Press Release
Celebrate autumn colour in Kew's 250th year
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) celebrates its 250th anniversary with a season of colour and tree-themed activities for all the family this autumn. Take a guided walk through the majestic Arboretum coloured with exquisite reds, browns and burnt oranges. Climb 18m high to the top of the Xstrata Treetop Walkway for stunning vistas across Kew’s heritage landscape; see the inner workings of Kew with fascinating behind the scenes tours; find out just why the rainforests are so important to us all at the Focus on the Rainforests exhibition; and enjoy a whirlwind of fun with Kew’s half-term activities.
250 new trees for 250 years…
Kew offers visitors a unique view of beautiful autumn colour from the top of the 18m high Xstrata Treetop Walkway. The 200m long Walkway runs through the tree canopy, giving visitors the experience of walking in the tree tops among sweet chestnuts, limes and deciduous oaks, and offering views across Kew’s extensive Arboretum and the Gardens to London’s skyline.
Kew Gardens is home to an enchanting variety of over 14,000 trees: a unique mix of the rare, ancient, useful and beautiful. And 250 new trees, including six trees to represent the biggest trees from each continent in the world, have been added to the collection in its 250th year. Two trees were also recently planted by HM the Queen, a Gingko biloba, and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, a Wollemi pine.
Tony Kirkham, Head of Kew’s Arboretum, says, “This year the Gardens are looking spectacular, and with 250 new trees growing, there is no better time to visit Kew! Vivid displays of northern red oaks, sweetgums and roble beeches are just some of the magnificent trees to be seen. It is a privilege to celebrate the history of Kew’s amazing tree collection this year, and to continue to maintain and develop Kew’s wonderful heritage landscape and Arboretum for the next 250 years.”
If you want to find out what supports these majestic trees, before heading up the Xstrata Treetop Walkway take a walk through the Rhizotron. The Rhizotron reconstructs a tree’s root system and shows visitors the valuable ecosystem – including insects and fungi – that exists to sustain trees.
Tour the Tapestry of Trees…
Join free daily guided tours (3 October to 1 November 2009) exploring the Arboretum and discover its ever-changing tapestry of autumn foliage with Kew’s knowledgeable guides. Learn about Kew’s rich history and heritage through the stories of its trees; including the Gardens oldest residents, the 300 year old sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa) and Kew’s ‘Old Lions’, Check www.kew.org for details.
Self-guided Bark Trails…
Throughout October (3 October to 1 November 2009) explore Kew’s trees on a self-guided ‘Bark Trail’. Collect the ‘Bark Essentials’ leaflet at the gates and learn about the role of bark in protecting trees, and its uses in medicines and textiles. A self-guided ‘Seed Search Thinking Walk’, inspired by the thinking walks that helped the great scientist Charles Darwin shape his theories and ideas, will enable visitors to learn about the way trees disperse their seeds.
Half term autumn fun (24 October to 1 November 2009)…
There is as much fun a there is colour to be had this half term at Kew. RBG Kew will be taking part in the Big Draw, with tree themed drawing activities and artists paired up with Kew scientists, working on projects in the Gardens (11am to 3pm everyday, 24 October to 1 November 2009). Climbers and Creepers, Kew’s botanical play area, will be hosting free seasonal arts and crafts activities, allowing kids to get creative while learning about the importance of trees. In half-term week and every weekend in October children can get their faces painted with tree and leaf inspired designs.
In October the outside area of Climbers and Creepers will be dramatically revamped with a new tree themed play zone featuring tree houses and wooden play equipment such as climbing frames and ladders. This area is being funded by Velvet toilet tissue and will be created from FSC wood, tying in with Velvet’s commitment to ensuring that three trees are replanted for every one it uses. Visit www.kew.org/press for an update closer to the time.
Learn about badgers…
During the autumn Kew’s badgers are at their most active as they spend their time feeding to build up their fat reserves ready for the coming winter. Learn more about them by becoming a badger in Kew’s human sized badger sett, located on the edge of the natural forest surrounding Queen Charlottes cottage at the south end of the Gardens. Explore what a badger’s home is really like: food stores, sleeping chambers and nests connected by a warren of tunnels. The Badger sett is open daily and there is no additional entry free. The tunnels are all at least a metre high, and one is 1.5m high, which is suitable for wheelchairs.
Focus on the Rainforests at The Prince’s Rainforests Project and Sony exhibition, Nash Conservatory, (3 October to 6 December 2009)
A stunning, professional photographic and interactive exhibition using the latest technology from Sony brings the rainforest to life at Kew. Showcasing the results of The Prince’s Rainforests Project Award category in this year’s Sony World Photography Awards, the exhibition is a powerful depiction of the threat deforestation is placing on our climate, biodiversity and rainforest-dependent people through photos, videos and sounds. The award-winning photographer, Daniel Beltrá, is travelling to the world’s most endangered rainforests in the Amazon, Indonesia and the Congo to capture the devastating impacts of deforestation, as well as the beauty of the remaining rainforests.
The PRP, founded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, recognises that every year, destruction of the Earth’s rainforests releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than all the world’s cars, planes and ships put together and aims to achieve consensus about how the rate of deforestation might be slowed. The PRP is working with governments, businesses and non-profit organisations around the world to find solutions to deforestation - and to find them fast - with the ambition of ‘making the trees worth more alive than dead’.
Sony is supporting the exhibition with the PRP as one of its many initiatives to protect the world for the next generation. Sony believes in providing a positive impact on climate change through using technology to reconnect people with their global environment and the issues affecting it.
The Art of Plant Evolution, August 2009 to end December 2009
Art meets science in an exhibition of botanical paintings from The Shirley Sherwood Collection, arranged in the latest evolutionary sequence, determined by recent DNA analysis. Not only is botanical art undergoing a renaissance today but recent genetic discoveries have changed the nomenclature and evolutionary sequence of many plants during the last ten years.
Each species chosen will be illustrated with a painting selected from over 700 contemporary works in The Shirley Sherwood Collection. The 136 paintings by 84 artists will cover 50 orders of plants in 118 families for a total of 133 species, providing a sweeping overview of the evolution of plants on earth. Tree paintings featured include cycads, cedars, firs and ginkgos.
For more information see: http://www.kew.org/press/art2009.html
Marianne North Gallery re-opens...
The restored Marianne North Gallery reopens on Sunday 11 October 2009 with a special day long community celebration, filled with dance, food, and special guided tours – an autumnal highlight in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s 250th anniversary year. A hidden gem in Kew Gardens’ 300 acre site, the Gallery and its paintings are being dramatically renovated and conserved, safeguarding its rich heritage for the future.
For more information please see http://www.kew.org/press/marianne_north_2009.html
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For more information please contact Tarryn Barrowman, Bryony Phillips or Bronwyn Friedlander on 0208 332 5607 or pr@kew.org
Images are available to download from http://www.kew.org/press/images/autumn.html and http://www.kew.org/press/images/trees_festival.html. Please contact the press office for the username and password.
Notes to Editors
Opening Times:
Now until 1 September 2009
- Monday - Friday : 9.30am – 6.30pm.Glasshouses, Galleries and the Treetop Walkway close at 5.30pm
- Weekends: 9.30am – 7.30pm. Glasshouses and Galleries close at 5.30. Treetop Walkway closes at 6.30pm
From 2 September to 24 October ‘09
- Monday-Sunday: 9.30am-6.00pm. Glasshouses, Galleries and the Treetop Walkway close at 5pm
From 25 October to 6 February 2009
- Monday-Sunday: 9.30am-4.15pm. Glasshouses, Galleries and the Treetop Walkway close at 3.15pm.
Admission:
Adults £13, Concessions £11, FREE for children under 17 (accompanied by an adult). Admission to Kew Gardens includes free entry to all Glasshouses, Galleries and the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway.
Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway:
The Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway opened in May 2008. It was funded by Xstrata plc and supported by the Hanson Environment Fund. Rhizotron comes from the Greek word rhiza meaning root. The Rhizotron explores the relationship between tree roots and micro organisms.
Walking Tours:
Free daily walking tours:
General tours leave twice daily from the Guides' desk, just inside the Victoria Plaza, Kew Road, at 11am and 2pm.
Pre-booked tours:
You will need to download, complete and return the Guided tour booking form by the 10th day of the month prior to your visit.
Climbers and Creepers:
Book on the day with staff at Climbers and Creepers for fun autumn activities. No pre-booking is taken.
The Prince’s Rainforest Project Exhibition (PRP):
Please contact Kim Shaw, on behalf of the PRP on 07791 717 720 or email kims@cakegroup.com, or Claire Thacker at Sony on 01932 816111 or email claire.thacker@eu.sony.com.
For more information about The Prince’s Rainforests Project and to sign up to their global campaign, visit www.rainforestSOS.org.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
In 1759 Princess Augusta, mother of King George III, started an ambitious nine-acre physic garden around Kew Palace. Every generation has added to the charms and curiosities of Kew, now a major international visitor attraction. Together the landscaped, 132 hectares of Kew Gardens and RBG Kew’s country estate, Wakehurst Place, attract nearly 2 million visitors every year. Kew Gardens is a UNESCO-inscribed World Heritage Site and houses over 40 listed buildings and other structures including the Palm House, Temperate House, Orangery and Pagoda as well as two ancient monuments, Queen Charlotte's Cottage and Kew Palace. RBG Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class Herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. For more information visit www.kew.org
Wakehurst Place is also home to Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world. By 2010, RBG Kew and its partners will have collected and conserved seed from 10 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species (c.30, 000 species). The aim is to conserve 25% by 2020 and funds are being actively sought in order to continue to develop this vital work. For further information please visit www.kew.org/msbp
For further Press information please contact:
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Kew: Public Relations Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5607/5619 |
Wakehurst Place: Public Relations Tel: +44 (0)1444 894018 |
