It’s no longer gardening as usual. Heat waves, droughts, flooding, violent storms…the long-predicted extremes of weather caused by climate change are now on our doorstep, and gardeners around the world are feeling the effects. Certain pests are staying active until much later in the season, many plants are blooming earlier, soils are eroding and degrading at a rapid pace, unpredictable rainfall is water-logging our gardens, and fiercer storms are uprooting trees and snapping branches. Not to mention the effects of prolonged drought in many parts of the world and the water rationing that comes with it. What’s a gardener to do?
 
We need to learn how to protect the garden against climate extremes, exotic pests, invasive weeds, and more. There’s no getting away from it; no matter where on the planet you live, the climate and weather patterns are changing fast, and our gardening practices need to catch up.
 
Whether you’re a passionate gardener, allotment holder or grower, this conversation between author/gardeners Becky Searle and Sally Morgan and Sue Boase from local charity Climate Change Gardening will set you on the right track to future-proof your garden by giving it everything it needs to adapt and succeed, whatever the climate challenge.
 
Sally Morgan is an experienced organic, no-dig gardener, who loves to experiment and trial new plants, especially edible ones. With a background in botany and ecology, she has always gardened naturally and is passionate about creating a growing space that it not just healthy and productive, but attractive to as wide a variety of plants and animals as possible. She has travelled widely, both in the UK and further afield, seeking out ideas and inspiration that can be incorporated into her own walled garden. She is particularly interested in how climate change is affecting our gardens and is exploring ways that we can make our growing spaces more climate-resilient. Sally writes regularly for gardening and smallholding magazines and is the former editor of Organic Farming magazine for the Soil Association.
 
Becky Searle is a freelance gardening writer and kitchen gardener. Her book Grow a New Garden is available for pre-sale and will be in stores from April 3rd. She has a regular feature in Kitchen Garden Magazine and writes for Gardeners World Magazine, Homes and Gardens Magazine and Telegraph Recommends. Her own garden has been featured in The Guardian and Modern Gardens Magazine.In 2022 and 2023, Becky was shortlisted for the Garden Media Guild’s Environmental Journalist of the Year.
 
Sue Boase is a trustee of Climate Change Gardening. The charity was established in 2024 with the aim of encouraging the UK’s 20 million gardeners to adopt measures that will help mitigate the climate and biodiversity crises. We pursue this aim through giving talks to community groups, running workshops, having stands at events as well as communicating through our website: www.climatechangegardening.org