The idea of gardeners coming together to tackle climate change, arose from discussions at West Wickham and District Gardening Club in 2022. The club felt strongly that we 'had to do something' about climate change. So, with the involvement of neighbouring gardening clubs in Essex, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, we organised a 1-day Gardening with Climate Change event, on 12 August 2023.
The level of interest in this event spurred us on to progress the idea of involving gardeners in climate change issues more widely. The group has since been involved in a series of events related to gardening and climate change, now has a constitution and trustees, and is currently applying for charitable status.
Climate change and gardens
Climate change is now recognised as a global and potentially catastrophic issue. Here in the UK, the ten hottest summers have all occurred since 2002, with 2022 being the hottest year ever. We are already seeing the impact of this in our gardens, not just in the challenge of watering our plants during droughts, but the loss of so many plants, and the reduction in biodiversity.
In the UK, private gardens are the third largest land use sector, with over 20 million people identifying as gardeners. Through our choices of plants, cultivation techniques, composts, watering, wild areas, and many other details, together we can make an important difference.
The Climate Change Gardening group aims to:
- Raise awareness of the impact of climate change on gardens.
- Enable gardeners to maintain an enjoyable, productive and resilient garden, despite climate change.
- Encourage and empower gardeners to use their gardens to help mitigate both the impacts of climate change, and climate change itself.