GARDENING
How to care for your trees, by Kew’s expert
Kevin Martin on his favourite tree, looking after the historic collection and bringing up a young family in the gardens
Kevin Martin is the head of tree collections at Kew Gardens and lives at Kew with his wife, Laura, and two sons, Oscar and Ethan
VICKI COUCHMAN FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
The Sunday Times
When Kevin Martin, the head of tree collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is asked if he has a favourite tree, he looks wary. It’s like asking a parent whether they have a favourite child. Then he concedes that he has a special fondness for the chestnut-leaved oak. Planted in the 1840s, this 39m giant stands resplendently in the gardens surrounded by a fence and has a girth of 8m.
“One of our redwoods is taller, but the chestnut-leaved oak is our biggest tree by volume. It has a canopy spread of 38m,” Martin says. “Just after I joined the gardens we had to prune it and it took three of us four days. It was daunting.”
The oak is one of about 10,000
