Gardening in a changing climate
Gardening in the Global Greenhouse
Gardening
in the Global Greenhouse: The Impacts of Climate Change on
Gardens in the UK was commissioned by the National
Trust and The Royal Horticultural Society in partnership
with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra),
Anglian
Water, English
Heritage, the
Forestry Commission, Notcutts
Nurseries and The
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the UK Climate Impacts Programme
(UKCIP).
The programme is based at the University of Oxford and funded
by DEFRA to co-ordinate an assessment of how changing climate
will affect the UK, and help organisations assess how they
might be affected.
The authors of the report are Richard Bisgrove
and Professor Paul Hadley from Reading
University, where the research was carried out.
View the full technical report plus a summary report
Comment
'Gardeners are adept at coping with the weather and the likely climate change over the next 80 years will present exciting opportunities as well as challenges,' said Simon Thornton-Wood, Head of Science and Advice at the RHS. 'While, there will be greater opportunities to grow exotic fruits and sub-tropical plants like citrus and cannas, increased winter rainfall and hotter drier summers will present drought difficulties for Mediterranean species that dislike waterlogging. Careful irrigation techniques as well as wise water management will be essential for all gardeners - including those at the RHS.'
The National Trust's Head of Gardens, Mike Calnan, said, 'Our priority will be to work alongside other organisations to determine those gardens most at risk and what can be done to minimise the threats to them. All gardeners will face a spectrum of challenges in the future and higher maintenance costs and more intensive gardening will be inevitable. We shall need to work with other land owners to minimise the impacts on our properties of changes within the landscape. Ultimately, we may have to consider how far we are prepared to invest in mitigating environmental changes that may significantly threaten entire gardens.'