The Climate Change Garden
Sally Morgan and Kim Stoddart
The scorching summer of 2018, with its Mediterranean-like high temperatures and many weeks of drought was a wake-up call for gardeners in the UK. The long predicted greater extremes of weather caused by climate change were well and truly upon us and our gardens suffered.
There’s no getting away from it; our climate and weather patterns are changing and fast. Our gardening practices need to catch up.
It’s no longer gardening as usual. Learning how to protect our gardens against the extremes of torrential rain, storms, heatwaves and drought and the goodness knows what else will be key. We need to learn which plants will be better suited to deal with such extremities in the first place and which techniques, practices and equipment can be put to use in our gardens, or future designs, to help provide a greater robustness over all.
Sally Morgan and Kim Stoddart’s new book is a gardener’s guide to climate change. It’s a practical gardening book that shows you how to adapt and cope with the volatile weather extremes that lie ahead – storms, torrential rain, flooding and drought for example. There’s an in-depth look at how to adapt in the vegetable garden, what types of fruit to grow, how trees and wildlife can help in the battle against climate change and what changes may be necessary in the flower garden.
Sally Morgan says: “I have seen changes in my lifetime. My grandfather taught me never to plant out tender crops and bedding until Derby Day. Now we see gardeners planting out in mid May and I grow a variety of crops I never thought possible – butterbeans, chickpeas and lentils. Our traditional gardening books are full of ideas dating back to the Victorians who lived through very different times. We need learn from our gardens and adapt. Our book will help gardeners do just that.”
Published on 14 June 2019. Ten per cent of the net profits from the sale of the book will be donated to Garden Organic.
Meet the authors
Sally Morgan
I’m a botanist with a life-long interest in gardening, especially growing interesting and quirky plants. I’ve written articles and books on food, farming and the environment and own an organic farm in Somerset where I teach courses on smallholding and grow-your-own on small plots (www.empirefarm.co.uk)
Kim Stoddart
My background as a social entrepreneur, working with charities and companies with an ethical and environmental focus, has more recently come full-circle as I’ve opened up my gardens to the public via www.greenrocketcourses.com, running courses on polytunnels and climate change grow-your-own.
“Gardeners are finding themselves battling against drought, flooding, heatwaves, high winds and extreme cold on a regular basis. This positive and practical book not only gives growers valuable insight into how to deal with extremes when they occur, but also the simple steps that can be taken throughout the year to build a garden resilient to these challenges. ” James Campbell, CEO, Garden Organic