How do you get a nine-metre-high plant through a two-metre-high doorway?
After four years of restoration work, our Horticulture team is finally replanting the Palm Houses, starting with large palms and tree ferns including an enormous Trachycarpus princeps or stone gate palm.
In our short film, Horticulturists Sadie Barber and Neil Watherston speak about the challenges and triumphs of bringing our Living Collection back home.
| Time | Description |
| [Sadie Barber, Research and Collections Manager] When the restoration was completed, we had this beautiful, open, airy, perfect space. I think we're really bringing it back to life now with the replanting. That is a real exceptionally delicate operation, dealing with very delicate plants, but it's also a great feat of engineering, artistry, and science, the thing that horticulturists are so great at. | |
| 00:22 | [Neil Watherston, Glasshouse Supervisor] Currently, we are moving about 50 large plants with a telehandler, and we have to strop them. We have to tip them on their sides to get them through a, a six-foot doorway. |
| [Sadie Barber] The great opportunity that something like this project gives us is when you empty a space, and you have this incredible diversity of plants to choose from, you can choose exactly what you want to bring in, what you can feature. So in this case, we're actually bringing a lot of tree ferns in to mix amongst the palms that this sort of space is just made for. These palm houses are one of the most iconic buildings in the whole city, and if not, in Scotland. | |
| 00:36 | Trachycarpus princeps was just a lot stronger than we thought it was gonna be, um, but we had lots of strops on it to keep it safe and secure in an rigid position for transport. We just have to take them off the pallets, remove the air pot, and lift it into the hole. They'll lean slightly when they settle, so if we can get them 99% straight, when they settle, they'll be nice, clean lines. We've already put about half of the large plants we're putting in, and they're already starting to respond to just having more light and air around them. We hope to have this planted by the end of June and open to the public in the autumn. The great opportunity that something like this project gives us is when you empty a space, and you have this incredible diversity of plants to choose from, you can choose exactly what you want to bring in, what you can feature. So in this case, we're actually bringing a lot of tree ferns in to mix amongst the palms that this sort of space is just made for. These palm houses are one of the most iconic buildings in the whole city, and if not, in Scotland. |
| 01:36 | People recognize them around the world, actually, so it's great to have these actual buildings back in great condition. But not only that, it's giving us this opportunity to fill the space with plants that tell fantastic stories about everything we stand for, and that is conservation, science, education, and exceptional horticulture. |
