Kew Gardens starts £66m Palm House refurbishment and moves 1,300 plants
Kew Gardens has begun a £66 million refurbishment of its 175-year-old Palm House, with more than 1,300 tropical plants being removed and stored for at least three years.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Kew Gardens has begun a major refurbishment of its world-famous Palm House, a Victorian glasshouse that is more than 175 years old. The project, which has been costed at £66 million, will involve removing and replacing every pane of glass and treating and repainting the rusting metalwork. To carry out that work, more than 1,300 plants must be taken out of the building.
The task is already under way. The team is working through the collection a bed and a section at a time, auditing the plants and deciding what action each one needs. Staff describe emptying the Palm House as a daunting job. Some of the plants are historically significant and are older than the glasshouse itself. Others are important conservation species.
Once potted, the plants are being moved a short distance to a temporary glass house. The larger species will stay there for at least the next three years while the Palm House is restored. The temporary home is a carefully controlled environment, with temperature and humidity constantly monitored. The aim is to keep the plants healthy without letting them grow too big for the limited space.
One of the most delicate operations involves a tall tropical tree from Myanmar that is now extinct in the wild. Extra equipment is needed to take cuttings, which are then sent to a special laboratory. In a propagation glass house, staff are growing backup plants in case any of the originals fail to survive the move. There is, in effect, a botanical plan B.
Some species are proving especially difficult. Ebony, a tropical hardwood, is normally propagated from seed, but the specimen at Kew does not flower or fruit. Staff have taken more than 100 cuttings from the individual plant. All but one have failed, and the single success is being treated as a small victory.
About half of the plants in the Palm House have now been cleared, but the biggest and most awkward specimens remain. They include a huge 250-year-old pot plant that is being left until last. In the next six months, everything left inside must be removed. After that, work will begin to restore the Palm House to its former glory.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| About half of the plants at the Palm House have been cleared, with the largest and most difficult ones remaining. | |
| All plants and trees in Kew Gardens' Palm House, reported as around 1,300 or more, must be removed for the refurbishment. | |
| Kew Gardens' Palm House is undergoing a £66 million refurbishment. | Reported by BBC One |
| Larger plants from the Palm House will be kept in a temporary glass house for at least three years. | |
| The Palm House contains more than 1,300 plants. | |
| The Palm House needs all glass panes removed and replaced and its rusting metalwork treated and repainted. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
This broadcast framed the refurbishment as a delicate botanical operation rather than a construction project. It followed the plant-by-plant audit, the move to a temporary glass house and the propagation work needed to insure against losses. It gave more detail than the later bulletin on progress, noting that about half the collection had been cleared and that a 250-year-old pot plant would be moved last. It did not mention the £66 million cost.
- “There's more than 1,300 of them.”
- “It's a really daunting task emptying the collections from the palm house.”
- “We've done over 100 cuttings of this one individual and all but this one haven't succeeded.”
This bulletin led with the scale and cost of the project, describing a £66 million makeover of the 175-year-old Victorian structure. It explained why all 1,300 tropical plants and trees must be removed and noted that the larger species will spend at least three years in a temporary glass house. It did not report how much of the collection had already been cleared or name the 250-year-old plant left until last.
- “the famous palm house at Kew Gardens in London is about to undergo a massive 66 million pound makeover”
- “to restore the Victorian structure every single pane of glass will have to be removed”
- “it's where they'll stay for at least the next three years while the work here is being done”
Broadcast Timeline
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