PLANTING FOR OUR EVOLVING CLIMATE

Ventnor Botanic Garden Curator Chris Kidd

Gardening in the face of climate change is the tag line of VBG, but it is the truth for every gardener in the UK today. Climate change affects every gardening job, and every garden we make, so when facing another enemy in the range of foes we wrestle as gardeners, perhaps it’s better to work with, rather than against, nature.

Climate change is complex, yet there are some aspects we can predict, and these are extremes of the meteorology we already have; wetter rain, drier drought, stronger wind, colder cold. There are easy buffers and tricks, some reinvention and reappraisal, and some well-known tactics to help work with climate chaos.

Grow in containers, but don’t cram. Just like school clothes on the first day of term, containers should be bigger than the plant going in requires. The plant will naturally “grow into” its surroundings and remain longer at the right size. Putting in a plant that is too big in the first instance will look good, but diminish quickly as it uses up available resources, becomes injured by too little or too much water, damaged by cold, or blown over in the wind. Select plant types that have evolved in places such as the Mediterranean or South Africa.

Think about the lawn, and do you really need it? Would a variety of other plants look better? A plant community is more diverse and resilient to extremes. Consider a meadow approach or allow the borders to cover more open space. Water only when necessary, and feed less; tougher smaller plants can cope better than artificially promoted growth. Cover the ground, but in multiple layers. Mulch has become ubiquitous, and in some cases detrimental. Use the plants themselves to cover and protect the soil. This shouldn’t be a monoculture, use plants of various types to emerge and grow through each other, making ever-changing layers.

Avoid the obvious. A spiky plant will usually cope with drier conditions, but un-watered in a small pot it will never grow well. Plant alongside more traditional garden plants as an accent, and be surprised what it will achieve with more water in spring. Reconsider the seasons, their definition is blurring as they roll together anyway. Spring bulbs are flowering earlier, so purchase and plant as soon as possible. Late flowering herbaceous plants like Dahlia and Salvia can be expected to flower through until Christmas these days so leave them in the ground, protected by overgrowth until spring.