Are you going to change what you grow due to climate change?

No. I already plant things that suit well-drained soil, but other than that, which way to go?

We've had some dry/very dry springs, hot spells in summer, but also some very wet spells (worse for those with retentive soil/poor drainage), and we can still get very cold spells in winter, sometimes prolonged (December 2009 was mostly sub-zero even in the daytime and minus double figures some nights, and I wouldn't rule out another winter like that).

 

No. But I think our front lawn may be dead. Burnt to a frazzle by the heat. If it is dead then we would replace it for another lawn. We never seem to have hosepipe bans here, although we are officially in a drought. So we really need to water the lawn. But we don't have a hose that can reach it. The lawn is full of ants, which make it worse.

 

Rather than presume that 'climate will change', hedge your bets and attempt to grow plants you like; the wider the range the greater your chances. Some will founder, but then that is the reality of Nature,its survival of the fittest ,it is how it works. The 'science is settled' but the environment isn't, it reacts not responds.
Gardening is interference with Nature, it can resolve some issues temporarily but will never be predominant. If you doubt this, just take a year or two out.

 

Currently I see a trend of much dryer summers in Cambridgeshire, where they were historically dry anyway. I am mentally preparing for some or even most of my trees to succumb to drought, which is a tough proposition. I love dappled shade woodland gardens. The climate will also become more unpredictable potentially, so it is unclear what is on the horizon.

I'm trying to mulch where I can - the little impact shredder is a big help. I have a faint hope that some of the plants with tap roots, especially the teasels that amble through the garden through self-seeding, help to break up the chalky clay and increase drainage for if and when the downpours happen. I'm definitely promoting drought-tolerant plants, especially in the sunny border. In well-mulched and shady borders the ferns (I'm very fond of fronds) still do fairly OK.

 

I don't plant bedding plants out in the borders any more. I'm depending more on wild flowers and other self-seeders as I assume they know what they're doing.
Annuals go in containers for easy watering.

 

After learning a few lessons after a previous drought, I increased the proportion of grasses in my garden but the tall ones got trashed by wind and rain last autumn/early winter . I've now removed the tall grasses and replaced them with medium and small ones plus mainly drought tolerant perennials like Salvias, Erigeron and Nepetas.

I don't grow annuals and most of the thirsty plants like Dahlias are in containers and I've chosen compact varieties this year which are less demanding.

Both my lawns are scorched. I'm thinking about removing the one at the front but will keep the one at the back. The blackbirds like the worms and I can tidy up leaves from the borders by using a leaf blower to blow them onto the lawn and then mow them up .

 

I've got used to my 'lawn' being brown with daisies or little yellow jobs. I don't mind it any more.

 

However, after all that rain, it's green again.

 

I've been thinking about taking out our small front lawn and maybe putting down some kind of gravel/chippings that can be planted into (or self-seeders allowed), so if it doesn't green up well, this autumn might be the time to do it. It's circular with an edging of brick pavers so it shouldn't be to big a job, just need to decide whether I want to add an inner circle of pavers with a bed in the middle and a gravel "path" between the two paver circles, or to just fill it all with gravel. It's not needed for sitting out or anything like that. I only go on it to mow, trim the edges and access the borders.

 

We had dry 3 months in summer 2018, but the planting in my garden was not that extended.
In 2022, we were lucky that with the hosepipe ban after 3 months of drought came the rain in August. 2022 was a drama with the lack of rain and the 5 days of intense heat that burned the paddles of almost every plant.
However, what happens this year tops it. Just this week, I thought, I had enough. I give up.

We are in one of the few areas that didn't even get rain that many of you had recently. Since the end of February, we had a maximum of 5l per sqm (in June and July). The few plants that I planted this year (4 lavender and 4 echinacea grown from seeds) haven't experienced any other water than tab water. I'm currently trying to keep two hardy geraniums alive grown from seeds, which I have in the greenhouse. I wonder how the other plants can still show some kind of green, because the soil is dead as a dodo.
The crab apple tree planted 3 years ago in the middle of the drought 2022 has giving up. Battered by wind and no water at all, it's a drama. It will have to go in winter.
I have no intention to spend a penny in new plants. What survives this horror year is welcomed to stay. Everything that dies ... I don't know.

 

I recently had my garden re-done (2 years ago) and I opted to plant smaller shrubs/trees because they cost less and I'd gone over budget, at the cost of doing a lot of weeding.

I wonder if this is the way to go, obviously you don't get that instant impact but smaller plants are likely to adapt better as their root systems aren't so stressed by extremes.

The thing that I think may need to change is the plant AGM ratings, I'm not sure they're so relevant any more, although the RHS does constantly test things out so who knows.

 

@simone_in_wiltshire . It must be so depressing. I've lost motivation from stuff dying but at least we've had some rain

 

@Erigeron I never bwut a mature plant. I buy a youngun ,pot it up and see how it goes first. I've learnt that despite what you see in gardening programmes, instant impact is often instant disappointment.

 

My sympathies @simone_in_wiltshire I hope things will get better again. A lot of us are likely to be in a similar situation at some point.

 

Don’t give up @simone_in_wiltshire, there’ll be some plants that will survive your conditions and reward you for your TLC. I hope that your tree ferns have kept going, you will too .