| Star of A Year at Kew, Tony Kirkham takes you up to the tree canopy as we join him on Kew Gardens' amazing treetop walkway. The Rhizotron & Xstrata Treetop Walkway stands in the Arboretum, between the Temperate House and the Lake. A path lined with examples of different timbers leads visitors below ground to the Rhizotron. Inside, an installation explains the relationships that exist between tree roots, the soil and organisms such as nematodes, beetles, woodlice and bacteria. On the floor is a mosaic inspired by the mutually beneficial relationships that exist between many plant roots and fungi. The 18-metre high, 200-metre walkway at Kew Gardens guides visitors around the crowns of lime, sweet chestnut and oak trees. Supported by rusted steel columns that blend in with the natural environment, it provides opportunities for inspecting birds, insects, lichen and fungi at close quarters, as well as seeing blossom emerging and seed pods bursting open. Things to look out for At the entrance to the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway are sculptures carved from tree trunks. The carvings illustrate microscopic elements of trees, and help explain how trees grow. Visitors learn, for example, that leaves have breathing pores shaped like lips and that tubes called phloem pump sap from leaves to fruits and roots. Kids Mission * Can you find out how much carbon a 70-year-old tree releases to the environment when it dies? * How much water does a large broad-leafed tree need to drink ... |
