So today was my first day in the arboretum nursery. July is the month when the Kew Diploma students in the 1st year finish their classes and go back into the gardens, so with me was also a student, new to the nursery.

We were shown around, and then assigned an area to take care of.

For the next two weeks, I will have responsibility for temperate greenhouse 30A. Inside, some rootstock plants, bedding plants (i.e. Euonymus fortunei) that will be used around the Palm House, some propagated Ilex from the holly walk that need replacing, and the collection of rhododendrons that will be used to populate the new area when it is ready (as the soil is getting impoverished in the current area and the stock needs rejuvenating).

I am also looking after the two polytunnels (one here portrayed with peacock and plane, two of Kew’s most characteristic sightings!) where some plants are grown on before going off to their final destination.

The day starts with taking the min/max temperatures from all the houses and polytunnels, and checking that the mist unit and hot pipe are working. Then it’s watering of those plants that need it. I find this task quite daunting, as I am very conscious that overwatering can kill more than letting plants dry out. Roots cannot get oxygen from soil that is waterlogged, so they cannot perform respiration, they die and rot.

In order to check that a plant needs watering I am looking at three things:

• the surface of the soil is dry; that is not enough however, because the surface is what dries first and underneath the soil might still be wet;
• probe to see if soil is wet underneath the surface, looking under those pots that have grids instead of bottoms or even opening those pots that can be unrolled (if in doubt);
• weigh the pots: if the soil is dry they will be rather light compared to those with wet soil in.

Back from my study leave and RHS Level 3 exam (that was a long day, as I was taking the first part early in the morning and the last one in the afternoon) I knew I would have to take care of a work experience lad for the day.

My main objective for the next two days is to finish weeding and bringing plants back to their allotted space in one of the middle beds, so that on Sunday I can come in and finish my stock-checking exercise. I am under a bit of self-imposed pressure because I want to finish it all. That is because for the next two weeks I have been given the opportunity to work in the arboretum nursery (something that is not normally on the interns’ training plan, so I’m rather proud of it).

Anyway, weeding is what needs doing at the moment so I asked the lad to help with it. To give him something a bit different to do I had also saved a Rubus for pulling out – it had grown into another one, difficult to spot even though the leaves of the species were quite different, but, at this time of the year, one was in flower, while the other one was fruiting already. So I asked him to have a good look at the plant and see if he could spot anything strange, and he did! 

A lad with an eye for plants, and showing more interest than others we have had working with us, deserved full attention, so I tried to keep his interest going and it was good that I had all my botany fresh from the exam. 

Circaea lutetiana

In an area with a lot of suckering plants, we talked about suckers and how they take good energy from a plant and therefore need to be cut back, especially when the plant is grafted and it is the rootstock that suckers: just recently we found two Crataegus in my area where the rootstock had taken over and the scion had died. 

When digging out enchanter’s nightshade (Circaea lutetiana), of which there was a large patch engulfing a couple of Spiraeas, we discussed rhizomes being underground stems and how if any is left in the soil they will come out again.

As we run into a bunch of mushrooms in the mulch, and he wanted to hoe them, we had an opportunity to talk about micorrhyzae and how they are useful to plants, and some nettles covered in aphids were the opportunity to talk about biocontrol by attracting beneficial insects, and parasitoid wasps Aphidium and Aphelinus and midge Aphidoletes that use aphids as their egg-case.

I enjoyed talking about plants, and the lad did notice (and remarked) how passionate I am about them!

The reason why you may not see all the diary entries published online yet is that I am preparing for my RHS Level 3 exam next week, not that I am working or learning any less (or having less fun).

I am still clearing the middle bed of dead wood and overgrown plants, so that I can complete the stock-checking with some accuracy. I am so engrossed by the task, and on such a tight schedule at the moment, that I forgot to take a “before” picture, but here is the panorama view of the “after”: in front of the tractor is where I finished, behind the tractor, where I still have to work.

(click to enlarge)

And, from the front of the bed, you can now make out the individual plants: two Spirea on the left, two Prinsepia on the right, and the Spirea in the centre at the back, instead of an undifferentiated mass of greenery.

Going to and fro from the yard with my loaded tractor today, I thought it would be nice to talk about tipping the trailer, especially as several of my friends (girls in particular!) have been almost as excited as myself about my driving a tractor. 

In the yard  (where our compost heap is), we sort our loads in two groups: the green and the woody, which will be turned into soft and woody mulch respectively. Today I was tipping woody material. 

Before driving into the enclosed compost heap working area, you have to wear a hi-vis vest, so that any moving vehicle can see you. Of course, if there is any moving vehicles, especially the big tractors, or when our colleagues are working on shredding wood etc, you have to wait at the entrance until you are waved in, for safety reasons.

Once you drive in, you approach the relevant heap area and reverse your trailer as close as possible to it. Then get off and a. open the back flap (when the load is not too high and likely to slide through it) b. remove the back flap, as I did, my load being quite big and full of branches that would get stuck.

At that point, operating a lever will get the hydraulic hoist to lift the trailer, ready to dump. Once the trailer is up, driving backwards and forwards a little bit with great care (a lifted trailer is easily overturned, so you have to make sure the wheels are both safely level on the ground) will cause the load to slide off, in a neat, contained mound. Well, sometimes you have to help it along, as some branches might get stuck… they did today. What you should not do is just drive forward, as you would scatter the content all over the place.

Then you lower the trailer, before replacing and fixing the flap, and driving off: mission accomplished!

Incidentally, today I realised that, if you are interested in compost making at Kew, including us tipping tractors etc, there is a raised platform for visitors to watch all the proceedings live 🙂

Team day, as usual, but the difference today was that we were weeding tree circles in my area: Malus, Pirus, Crataegus…

I sat for a while under a large pear tree, pulling weeds from under its canopy. When I came out, my colleague went quiet and looked strange, his eyes on my back: “you have something on your back”.

A large moth was taking a ride. “A picture, take a picture…”, says I, and a few people tagged along with their mobiles too.

The moth did not seem inclined to leave me, so I carried on weeding, while it stood, parrot-like, on my shoulder. Luckily I’m not too fussed about this kind of things!

There it remained, until lunchtime, when we looked it up: eyed hawk-moth (Smerinthus ocellata) was its name. Not even the manager was immune from the fascination this large insect held on us. Unfortunately, in all the time it hung around, it never spread its wing so that we could see they eyes that give it its common name.

Smerinthus ocellata

Having left it on a log, I went back to my weeding. Another surprise was in store for me, inside a Crataegus. As I was trying to make my way under the specimen’s canopy, in fact, our teamleader for the day asked me if I wanted to see something interesting. Well, you can guess my reply!

Viscum album, main plant and seedling

Deep inside the branches, impossible to see if not directed, was a mistletoe (Viscum album). Its main stem came out of an hawthorn’s branch, almost indistinguishable from any other branch, it looked so at home there. A seedling emerged from the bark right next to it.

An interesting team day, this one was, in my area!