A Year at Kew
Season 2
Alan Titchmarsh narrates a series following the staff and visitors of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Where to Watch A Year at Kew • Season 2
12 Episodes
- Visit from Her Majesty the QueenE1
Visit from Her Majesty the QueenAll the teams are busy preparing the Palm house and rest of the gardens for a visit from Her Majesty the Queen, to mark the Kew's World Heritage Site status. The Tree Anatomy unit helps out HM Customs and excise and the wild flower meadow comes to life. - Gardens ClosedE2
Gardens ClosedDisaster stikes as bad weather forces the gardens to close for the first time in 15 years. This hampers preparations for the visit of Prince Charles and Prince Turki of Saudi Arabia as they arrive to plant some new palm trees. Kath King explains her feeding regimes for the carnivorous plant collection and the display team have some leaf cutter ants to deal with - Kew's country garden - Wakehurst PlaceE4
Kew's country garden - Wakehurst PlaceAt Kew's country garden, Wakehurst Place, Steve Robinson is hard at work making charcoal, while Margaret Leigh prepares for the annual plant auction. In the bamboo garden, Ray Townsend answers a call for help from London Zoo and the tree gang deal with an Italian poplar that stands in the way of the Jodrell Laboratory extension. - St HelenaE5
St HelenaSteve Alton travels to St Helena to collect seed of the island's unique plant life for the Millenium Seedbank, while back at Wakehurst Place a rare cabbage plant is being transferred to Kew. The marathon pruning session begins on the rose pergola and a new recruit to the tree gang gets a lesson from Andy McClure, Kew's oldest tree surgeon. - The Mycology Department Surveys the FungiE6
The Mycology Department Surveys the FungiHead of the Arboretum, Tony Kirkham, fights to save one of Kew's oldest trees, a Ginkgo Biloba. Elsewhere the mycology department surveys the fungi of the gardens and Roselle Andrews creates a special wreath for Remembrance Sunday. - Victorian Taxonomic DisputeE7
Victorian Taxonomic DisputeBotanist Bill Baker solves a Victorian taxonomic dispute and pays tribute to John Dransfield who is retiring. Ray Townsend gets to work creating an authentic Zen garden around the Japanese Gateway and Kew provides a home for 50 chameleons seized by customs. - Chihuly ExhibitionE8
Chihuly ExhibitionSeed collectors from the Millenium Seedbank find out that simple tasks can be tough in Burkina Faso. Back at the gardens work begins to assemble the first sculpture for the controversial Chihuly exhibition. Elsewhere the keepers of the Palm house and Temperate house go head to head at the RHS London Show. - Wollemi PineE9
Wollemi PineMichiel Van Slageren uses local knowledge to find new species for the Millennium Seedbank in Mali. Curator of the spirit collection, Emma Treadwell looks after some new additions and displays curator Phil Griffiths commissions some new pots for the Temperate House. The world's media descend on the gardens to see the rare Wollemi pine. - Volunteers Tackle an Invasive WeedE10
Volunteers Tackle an Invasive WeedIn the Jodrell Laboratory, Olwen Grace examines the chemical properties of aloes while outside a team of 300 volunteers tackle an invasive weed. Inside the Temperate house, it's organised chaos as the final preparations for the Chihuly exhibition are underway and a bedding scheme with a difference is designed outside the Princess of Wales Conservatory.
