Adapt or die

According to Defra and the UK Climate Impacts Programme, current levels of emissions in the UK could result in a 4.2ºC rise in mean summer temperatures by 2080. Coupled with a 40% decrease in summer rainfall levels, landscape designers will need to adapt their planting and maintenance schedules accordingly.

While the initial reaction has been to plant more drought tolerant species, recent attention has been given to ‘adaptive planting’. Ed Ikin is head gardener at the National Trust’s Nymans Garden in Sussex and he has, over the last few years, been developing a new approach to his annual planting.

Speaking to Green Places News (GPN) he said: “We learned a lot from research carried out at Reading University; it showed that reducing watering by 75% resulted in just as many buds and flowers being produced.”

With watering cut down to once a month, for just an hour or two in the evening, the beds of annuals do not create lush, foliage that will need to be sustained by yet further watering.

The perennial herbaceous borders and lawns at Nymans are similarly lean water users as Ikin explained: “Traditionally we have never been big consumers of water at Nymans. We never water the lawns or the borders. We will tolerate wilting of plants during the day and just keep an eye on the ‘wilt point’ – this is much later than the general perception.”

Around 80,000 litres of water a year are already collected from rain that falls on the Nymans greenhouses and now – thanks to a system of sand filtration and iris beds – the water run-off from the nursery is being recycled.

“It’s not just about collecting water and then using it; it is also important to recycle water and only use it where it is essential,” Ikin told GPN.

Source: Landscape Design Trust, Green Places News Issue No. 71