Notes from a heatwave

This has been the year to radicalise me when it comes to gardening. Only the most blinkered could think that climate change is not having a tangible impact on our lives. For someone that plans, plants and tends planting schemes, I know I must evolve to keep up with the changes our climate is bringing: extreme heat, drought, but also prolonged winter rain.

When training as a garden designer, we are taught the ‘right plant, right place’ approach, which makes you think about where plants have come from, what they need to thrive and apply this to domestic gardens often a long way from their native land. Most of us are familiar with the concept of drought tolerant planting. Many famous gardens have embraced resilient planting, whether that’s the Resilient Garden at RHS Wisley, the Delos Garden at Sissinghurst, or the Walled Garden at Knepp. These gardens are packed with tough, yet beautiful plants, often hailing from the dry, rocky terrain of the Mediterranean and adapted to cope with our new climate. 

The real challenge, as I see it, for a garden designer working in London, is how these ideas translate to domestic gardens, where the soil is often heavy clay and the aspect is often shaded by large trees, high fences and buildings. It is quite rare to find a garden in London that could genuinely be described as ‘full sun’ with sharp drainage, lending itself to a classic gravel garden. So how do we design for those areas in shade, with heavy soil that will still be affected by drought? Add to that the thought that we all need more trees to cool our houses and streets, creating more shade.

Which areas of the world might give clues to the type of plants we need to use? How do we best work with the soil we have? How can we support biodiversity more as the natural environment continues to struggle? This is the current focus of my research, leading me to explore Mediterranean forests and the steppes of eastern Europe. I am thinking more about materials used as mulch, whether mineral or organic and which of these is most sustainable. I am working out how best to establish and maintain gardens without using drinking water to irrigate them. 

Most of all, I am thinking about how I communicate all this to my clients, and how to steer them away from our ideas of a classic English garden which means giving up on those plants we traditionally prize. This is the time to take a few risks, to gently challenge people’s ideas and encourage them to embrace a wilder, drier kind of beauty.