If you visit us frequently, you have probably already met some of the staff at Kew. But did you know that our site at Kew is only half the Kilby story? We also own a property up at Olinda, where most of our deciduous trees are grown on, along with some of the other, hardier stock. Taking care of things up there are Ben and Lance. You might have met Lance, as he used to work down in Kew, but Ben is probably unknown to most of our customers.

Ben has always been an avid gardener, something he picked up from both his Grandfather (he helped in his garden as a kid) and Father (an ex-fruit picker and now head of his community veggie patch).

Trading working in the office for the fresh air of Olinda, Ben loves working with trees. Ben says ‘Best part if the job I reckon is pruning. Not sure why really. I guess it’s the fact you have to imagine what the tree is going to look like in a couple of months time whilst you’re doing it and then wait and see how they turn out.’.  With several thousand trees to look after there is plenty of pruning to be done.

No guesses though as to the worst part of the job; ‘worst part of the job is weeding, undoubtedly. Except when you have finished and can look around and the place looks brand new again.’

Working with so many beautiful trees, how would you pick your favourite? For Ben, it is the Tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera. ‘I drove past one around the corner and saw it’s flowers for the first time.’ Good choice Ben.

And those beautiful Tulip trees are now for sale at Kew.