Visiting Kew Gardens in the Spring makes for a wonderful treat with plants everywhere in blossom set off by perfectly maintained lawns and paths. Recently we have been twice. The first occasion was a delight with the flowers at their magnificent best and with a chance observation that gave us the pleasure of learning something new. The second occasion, a week later, was marred by an argument which although difficult to bear, ultimately provided clues that helped resolve a conundrum.

On that first visit, which was in the morning just after the Gardens opened, we came across lawns where hundreds of newly laid squares of turf had been methodically rolled back to expose the earth beneath (see the illustration). Soon we noticed one of Kew’s gardening team some way off on another part of the lawn walking slowly from sod to sod, carefully rolling it back and treading it in. When he got near, he told us that this was something he had to do every morning, as each night badgers – and there are over thirty setts at Kew – are turning over the turf as they hunt for worms and grubs. As part of the Kew staff he will have known his business and accordingly we accepted his explanation.

Our visit on the day of the spat occurred a week later and took place just after midday. I hate arguments where tempers are lost and voices are raised, and that is exactly what I faced that day. The spat was with two women, one in her seventies, the other, her daughter who she described as ‘a lawyer of the highest intelligence’. With them was a granddaughter aged about six.

We once again saw upturned turf; this time on another part of the lawn,  but now they were being put back not by a gardener but by two Kew visitors who I was to learn were the said grandmother and her granddaughter. 

With the gardener’s explanation fresh in our minds, Rohan and I went over to ask the grandmother whether she knew what had caused the turf to be uprooted. In response she replied very emphatically that she did know – it had been done by crows. At this point Rohan walked ahead with two of our friends while I stayed to discuss the matter more. My memory of the conversation that followed goes like this. Rather surprised by her explanation, I said I had been told by a Kew gardener that turf-turning in the Gardens was the work of badgers. At this point the grandmother became very aggressive – obviously my approach had upset her – and after reaffirming that it was certainly the work of crows, she raised her voice and with some vehemence accused me of not believing her, of not listening to her, and of being generally rude.

Next, her lawyer daughter came over and joined in, saying she had taken a film of the crows and would show it to me. She never found her film but in the same aggressive tone as her mother said that I was the rudest person they had ever met. With the granddaughter now looking on with a most anxious face, I left feeling shaken, saying that I was only interested in clarifying apparent conundrum. 

By the end of that day the issue had actually been resolved when I learned that both explanations were correct. I had told our friends about the altercation, and after we left for home they went back to the lawn of the argument with its newly dug-up turf and saw there – and filmed – a crow in the process of pulling up new bits of turf!

It was now clear that both badgers and crows turn over newly laid turf, however they each go about their work in different ways. Being nocturnal, badgers work during the night and thanks to their size and their specially-developed earth-digging claws, they can turn over the turf in large sections using techniques they have evolved over time. Crows, on the other hand busy themselves during the day – as was seen by my adversaries – and since they have to do everything using only their beaks, the turning is of small sections and the product rather bitty – as indeed it was. 

That two such different animal species, in their very different ways, were turning over newly-laid turf in Kew is fascinating. What a shame that the discovery arose from an unnecessarily horrible but illuminating clash. 

The illustration shows a photo of newly-laid squares of turf on a lawn in Kew Gardens each with a side neatly rolled back overnight by badgers.

For helping me write this blog, I would like to thank Carolyn, Andrew, Peter, Rohan and Vivien.