1820 - 1841: Gardens in decline

It is difficult to ascribe blame for the decline of the Botanic Gardens at Kew over the twenty years between 1820 and 1841. Certainly the apathy of George IV did not help, neither did the Treasury's economies nor increased competition from other horticultural establishments.

To compound this situation, William Townsend Aiton (W Aiton, his father died in 1793) was ordered by George IV to redesign other royal gardens including Buckingham Palace and St James's Park. This left Kew very much adrift and under the direct management only of its four foremen, in charge respectively of the Botanic Garden, the Pleasure Grounds, the Kitchen Garden and the Fruit and Forcing Department.

Finally, all of the Gardens' foreign collectors appointed by Banks were withdrawn, and by 1831 the Botanic Gardens at Kew no longer actively collected plants, although it still received many specimens.

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George IV's influence

William IV reopens Kew Green

Questions in Parliament 1837-1840

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