'Country' garden planting and the traditional British lawn are two features of our gardens which could become harder to sustain over the next 50 to 80 years as climate changes continue.
A report called
Gardening in the Global Greenhouse: The Impacts of Climate Change on Gardens in the UK, was commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society and National Trust (and supported by a host of other environmental agencies and organisations). The reports author's, Richard Bisgrove and Professor Paul Hadley, from Reading University, state that the climate changes we are likely to notice include:
- Reduced frosts
- Earlier springs
- Higher overall yearly average temperatures
- More winter rainfall and flooding
- Hotter/drier summers and more droughts
Winter cool-loving plants which are likely to be harder to cultivate include daffodils, bluebells, snowdrops and crocus. Summer cool-loving plants which may suffer include
Primula, birch, willow, ferns, mosses and fescues.