Climate change adds gardening challenges
29 November 2012
Gardening in the UK has always been challenging due to variable weather, but further changes in our climate are not making thing easier according to the Met Office’s Chief Scientist.
Professor Julia Slingo discussed the issues facing gardeners at the second John MacLeod Annual Lecture, held in London. She explained how a trend towards milder weather is exposing plants to greater risks and higher incidences of heavy rainfall also poses a threat.
However Professor Slingo says the biggest problem for gardeners remains the same: 'Gardening in the UK has always been challenging because of our volatile climate and we have learned to work with it. That has always been the case and it will remain that way in the future,' she says. 'However, we have already seen changes in our climate and we can expect more in the future. It’s fair to say gardening in the UK is getting that bit harder.'
During the talk, Professor Slingo discussed how the growing season has extended by a month or more in parts of the UK, largely due to milder temperatures in February and March. This exposes plants to a higher risk from frosts during cold spells. The trend towards milder temperatures also means there are fewer frost days to kill off pests and diseases. While there is no sign of any changes in annual rainfall in the UK, there has been a higher number of days with extreme or heavy rain which mirrors a global trend.
Although our climate will continue to change, Professor Slingo made it clear that domestic species can still thrive: 'Even with climate change, we will continue to experience the typically changeable conditions that the British Isles are so famous for. This means we’ll continue to see a lot of variability in our climate,' she says. 'We expect the UK to be buffered from the worst of the warming in future due to changes in ocean circulation. Having said that many of our domestic plants are very resilient and I certainly wouldn’t rush out to plant cacti everywhere, as they probably won’t make it!'
John David, RHS Principle Scientist at the RHS, says: 'Following the successful inaugural John MacLeod Lecture last year we are so pleased to have Professor Julia Slingo speak this year. Her lecture is particularly relevant as it is now 10 years since the report Gardening in the Global Greenhouse was jointly produced by the RHS, The National Trust and the UK Climate Impacts Programme. Much has changed since then and the RHS is about to start to update the report.'