Kew Gardens 'sadly' announce that eight of its trees were lost as a result of Storm Darragh over the weekend.

From 7 to 8 December Kew Gardens saw eight of trees fall but say that more could have been lost if it was not for the care and risk management of its expert arboricultural team.

The final yellow weather warning for wind in England and Wales expired on Sunday evening (8 December) as the storm has now moved away from the UK.

Fallen trees have since been removed by Kew's Arboricultural Team, also known as 'The Tree Gang', before they are examined by the Arboretum Nursery Team who are in charge of new tree growth.

Kew will now analyse whether to plant new trees where the old ones fell or nearby, after allowing time for the ground to settle.

Another one of Kew's trees that was lost over the weekend (credit: @kewgardens/X).

The gardens also say parts of the fallen trees will not go to waste as some will be mulched and others turned into small products.

Tom Fry, Arboricultural Supervisor at Kew Gardens tells Richmond Nub News: "Protecting trees from storms is all about being proactive rather than reactive.

"This is a complex task which involves the care of the tree as a whole and identifying tree health issues or defects before it fails.

"The key to this approach is to try our very best to keep a healthy collection by looking after our soil, dealing with compaction and identifying branches which are more likely to fail.

"This can be achieved by structural pruning of branches to reduce the chances of failure, and decompaction and mulching of the areas surrounding trees to keep the tree strong and enable it to react and protect itself against stress caused by storms.

"The Tree Gang also use specialist technology for testing trees for storm resistance and strength."

Kew Gardens will turn the fallen trees in mulch and products (credit: @kewgardens/X).

Fry adds: "We consider the location in the Gardens and severity of the failure, working through one by one to remove the trees and leave only a stump.

"This is then ground out, the woodchip is removed, and the soil is reinstated. This step is done so the soil quality is good enough for trees to be planted in the Arboretum in the future."

To find out more about Kew Gardens click here.

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