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Visit Kew Gardens in all of its autumn glory and the new Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway With the leaves beginning to turn to a glorious array of burnt oranges, browns and reds, Kew Gardens invites visitors for a last chance to come and celebrate its festival of trees, in a beautiful setting. Kew's autumn festival runs until Sunday the 2nd of November 2008. As the leaves start to fall this autumn, visitors to Kew Garden's newest permanent attraction - the 18m high Xstrata Treetop Walkway - will be able to see new views and vistas opening across the tranquil gardens and further afield to the London skyline, including Wembley Stadium and the Swiss Re skyscraper - also known as the Gherkin. Visitors can walk a 200m circuit up high in the previously inaccessible canopy of the arboretum to take in the colourful transformation of the sweet chestnuts, limes and deciduous oaks, planted by the famous landscape gardener Lancelot "Capability" Brown in the 18th century. With the long summer days dwindling into autumn the trees begin to get ready for winter, a time of rest where they live off their summer food stores. The bright green leaves begin to slip away as yellows and oranges shine through; a slow ever changing colourful palette. Wildlife watchers will find it easier to spot birds such as tawny owls and woodpeckers flitting through the branches and squirrels foraging for winter food supplies. Visitors start their treetop journey in the depths of the Rhizotron, learning about the fascinating rootsystems and underground life of trees. Tony Kirkham, head of RBG Kew's arboretum and project manager for the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway project said, "As a trained arborist I have had the privilege of being up in the tree canopy; experiencing trees at height and birds and other wildlife from a completely different perspective. It's fantastic that we are able to give visitors the same experience and we hope it will make them realise that trees do matter and we need to nurture them." Discover how the project developed with the ‘Building the Walkway' film... To warm up on crisp autumn days, visitors can step into the tropical climate of the Princess of Wales Conservatory and watch the ‘Building the Walkway' film. This short film tells the story of the mammoth building project and the team that worked together to make the project a success. Designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the architects of the London Eye, the pioneering structure is an ingenious design. The programme features an interview with project manager and head of Kew's arboretum, Tony Kirkham, also the star of the BBC's The Trees That Made Britain series, and time-lapse photography of the construction process. At the north end of the Princess of Wales Conservatory visitors can learn about Britain's native woodland flora and fungi and the many animals that depend on woodlands for survival. Britain's native woodlands have long been important for humankind too - they fuelled our development and industrial revolution and have been used to create everything from weapons to water carriers since time immemorial. Intrepid tree lovers can also investigate and learn all about the trees in Kew's arboretum by taking a free guided tour, ‘Champion Trees Tour', of the biggest, rarest and oldest trees in the 300 acre Gardens. Tours last one hour and are limited to 15 people, so visitors should register at the Victoria Plaza Information Desk from 11.45am for a 12 noon start. Alternatively for a small fee, tree fanatics can sign up for one of the special weekly ‘Tree Identification Tours'. Led by one of Kew's expert staff, this tour teaches people how to identify common trees. Tours start at 11.30am every Saturday outside Museum No.1 and last 90 minutes. Tune into trees ... Visitors to the gardens will also be able to ‘tune into trees' and experience designer Alex Metcalf's ‘Tree Listening Installation' until 2nd of November 2008. Super-sensitive microphones are rigged up to a Eucalyptus tree on route to Climbers and Creepers, Kew Garden's botanical play zone for children. Visitors can listen through headphones, hanging from the lower branches, to the popping sound of water being pulled up from the tree's roots to its leaves. Take a closer look at the ‘Canopy' Exhibition... The Nash Conservatory is showing Canopy - an exhibition of powerful imagery developed from highly magnified electron micrographs, revealing high definition photographs of plant structures. Using the pollen, seeds and leaves from a variety of trees, most of them grown at Kew and Wakehurst Place , the rich diversity of the plant world is revealed at a microscopic level by artist Rob Kesseler. This extraordinary body of work has been developed in collaboration with Kew scientists Madeleine Harley and Wolfgang Stuppy. Wolfgang Stuppy and Rob Kesseler have collaborated on the book Fruit: Edible, Inedible, Incredible, published by Papadakis in September 2008. For more information visit http://www.papadakis.net/live/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_jph1_info&products_id=110 Take a step back at the International Garden Photographer of the Year... The beauty of trees is celebrated in a special category of the International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition being shown for the duration of the summer festival. The panel of eleven judges deliberated at length over the thousands of entries from all around the world to select the final one hundred or so images to create the show. As well as images in the Tree category, visitors will be able to see the very best photographs for Garden Views, My Garden, Plant Portraits, Life in the Garden and the U16s category, Young Garden Photographer of the Year. Entries are now open for next year's show. Go to www.igpoty.com for more details. Enjoy a Colourful Half Term and a spooky Halloween... This half term children can take part in a self-guided Tree Trail. Trail cards are available on all the gates for families who want to take part and learn about bark, leaves and roots as they make their way around the Gardens. The questions are suitable for 3-5 year olds and 6-10 year olds and at the end of the tour youngsters can turn their trail card into a seed box by following the instructions on www.kew.org/kids. When they get home children will be able to germinate seeds in the box, ready for the garden or window sill. For the half term break, Climbers and Creepers, Kew's botanical play zone, is hosting a programme of family events. From Saturday 25th of October to Sunday the 2nd of November 2008 families can join in the ‘Colours of Autumn' programme and enjoy the daily arts, crafts and gardening sessions. In the lead up to Halloween (27 October - 2 November 2008 ) visitors can get spooked on a special ride on Kew 's Explorer Bus (3). And on Halloween, 31st of October, Climbers and Creepers invite families and children to come and take part in the festive Halloween costume parade. Courtesy of: www.kew.org |
