Kew\u2019s first female climbing arborist since the 1980s, Cecily Withall is part of a team that maintains the botanical garden\u2019s impressive collection of 12,000 trees. Portrait Jason Ingram <\/p>

I believe that a job outdoors offers more mental and physical wealth than any other vocation and we should be advocating for this <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Favourite landscape: <\/strong>Benmore Botanic Gardens in Argyllshire, Scotland. Avenues of giant redwoods line the way to mountain slopes clothed in Chilean and Chinese species. While the weather is often \u2018dreich\u2019, the glow of a ruby-leaved acer in the mist will stay with you for a lifetime.<\/p>\n
Biggest challenge facing gardeners today: <\/strong>Land-based industries such as horticulture and arboriculture are often perceived as being poorly remunerated, and many people are put off by this. I believe that a job outdoors offers more mental and physical wealth than any other vocation and we should be advocating for this.<\/p>\n
In what direction do you see horticulture heading? <\/strong>Women<\/a> have been, and continue to be, hugely successful within horticulture, and this has inspired many others to grow and learn within the industry. Arboriculture is still predominantly a male-led industry, although this is slowly changing, along with the associated stigma that it\u2019s all just a testosterone-fuelled chainsaw frenzy. I\u2019d like to raise awareness of it as an accessible profession for women and ensure that schoolchildren learn that it\u2019s available to them as a career. It\u2019s my dream job, but it took a while to realise it existed, and I want to change this for future generations.<\/p>\n
How do you remind yourself what needs doing next? <\/strong>All of the trees at Kew are mapped by their GPS location and stored on an app used by the tree unit. Each tree has a stored history (collection date, past pruning works and so on) alongside a maintenance schedule. Tasks mainly consist of dead wooding; we climb the tree to give it an aerial inspection, looking at overall health and removing any dead or diseased material.<\/p>\n
Contact<\/strong> c.withall@kew.org For information on visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, go to kew.org<\/a><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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