John Craven and Charlotte Smith are joined by presenter, journalist, and author Vick Hope at Wakehurst, Kew’s botanic gardens in West Sussex. Together, they judge this year’s Countryfile photographic competition, selecting the final 12 images for the 2025 Countryfile calendar, which will support BBC Children in Need.
Charlotte explores beyond the gardens, looking at the work of Kew’s millennium seed bank and its efforts to conserve native meadows. She meets a team that combines cutting-edge technology, including robots, drones, and LiDar, to uncover the secrets of trees and plants.
The episode also catches up with Wakehurst’s nature reserve warden, who is repurposing an area affected by ash dieback, and a bee expert who is deciphering pollen DNA.
Countryfile: Wakehurst airs on Sunday, 25 August 2024, at 7:00 pm on BBC One.
