Kew Gardens At Last

Near the beginning of my quest I posted about how the Botanical Gardens at Kew was a definite location of a number of Monkey Puzzle trees which I would have to visit when I got the chance. I knew from the map (below) that there was at least 9 trees to see but until I managed to check them out for myself I wasn't quite sure how many trees were going to be there waiting to be seen. I am happy to say this Summer thanks to a surprise day out organised by my girlfriend Nathalie I finally made the trip and boy was it worth it!

Kew Gardens Monkey Puzzle Tree Map

When we boarded the Overground train heading west at Camden Road for my surprise day out I quickly realised that that our likely destination was Kew Gardens, the fact that Nathalie had told me to bring my camera kind of confirmed my suspicions. A very quick train ride flashed by and we soon found ourselves walking along a Horse Chestnut lined road towards the Botanical Gardens. What struck us was how poorly the Horse Chestnut trees appeared due to them all being infested with the horse chestnut leaf mining moth, a pest that has been in the UK for about 14 years now. Even though the moth's caterpillars do a lot of damage to the trees leaves, leaving the trees looking very sorry for themselves, however according to research, they have almost no effect on the growth rate and the general health of the trees.

As soon as we entered the Gardens I checked the map showing the location of all the Monkey Puzzle trees they had, which I had handily saved on my phone a while ago.  It didn't take long (especially as I insisted on walking at double quick time) before we approached the fist Monkey Puzzle trees of the day, the two lovely specimens were just a taster of the joys to follow.

Trees 1 & 2 (TW2 & TW3)

Having taken a few photos it soon dawned on me that these two trees were just the first in what I can only describe as a miniature Monkey Puzzle tree wood.  My excitement levels went through the roof as I began to count the number of trees that were in front of me.

Trees 3 - 7 (TW4-TW8)

Tree 8 (TW9)

Tree 9 (TW10)

Trees 10 & 11 (TW11 & TW12)

In total there were 11 trees of various sizes and me and Nathalie decided it was the perfect spot to have a picnic.  I can honestly say I've never had a more lovely picnic spot in my life. After the picnic we followed the map to see another 4 huge Monkey Puzzle Trees taking the days total up to an impressive 15 trees!

Picnic Amongst The Monkey Puzzle Trees

Tree 12 (TW13)

Tree 13 (TW14)

Tree 14 (TW15)

Close to the 15th tree is some information about Kew Gardens role in helping to preserve the Monkey Puzzle tree - an online account can be found here.

Tree 15 (TW1)

Monkey Puzzle Marker

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 44       Monkey Puzzle Trees Yet To See - 2