The Royal Botanic gardens at Kew (Kew gardens) – a huge green area on the banks of the Thames between Richmond and Kew in South-West London. This is one of the world's largest collections of living plants, which is visited by around two million people a year.

In August 1759, the Dowager Princess of Wales, was laid in the old Kew Park in the area of 3, 6 hectares of exotic garden". Since here attracts visitors Chinese pagoda, erected in 1761. In 1767 the gardens received the status of Royal Botanic. Golden age garden came when his unofficial leader in 1773 became a famous botanist sir Joseph banks, maintaining friendly relations with king George III. Research expeditions have been brought here from all over the world unseen plants. It was then caught on luxury Strelitz, and the British Isles in Vogue African pelargonii.

With the death of banks Kew went into decline, but in 1840 the government appointed him Director of another major botanist William hooker. Under his leadership, the Botanical garden has turned into a real research center, acquired a huge library. In 1860 there began to cultivate the South American Cinchona, which helped defeat malaria, in the 70-ies of the XIX century successfully cultivated hevea seedlings for South-East Asia, where the result was to lay the plantation of rubber tree.

Today in Kew on an area of over 120 hectares, are home to about thirty thousand species and varieties of plants from around the world. The gardens is also known for its unique buildings and structures. Alpine Lodge, Davis found a shelter plants of the Alpine zone – a special system of automatic control of blinds does not allow the premises to overheat. Nearby is the smallest of the British Royal residences, Kew Palace, built by a Dutch merchant Samuel Foti about 1631, – can be visited. In the gallery of Marianne North hosted paintings by this artist of the XIX century, which alone traveled to America and Asia, sketching plants.

In 2008 at Kew revealed an unusual structure – the alley above the treetops: glazed openwork bridge 200 meters long, passing at a height of fifteen meters. It is well to observe the life, swirling in the trees.

There are at Kew and it is an amazing artifact: the world's largest compost heap. Here collect weeding weeds, leaves, stalks and branches of plants, generously add high quality manure from the stables of the Royal horse guards – and it turns out the compost, which entry goes with the auction.