monuments to be found within Kew Gardens. Among these are the Great Pagoda by William Chambers which forms a focal point for the south of the grounds. Also in the south of the grounds is the Flagpole, made from a single tree and presented by the government of British Columbia, is at 68m, the tallest wooden pole in the world.
To the north, Kew Palace or the Dutch House (a relatively small structure, not originally built for the royal family) with the formal Queen's Garden behind it. There are also galleries, and museums connected with botany. Most of these can be found described in detail on the Kew Gardens website.There are numbers of new or temporary projects regularly; such as the introduction of limited and temporary areas of farm crops to illustrate farm ecosystems. Some are designed to attract and educate children. Some are rather questionable however for a botanic garden. Among these are the introduction of enclosures of farm animals in recent years, rendering some trees inaccessible to visitors.
Kew Gardens was originally created from royal residences for King George II, though other properties have since been included. Capability Brown and William Chambers were responsible for many of the original landscape features. The first botanic garden was established by the late 18th century, and it was taken over by the government in 1841.
There is a charge for entrance. The gardens are closed at or before dusk. Glasshouses are closed earlier, usually at about 5pm.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew are owned by the Crown, and managed by a Board of Trustees. Contact 020 8332 5655.