Aquatic Garden
Located beside the Jodrell Laboratory in the Gardens’ northeast corner, the present Aquatic Garden was installed in 1909.
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Aquatic Garden
Did you know?
- Newts, waterboatmen and dragonflies live in and around the Aquatic Garden.
- You can see tropical water lilies growing in the Waterlily House and Princess of Wales Conservatory.
The Aquatic Garden replaced an earlier, more primitive, tank built in 1873. It comprises a large elongated pool, some 19 by 9 metres, along with four corner and two side tanks. The central pool was originally heated to give waterlilies a head start, but today plants grow at the ambient outside water temperature.
The main pool houses 40 varieties of hardy water lily, including Nymphaea ‘Masaniello’, which has pink flowers, N. odorata, which has apple-scented flowers and N. ‘Colonel A. J. Welch’, which forms new plants from its spent flowers. The corner tanks display marginal aquatics such as sedges and rushes including the flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus) and bog bean (Menyanthes trifoliata). The narrow side tanks exhibit floating aquatics.
Restoration and conservation
In 1935, the central tank was repaired, re-faced and raised to provide greater depth for the water lilies.
Things to look out for
Several eucalyptus trees grow around the Aquatic Garden. These include a particularly impressive mountain gum (Eucalyptus dalrympleana), which has a distinctive white trunk and branches.
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We invite photographers to capture the sights at Kew and Wakehurst. These images are a selection of images submitted by photographers from around the world. We hope you enjoy them. You can see more on Flickr.

4 comments on 'Aquatic Garden'
Kanij Fatema says
06/01/2010 8:27:45 AM | Report abuse
sooo nice!!! just like HEVEN!! I love KEW GARDEN!I'm from BANGLADESH! I'll try to go there!!!
Abigail Pajak says
20/10/2009 5:23:00 PM | Report abuse
I'm going tomorrow! I can't wait!I'LL ASK IF WE CAN GO THERE,AND THEN REPORT BACK HERE.
luci says
15/10/2009 9:51:00 AM | Report abuse
very nice indeed!!!!!i am supposed to be at the kew gardens today butt i am ill !!!!:(
Aloysius Canterbury says
30/09/2009 3:58:00 PM | Report abuse
Love to come here in the summer and watch the dragonflies and the lovely lillies