Kew Gardens Work experience.

The time I spent at the Royal Botanic Garden Kew was unbelievable.

I decided to ask Kew if they had any work placements available because it was an area of horticulture that I was unfamiliar with and wanted to learn more.

I worked in their tropical nursery glass house.

The first morning I was given an overview tour of the entire glass house by Chris head of the Orchid zone. He explained that the nursery is made up of 4 zones, each to their own; arid, temperate, moist tropical and orchids.

I was only at Kew for a short period though in that time it opened my eyes up to how a botanic garden operates and some of the general techniques they use.

My first day was with Paul in the arid zone. Here we spent the day taking propagation cuttings of a variety of different succulents including specimens from the Crassulaceae family, also various different Genus of other families Delosperma, Ruschia and many more. The process was very structured and every plant and prop was taken with lots of care, one to ensure the mother plant would stay alive and two, to ensure a good cutting was taken. We were carrying this job as some of the mother plants were getting to 'leggy' and to also keep at least 3 of the same accession if possible. We finished the day off by controlling some mealy bug that was on some plants.

Some of the cuttings we took.....

They were placed into a sand bed with heated base.

Day two- I was in the temperate house with Rebecca, this day was spent potting up different species of Ericia into air pots. We used a specific peat free potting mix that Rebecca has mixed up prior. I was taught the technique to correctly pot-up these plants as using air pots is quite different from standard pots, and Ericas' can be very fussy plants when handling them.

Erica- Before

Erica- After

Day three- this day was spent with Chris in the orchid house. this was a short day as the staff had meetings they needed to attend, so I took the opportunity to explore the rest of the garden- which was great. I started the day off with watering, always more to watering then you first think. I then helped the rest of the team to change the orchid display at the Princess of Wales Conservatory, and the rest of my time was spent changing the moss around the small orchids in the nursery. 

One of the beautiful slipper orchids in flower. 

Small orchid collection.

Final day and I was in the moist tropical nursery. the morning was spent controlling the infestation of mealy bug that was on a few plants. I then helped to propagate by taking stem cuttings.

Over all I really enjoyed my experience at the Royal Kew Botanic Gardens. It was great to get hands on with a side of horticulture that I have an interest in, and see all the  wonderful plants that are being conserved so carefully.

On day three as I mentioned I was able to take the time to wonder around the gardens. I met up with Mick and together we explored. My favourite thing about Kew Gardens is all the grand old tree that dominate throughout the garden. They give such a magical feeling and a sense of history as some are hundreds of years old. They would of seen a lot !
It was a warm and sunny day and people were out enjoying themselves. Children running around and playing using the gardens in different ways to Mick and myself,though this is what Kew Gardens is just the place for. My time exploring with Mick very special- being able to share with him a garden that inspires me was such a joy and that is what I think gardens are also about, spending time in a beautiful space with people you care about.

Thank you to everyone I meet at Kew for taking the time to teach me about your work place. I am discovering more and more about all the different aspects of horticulture and the different branches you can take. One thing that runs through all the different areas is people openness and willingness to share and teach.