In part 1 I talked about the Palm House at Kew gardens; here I want to share my photos of the trees in the gardens. Many of the trees had leaves in brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red and once I spotted these trees they just drew me to them.

There were so many trees making it feel as though I was in the middle of a forest and I have to admit it made me think of those scenes in films of nature looking colourful, grand and peaceful.

I did also come across this weird looking thing. Looking at the sign attached, it said this was a ‘tree whisperer’. I’m guessing playing certain types of sounds and music must help the trees grow (or maybe keep them company)

I also came across several trees that had fallen over, but what I really liked was that the trees had been left where they has fallen so people can see the roots and earth around it to get a feel of how things would be in their natural habitat (here they have of course cut away the branches so you can get up close and not hurt yourself)

There were also some great, tall trees that seemed to be placed neatly in rows, that really reminded me of a woodland area. Trees were spaced out leaving the air feeling fresher too.

My favourite big trees though were the Redwoods. I have seen these trees on television and read about them to know that these can grow to be enormous and live for a very long time. I loved the reddish colour and texture of trunks, with the branches shooting out high above.

What I found mind blowing was just how wide the trunks can grow – there is a plaque in the middle of the path with measurements

And in case you can’t quite tell – it’s the size of the outer ring shown in the photo below!

I came across this quote from John Steinbeck “The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.” And I have to admit that is exactly how they made me feel; of all the photos I’ve taken of them none feel like they are even close to caturing the granduer of these trees – they really do leave you awe struck.

There were so many more trees, such as fir trees and pine trees but I couldn’t possibly try to include them all in this one post. The trees are arranged in different areas so you get a feel for their natural environment. Each area is so different to the next; in the way the air feels around them – some parts being stuffy as the branches and surrounding foliage being quite dense to the more spaced out taller trees being brighter . I have to say that this was the best part of my visit, just being able to walk around and take in the colours, smells and textures. It may sound a bit cliched but it felt really good for my soul, it was so peaceful and made me feel really close to nature, and definitely what I needed.