Press Release

View Gardens! Enjoy autumn colour at Kew Gardens from the new Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway

Kew's autumn festival runs until Sunday 2 November 2008

Golden browns, burnt oranges and deep reds - with the leaves starting to turn to a glorious array of colours, Kew Gardens' autumn festival offers you the last chance to celebrate the Year of the Tree.

As the trees shed their summer growth Kew's newest permanent attraction – the 18 metre high Xstrata Treetop Walkway – is opening up new views across the Gardens and the London skyline. These vistas reveal the tranquil gardens as never before, and reach out to include the Wembley Stadium and the Swiss Re skyscraper – also known as the Gherkin.

Walk a 200 metre circuit up high in the previously inaccessible Arboretum canopy to take in the transformation of sweet chestnuts, limes and deciduous oaks, planted by the famous landscape gardener Lancelot ‘Capability' Brown in the 18th century. 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. The tree-top journey starts in the depths of the Rhizotron, learning about the hidden role of rootsystems and underground life of trees.

Tony Kirkham, head of Royal Botanic Gardens , Kew's (RBG Kew) Arboretum and who led 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 visitors can have the same experience and we hope everyone who visits will see that trees do matter and we need to nurture them.”

See show-stopping trees…

There are over 14,000 trees across the Royal Botanic Garden's 300 acres. They include hidden delights that display a show-stopping colourful transformation every autumn. Along the Broad Walk the Red Oak (Quercus rubra) shines among the Atlantic cedars with its vivid crimson autumn foliage. Near the ruined arch the maple-like leaves of the majestic Sweet gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) change through a magnificent spectrum of yellows, reds and deep purples.

Tony Kirkham, said: "Autumn is such an exciting season at Kew Gardens – everyday the trees look different with new colours shining through. The Shagbark hickory near the pagoda is spectacular when it turns butter yellow. The rich colour contrasted against its distinctive ash-grey bark definitely makes it one to look out for."

Discover how the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway developed with the ‘Building the Walkway' film…

To warm up on crisp autumn days, step into the tropical climate of the Princess of Wales Conservatory and watch ‘Building the Walkway'. This short film tells the story of the mammoth building project and the team that worked together to make it a success. Designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the architects of the London Eye, the pioneering structure is an ingenious design.

Intrepid tree lovers can also investigate and learn all about the trees in Kew's Arboretum on a free ‘Champion Trees Tour' which guides you through the biggest, rarest and oldest trees in the 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 join one of the special weekly ‘Tree Identification Tours'. Led by one of Kew's expert staff, this tour teaches you how to identify common trees. Tours start at 11.30am every Saturday outside Museum No.1 and last 90 minutes (1).

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 pollen, seeds and leaves from a variety of trees, many of them grown at Kew and Wakehurst Place, the rich diversity of the plant world is shown 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 collaborated on the book Fruit: Edible, Inedible, Incredible, published by Papadakis in September 2008.

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 scrutinised thousands of entries from all around the world to select over a hundred images to create the show. As well as images in the Tree category, the exhibition includes 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. Visit www.igpoty.com for more details.

Tune into trees...

Hear the hidden movement inside trees with designer Alex Metcalf's ‘Tree Listening Installation' until 2 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. Headphones hang from the lower branches so you can listen to the popping sound of water being pulled up from the tree's roots to its leaves.

Enjoy a colourful Half Term and a spooky Halloween…

Climbers and Creepers, Kew's botanical play zone, is running a ‘Colours of Autumn' programme for families throughout half term, with free festive arts, crafts and gardening sessions. From Saturday 25 October to Sunday 2 November 2008 families can get creative with activities ranging from planting crocuses and hyacinths, creating a seed tray garden to using trees natural materials to making twig people and an autumnal leaf bag(2).

In the lead up to Halloween (27 October –  2 November 2008) you can get spooked on a special ride on Kew's Explorer Bus (3). And on Halloween, Friday 31 October, families can make their own spooky costumes and take part in a ghoulish costume parade.

During half term families can also learn about bark, leaves and roots on a self-guided Tree Trail. Trail cards are available on all the gates and questions are suitable for children aged 3 – 5 and 6 – 10. 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. Children can then germinate the seeds in the box at home, ready for the garden or window sill.

See ‘ Kew 's Hidden Trees'…

From 1 November 2008 to 1 March 2009 the newly opened Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art will show ‘Kew's Hidden Trees', an exhibition of historic and contemporary drawings paintings and prints of trees – used for botanical research – taken from both RBG Kew's and Dr Shirley Sherwood's extensive collections. This will include ‘Richmond Bridge' by Lucien Pissaro, who strongly influenced Neo- and Post-Impressionist painters in England and was the eldest son of Camille Pissaro, the father of impressionism. Other exhibitions running from November are ‘Down Under', showcasing contemporary works by botanical artists from Australia and New Zealand, and ‘Inner Beauty?' which will exhibit paintings and drawings recording medicinal plants in London's historic Chelsea Physic Garden by members of the Chelsea Physic Gardens' Florilegium Society.

- Ends -

Notes to Editors

For further information please contact Bryony Phillips, Catherine Owen or Bronwyn Friedlander in the Kew Gardens press office on 020 8332 5607 or email pr@kew.org.

Images are available at http://www.kew.org/press/images/trees_festival.htm and http://www.kew.org/press/images/autumn.html, please contact the press office for the username and password.

Visitor information

Opening hours: 31 August – 25 October 2008 9.30am – 6pm. 26 October – 7 February 2009 9.30am – 4.15. Last entry to the gardens and into the Glasshouses, galleries and the Xstrata Treetop Walkway is 30 minutes before the Gardens close.

Admission: Adults £13, Concessions £12, free for children under 17. Visitor enquiries: 020 8332 5655 or info@kew.org Website: www.kew.org

1) Tree Identification tours

Places cost £5 per person (additional to garden entry). Booking is essential. To book, please call 020 8332 5604 or email tours@kew.org.

2) Climbers and Creepers

Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times in Climbers and Creepers. Opening times: Saturday 25 October, 10.30am – 4.30pm. Sunday 26 October onwards 10.30am - 3.45pm. Activity times: Saturday 25 October 2pm and 3pm

Sunday 26 October – Sunday 2 November 1pm to 2pm
Halloween Parade will take place at 2.45pm after the 2pm session

Booking: Climbers and Creepers sessions need to be booked in person on the day with Climbers and Creepers staff.

3) Explorer: Monday 27 October – Sunday 2 November, the main boarding point is Stop 1 close to the Victoria Plaza and the Palm House. Regular Explorer tours: Hourly, 11.00am onwards, Halloween tours: Hourly, 11.30am–3.30pm with timed tickets.

4) Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art

Exhibition begins on 1 November. The gallery is open daily 9.30 am to 3.45pm and the entry is free.

Funding

The Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway opened 24 May 2008. Xstrata plc is a global, diversified mining group listed on the London and Swiss stock exchanges. They were inspired by the concept of the Treetop Walkway as an imaginative and relevant project.

Construction materials supplier Hanson, part of the Heidelberg Cement Group, set up The Hanson Environment Fund in 1997, using landfill tax credits accumulated by the company, to support environmental and community initiatives from not-for-profit organisations. More than £17.5 million was distributed before the fund closed to new applicants in 2006, supporting hundreds of worthwhile projects across the UK . As a lasting legacy, the fund's final £1 million was awarded to the Rhizotron.

The remainder of the funding comes from Defra, who fund half of the annual costs of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, plus two un-named individuals.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction and its 132 hectares of landscaped gardens attract over one million visitors per year. Kew is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2009. The site 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.

There are a wealth of collections held at Kew that offer an opportunity to explore some of the lesser known aspects of RBG Kew's rich history and heritage and its present day role. Members of the media interested in a behind-the-scenes look at RBG Kew should contact pr@kew.org.

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