The Climate Change Garden

Sally Morgan and Kim Stoddart show you how to be a climate change savvy gardener

Menu
  • Home
  • About us
    • Sally Morgan
    • Kim Stoddart
  • Buy our books
  • Read our blog
  • Supporters
  • Your Garden
  • Events
  • Contact us
Menu
Climate change garden book cover

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

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)

Read more

kim stoddart

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.

Read more

“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

Recent Posts

  • Soil health
  • It’s going to rain this week!
  • In search of good companions
  • My garden’s been flooded, what can I do?
  • Urban creep increases the risk of flooding
  • Plants to leave in the ground
  • Saving seeds of resilience part 2

Follow Sally on Twitter

My Tweets

Follow Kim on Twitter

My Tweets

Follow Us on Instagram

  • Instagram

Instagram feed

Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No posts found.

Make sure this account has posts available on instagram.com.

Instagram feed

the_organic_plot

Another weird fungus, this time a cup fungus calle Another weird fungus, this time a cup fungus called peziza which I found growing over the surface of some straw-based mulch. They are fragile and come and go but show there is plenty of fungal life in the soil
.
.
.
.
.

#fungi #peziza #fungiofinstagram #fungus #decomposition #soilhealth #soillife #organicgardening #organicgardener #organicgarden #soil #weirdfungi
There's some weird stuff appearing in our fields a There's some weird stuff appearing in our fields at this time of year! It looks pretty disgusting, like the innards of some poor animal but it's fungal and it's getting larger by the day. It's a jelly fungus. Not sure which - possibly a star jelly. It's the type of thing you walk past without a second glance but it's really worth getting down on your knees for a closer look - they are fascinating organisms! 
.
.
.
#fungiofinstagram #fungi #fungiphotography #weirdfungi #jellyfungus
A bit of #rewilding, here's a wander around a 2 ac A bit of #rewilding, here's a wander around a 2 acre field that I'm rewilding, we dug out a half acre pond 15 yrs ago and created some mounds divided by gullies from the spoil to diversify the habitats for colonisation, we had lots of weeds to start but then the willow arrived, followed by oak. I counted 7 young oak trees, some ash plus blackthorn spreading from surrounding hedgerow.Towards the end of the video you can see the pond surrounded by willow and poplar and the grassy area that is a damp wildflower meadow  which attracts loads of butterflies and bees in summer
A mini treasure trove! Lifted some fallen leaves i A mini treasure trove! Lifted some fallen leaves in my Victorian lean-to and underneath I found 20 ground beetles sheltering in a crevice. Brilliant natural predators, no wonder I don't see many slugs under the overwintering pots!
.
.
#naturalpredator #naturalgardening #predator #groundbeetle #organicgardening #organicallygrown #noslugs #beetle #insect #gardenwildlife
#sage this plant has been producing loads of shoot #sage this plant has been producing loads of shoots all year and still going strong, needless to say the #dehyrator gas been busy and I have plenty of dried sage for cooking is it didn't do well in the main beds as I have heavy clay soil but took off when moved to a well drained bed at the bottom of a south facing wall
Snails! Uncovered this cluster when collecting lea Snails! Uncovered this cluster when collecting leaf litter, hunkered down for the winter, left them alone as on the wall well away from garden
.
.
#snails  #hibernation #overwintering #gardenpests #leaflitter #walledgarden #walledkitchengarden #gardening #gardenanimals #molluscs #shell
Productive session clearing leaves from the drive, Productive session clearing leaves from the drive, these will be left to compost and form leaf mould - an  essential element t for diy potting compost in 2022. So easy - just collect those leaves! #gardenlockdownjobs
Velvet shank growing on a dead wych elm, pops up e Velvet shank growing on a dead wych elm, pops up every year on the same tree.

Sadly we've lost most of the young elm trees on the farm over the last few years. Elm seedlings pop up everywhere, in the hedges and scrubby margins. They grow really quickly but once they get to a certain size the elm beetles find them and within a season they are dead. It's been a bad couple of yrs and we have lots of young dead trees most around  7 /10 years old, but even  three year old saplings succumbed this year, probably stressed by the dry spring. Those which are trimmed in the hedge tend to survive as they are kept small and masked by the presence of other spp around them.

#dutchelmdisease #elm #fungi #fungusphotography #velvetshank #deadtree #mushroomsofinstagram #organicgardening #organicfarm #mushroomphotography #fungiphotography #fungiofinstagram
Giant Bolivian Achocha glut 🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒 o Giant Bolivian Achocha glut 🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒 on the way, it's growing in the polytunnel and taking over from the #trombocino #courgette glut. Lost crop of the Incas

useful crop which I use in stir fries while larger fruits are hollow so I remove the large black seeds and stuff them. Easy to grow, somewhat rampant climber! Doesn't seem to suffer from mildew. You can get seed from @realseeds
.
.
.
.
#polytunnel #achocha #achochaglut #vegetablesofinstagram #vegetablegarden #growtoeat #GYO #ediblegarden #growingfood #organicgardening #organicallygrown #polytunnelgrowing #climbingplants #incas
Still plenty to harvest and the #courgette glut co Still plenty to harvest and the #courgette glut continues .... Last of the squash and a trawl of the #polytunnel 
.
.
.
.
#ediblegarden #vegplot #polytunnellife #growtoeat #organicgardening #organicallygrown #leek #chard #allotmentuk #allotments #squash #achocha #GYO #allotmentgarden #harvest #vegetablesofinstagram #vegetablegarden #vegetablegardening #growingfood #greenfingers #permaculture #selfsufficiency #selfsufficient #climatechangegarden #healthygarden
They are still busy! Cabbage white caterpillars 🐛🐛🐛 munching the nasturtiums, not seen them active so late in the year before!, no doubt they will pupate and overwinter ready to pop out early next year, need a hard frost to finish them off.
.
.

#caterpillar #cabbagewhite #nasturtium #gardenpests
Nasturtiums still flowering well. I liked the dept Nasturtiums still flowering well. I liked the depth of colour of this one spotted in the #kitchengarden at @thenewtinsomerset but no idea of the variety.
.
.
.
.
.
#flowersofinstagram #kitchengarden #ediblegarden #flowergarden #annualflowers #pollinatorgarden #autumncolours #autumnflowers #easytogrow
Humm, #kalettes growing well but #whiteflies also Humm, #kalettes growing well but #whiteflies also doing well, clustered around the apical bud. They have been netted so I think they have benefited from the sheltered microhabitat and lack of predators. Now decision - remove the nets but risk pigeon damage, or leave nets and hope the rain this week knocks them back.
.
The viper looking great at The Newt in the early m The viper looking great at The Newt in the early morning light. I'm lucky to have this stunning garden just 10 mins up the road so I can pop in when the garden is quiet at 9 am, perfect for photography
.
.
.
.
#gardenblogger #somersetgardens @thenewtinsomerset #gardenarchitecture  #woodland
#autumncolours are coming on our #oaktrees, I find #autumncolours are coming on our #oaktrees, I find it really difficult to walk past without getting my phone out. Looking at last year's photos, we're two weeks ahead of 2019
.
.
.
.

#autumn #fallvibes #leaveschanging #countryside #somerset #organicfarm
Caught in the act, black slug laying eggs, fortuna Caught in the act, black slug laying eggs, fortunately in the field!
.
.
.
#slugs #gardenpests #blackslug #gardening #molluscs
#piccalilli time, great to use all the veg from th #piccalilli time, great to use all the veg from the #garden and use up those #courgettes, really easy to make, this made by my other half, now in cupboard mellowing, ready for the new year
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#gyo #ediblegarden #imadethis 
 #growveg, #pickles #preservingtheharvest #preservation #vegetablegarden #mustard
Another idea from the #kitchengarden at @the_pig_ Another idea from the #kitchengarden at  @the_pig_hotels nr  Honiton,  raised beds along the wall for brassica with substantial frame for  butterfly nets and a #trapcrop of nasturtium
.
.
.
.
#brassica #nasturtium #walledgarden #growtoeat #ediblegarden  #ediblegardening #gyo #potager #growinggreens #organicallygrown #devon #vegetablegarden
Managed to get to @the_pig_hotels at coombe befor Managed to get to  @the_pig_hotels at coombe before the storm and enjoy the #kitchengarden, always plenty to admire and take away ideas including this #bughotel on a sunny wall
.
.
.
.

#walledgarden #bughabitat #gardenwildlife #gardenwildlifeuk
Szechuan peppers ready to harvest. They were plant Szechuan peppers ready to harvest. They were planted 4 years ago and now a decent size, but they have wicked thorns so I need to harvest in gloves and arm protection.
.
.
.
.
#szechuanpepper #homegrownspices #growyourownspices #ediblegarden #ediblehedge #organicgardening #GYO #allotmentuk #allotments #organicallotment #somerset #somersetgardens
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Search

Authors

  • Kim Stoddart Kim Stoddart
    • Soil health
    • In search of good companions
    • Plants to leave in the ground
    • Saving seeds of resilience part 1
    • Wellbeing through gardening
  • Sally Morgan Sally Morgan
    • It’s going to rain this week!
    • My garden’s been flooded, what can I do?
    • Urban creep increases the risk of flooding
    • Saving seeds of resilience part 2
    • Climate change gardening at RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival

DIARY

January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Jun    
  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

INFORMATION

Cookie and privacy policy
Terms and conditions
Website security

©2021 The Climate Change Garden