Introduction
Gardening in the Global Greenhouse: The Impacts of Climate Change on Garden s 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 coordinate an assessment of how climate change 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.
The full technical report plus a summary report is available by clicking here
The Impacts of Climate Change on Gardens in the UK
The impact of climate change is likely to lead to more:
- Reduced frosts
- Earlier spring
- Higher average temperatures all year round
- Increased winter rainfall, leading to risk from flooding
- Hotter, drier summers, increasing risk of drought
Domestic gardeners are in a position to adapt to climate change and exploit opportunities as it affects growing conditions in UK gardens. For the heritage sector, the greatest challenge will be the long-term care of historic layouts, plant collections and planting effects, originally developed in climatic conditions that no longer exist.
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 which dislike water logging. 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 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.'
Click on the links below for more information
Challenges and opportunities
Do's and dont's for gardeners
Plants you can expect to see more of
Pest and disease threats
Case studies from the four RHS gardens
Other websites of interest
South East Climate Change Partnership
Woodland Trust