Tour of Kew Gardens

20th March 2025

Richmond

Carolyn and I were invited by a Livery friend to join a charity tour of The Royal Botanical Gardens (RGB), Kew, in support of the Mayor of Richmond's charitable causes. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful and sunny - perfect for a stroll in the garden!

We were lead on our tour of the Gardens by the "Head of Trees", who gave us an immensely interesting talk on the potential impacts of climate change on the trees at Kew, and the impact on the horticultural business in the UK.

Kew and indeed most British Gardens are basd on the Victorian approach to horticulture - plants should be as exotic and colourful as possible. This meant that many plants came from China and Japan, which had "wet" climates much like our own, and the UK horticultural industry has been built on this base. Unfortunately, clmate change will mean that many of these plants will no longer be suitable and therefore an enormous amount of work needs to be done to switch over to plants that can withstand the new hotter climate.

With regard to the trees at Kew, the RGB is working on a plan for the year 2100, when it expects to have to have replaced at least 50% of its current stock of trees. They are currently looking for genetically similar trees which will survive the new drier climate - for example, Oaks from Azerbaijan!

We also discussed the concept of planting more trees in the city to provide a cooling effect, but even this is not simple - planting the wrong trees may make matters worse!

We then retired to the Orangery for tea and further talks by managers from the RGB and also the Mayor of Richmond's charities.

A most enjoyable afternoon and much food for thought about climate change!