A day in the life of a Kew apprentice

Our Kew apprentices do everything from climbing the 12,000 trees at Kew Gardens to donning waders to install our annual Orchid festival. It’s a unique experience and a valuable route into careers in horticulture.

Take a gander into their day to day jobs as we celebrate their hard work for National Apprentice Week (5-11 February 2024).

Aidan Pike

Kew apprentice

'My current placement is based in the Tropical Nursery, where I’m working with the orchids team. My day usually begins with watering, and once a week we fertilize with a season-specific feed. 

In the winter this isn't too time consuming, giving me time to check over the plants, remove dead leaves, inspect plants for pests and diseases, and make a note of anything that's coming into bloom.

As we're now coming out of winter dormancy for a lot of orchids, the whole team has been doing a lot of re-potting and mounting before the new growth kicks off. Recently we've been working through the collection of Bulbophyllum orchids mounted onto bark of which there are literally hundreds in Kew's collection!

The last bit of the day is used for tidying up, making sure our potting benches are clean and sanitized so everything is ready to go the next morning.'

Jack Thunder

Wakehurst horticultural apprentice

'So far, I have worked with the arborist and landscape teams and in the nursery, Southern Hemisphere Garden, Asian Heath garden, the water gardens (the Iris Dell, Bog Garden, the Slips and Black Pond) and the American Prairie. We usually work in blocks of 2 weeks to a month to immerse us into the team and allow us to experience the real day to day of gardening. All jobs in all weathers. We learn so much! 

I am an older apprentice at the ripe age of 48, after a diagnosis of little-known Ménière's disease forced a career change, which really knocked my confidence. Whilst waiting for appointments and spending weeks in bed I read about nature – the outdoors gave me the beauty and escape I so needed. 

I aimed big and applied to be a volunteer at Wakehurst, and after becoming more confident and stronger, I applied for the apprenticeship. I never thought apprenticeships were for older people but I am evidence they are for all – pick the dream and go for it!

The staff at Kew all seem to find time in their own busy schedules to answer questions and pass on knowledge, and this is where I find the real learning happens. Add to this one of the best landscapes and plant collections in the UK and really, I am in heaven.'

Jenny Crabb

Botanical horticulturist and former apprentice

Jenny works in the Arboretum Nursery, propagating Kew’s ‘trees of the future’. This important role is helping to future-proof Kew against the climate crisis. 

Many of Kew’s existing trees won’t survive in a warming climate. When our scientists travel to places where the climate matches the weather conditions Kew might face in the future, they collect local seeds for Kew’s Arboretum. Jenny’s team grows them into saplings so that when the current trees in our Gardens begin to fail, they will be replaced with trees that can cope with the rapidly changing climate.

Jenny began the Apprenticeship in Kew Glasshouses in 2019, and two years later secured a job in the Arboretum Nursery. 

‘Every day is different at Kew, as our tasks depend on the seasons. As it’s winter, my days currently involve seed sowing, grafting, hardwood cuttings, cleaning and sterilising (hygiene is very important in a nursery), and a lot of stock checking following a hectic summer! My favourite task is definitely seed sowing, and we are currently sowing a lot of new species for the collection from Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank. 

One day during my second year as an apprentice we were breaking the dormancy of seeds from the Proteaceae family using fire. That was the moment I knew I wanted to work in propagation at Kew. With such an incredible collection of plants at our fingertips, even though I’m now a full time botanical horticulturist, I feel like I never stop learning at Kew.'