Kew Gardens - London's Royal Botanical Garden

Last week while staying at Janie’s we decided to take a trip to Kew Gardens. We live in North East London and Kew is in South West London so going from Janie’s is a shorter journey.

It was the 1st July and the temperature hit the mid-eighties (for one day only as it happens). We have had rain, rain and more rain ever since and there is talk of a European Monsoon season! Wet weather set to last at least until the end of July so I do hope we get some breaks in that. All the gardening I planned to do this week has not been touched.

Back to Kew. Our last visit was 45 years ago, yes, even I found that hard to believe. It was worth it in the end, but early in the day I was beginning to wonder as getting there became somewhat of a hassle. It is hoped that people will take public transport when visiting Kew as they do not have a car park (It is in a busy area of London) but the website said that one can park on the road outside. The road outside is very long as Kew itself is very large.

Our journey began on the M25 London orbital and almost immediately we were in heavy congestion exacerbated by an accident. Having been held up, when we reached the M4 we decided to stop at the service station for Loos and coffee only to find the loos out of action, yes all of them, male and female, unheard of in all our years of travelling. Just one mother and baby room and a disabled loo left functioning so not difficult to guess what the queues were like. We were at least grateful that we arrived 30 minutes after 3 coaches.

Eventually we were on our way again and arrived at Kew only to find we needed to drive for nearly 2 miles before we found a parking space. Added to that parking tickets could only be purchased at the local shops that were even further along and the longest parking time was a mere 4 hours. We were fortunate to catch a bus back to the entrance, not something we would normally do but time was limited and it was very hot.

On arrival at the kiosk when trying to pay by credit card we were told there would be a wait as the card machine was down. Were we really meant to come out today? Fortunately I was carrying cash.

The attraction that made it all worth while was the new tree-top walk. I have a problem with heights but was determined not to miss it. I passed others on the way up that were stuck half way up the steps afraid to go further. So with legs like jelly and a raised heart beat I got to walk amongst the tree canopy. The walk is made up of open mesh so that nothing is missed so it was a challenge. I do know that faith and courage is not the absence of fear but going ahead in spite of one’s reactions.

Kew is vast and one needs more than 4 hours there (2 days probably) so I can only give you a slight glimpse of the place. Added to what I am showing you there is the Bamboo garden, Azalea garden, rock garden, bog garden, ice house, winter garden, Duke’s garden, aquatic garden, rose garden, Queen Charlotte’s cottage and more.

Two things I learned that I did not know (obviously there is much, much more but this is what I noticed). A banana tree is a herb and The difference between a forest and a woodland is: A woodland has an open canopy allowing plants to grow on the ground, a forest has a dense canopy and little will grow at ground level.

The Palm House

The Temperate House

The princess of Wales Conservatory

The Lily Pad House

The Japanese Garden

The Palace

This palace was designed by the future King George III

and he moved his family there in 1772

The previous dwelling was to the front of this

We did not go in as we did not have enough time

Lavender Walk

This building can be hired for weddings and events

We are now going to take a walk in the tree tops here

Looking across from one side of the tree top walk

The arch in the centre of the picture is the Wembley Arena in the distance

Proof that I did it even if the worse for wear

His Lordship enjoys heights

An underground tunnel which depicted what happens with various tree roots and the various insects involved in helping keep the tree alive

We ended our visit at one of the tearooms and being so hot we sat outside

Being so close to Heathrow we got to see which planes were landing

every 60 seconds

so close we could read the logos