Climate change will be the main driver of activity in gardens throughout the UK now and into the future. This means that planting diversity is becoming ever more important in helping people withstand new demands on their gardens. With seasons changing and sudden weather events – drought, flooding and damaging winds – more difficult to predict, gardeners have to change their traditional gardening habits so that their gardens are more resilient working with nature and changing weather patterns.
So how can we change our traditional gardening habits to adapt to the future?
Why Garden Maintenance Needs A Rethink
Most reputable garden websites offering advice on garden maintenance are often based in South East England. So maintaining a garden in Aberdeenshire requires an awareness of conditions that differ with other parts of the UK. Generally speaking gardens in North East Scotland are up to 4-6 weeks behind those in South East England.
Our current climate in North East Scotland also tends to be colder and drier than other parts of Scotland. Frost can still affect plants into early June so this needs to be borne in mind when doing spring tidy ups. However this current local weather pattern could change in the future under climate change.
Also traditional garden maintenance tasks are a tailored outdated view about having neat and tidy gardens, pest control, making plants survive even though they have planted in the wrong place and environment. On top of that we have a climate that has genuinely changed locally with ecological challenges which we need to adapt to.
Gardening Maintenance Tasks for the 21st Century
1. Skip The Autumn Tidy Up:
Traditionally UK gardeners have become obsessed with tidying up their gardens between September and November to prepare it for winter. But there are a number of reasons why you should NOT do this!
Hollow plant stems and dead flowerheads provide vital spaces for beneficial insects to hibernate over winter. The seed heads on plants are also a crucial food source for garden birds and can also look beautiful and architectural with winter frost on them. By delaying the pruning of dead plant material you are also protecting the crown of the plants from rainwater and winter frost.
By skipping the autumn leaf tidy up too you are improving soil health. This is because decomposing leaves act as a natural mulch that protects plant roots, retains moisture, and also rebuilds the soil microbiome. Finally skipping the autumn tidy up saves you time and lets natural ecological cycles support your garden.
2. Mulch, Mulch, Mulch!
A mulch is a layer of biodegradable material which can be added on top of your border soil. The best materials are garden compost, wood chipping, processed bark, leaf mould, well-rotted manure and seaweed. Each of these break down gradually to release nutrients into your soil and help to improve its structure. A 7.5cm deep layer is optimal with layers needing to be replaced when the material has fully rotted down.
Mulch provides major benefits for soil health by retaining soil moisture (meaning you have to water less), suppressing weeds, and regulating temperature by keeping plant roots cooler in summer and warmer during freezing winter weather. It also shields bare soil from heavy rain preventing washout and top soil loss and strong winds.
Mulches are best applied from mid- to late spring, when annual weeds have not yet germinated and herbaceous plants are dormant, and also in autumn, when plants are starting to die back.
3. Rethinking Lawn Maintenance
Mowing your lawn less when it is actively growing saves you time and can make a huge difference to the wildlife in your garden. Uncut grass lets hidden wildflowers grow and bloom, providing crucial nectar for bees, butterflies and moths in your garden. Longer blades of grass and natural plant debris can biodiversity by creating micro-habitats that shelter beetles, frogs, and hedgehogs. Tall grass inhabited by insects also become a natural food source for birds thereby creating an ecosystem in your garden. Uncut grass also develops deeper root systems, making the turf more resistant to dry spells and periods of drought.
However it’s also important to make it look intentional by mowing sharp edges around your lawn and also mown paths through your lawn.
If you find growing your grass long too challenging, then just let your lawn grow naturally for a month in May or June, and mow as you normally would outside that time. This will allow daisy and clover to flower, and you’ll see pollinators enjoying your lawn. If even that’s too difficult then think about cutting less frequently or setting your mower higher. Both of these methods will also help to rewild your garden.
4. Change Your Planting Habits
If you grow or purchase lots of annuals for summer and winter colour in your garden, then switch to perennials and shrubs instead. These will save water, protect your soil health and store more carbon in your garden. Repeatedly clearing and replanting annual beds disrupts local insects and ground organisms. So by planting perennials and shrubs you are creating reliable habitats for wildlife and also providing predictable sources of nectar for pollinators as UK weather patterns and flowering seasons shift unpredictably.
You could also take this a step further by planting bare root perennials and shrubs. A bare root plant is a tree, shrub, or perennial sold without any soil around its roots. They are harvested and sold only during their winter resting period (typically between November and March) when they are not actively growing. These types of plants are significantly cheaper, lighter, and establish stronger root systems faster than container-grown plants. They also cut down on plastic waste. As they are grown outdoors in fields and then lifted for dispatch, they are also fully acclimatised to local winter weather conditions rather than those grown in polytunnels. Howard Nurseries are one of the biggest suppliers of bare root perennials in the UK.
With drier summers and periods of drought it’s also important to think about adjusting your planting times. Moving the planting of trees, shrubs, and perennials to autumn or early spring rather than the heat of the summer, gives roots time to grow deep looking for moisture before the harsh summer heat and droughts arrive.
5. Go Peat-Free
Peatlands are natural habits which are hugely important as carbon stores. They are home to a diverse range of flora and fauna. Peatlands store over twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined, so keeping peat in bogs and not in compost bags is vital in fighting climate change. Peatlands also help with flood mitigation.
UK gardeners can do their bit by buying peat-free compost – check the wording on the bag: if it doesn’t specifically say, ‘peat-free’, then it likely isn’t. Buy peat-free grown plants from local garden centres or nurseries. If they don’t stock them, then ask retailers for peat-free plants to show there is a consumer demand to incentivise the production of peat-free grown plants.
Build a compost bin in your garden and make your own compost or leaf mould as soil improvers. If that’s not possible, put your garden waste out for council collection which will be made into green waste soil improver which you maybe able to access for your own garden. Buy plants bare root – no compost and no plastic packaging!
6. Stop Using Chemicals
Gardeners should have a more relaxed approach to controlling pests, disease and weeds in their garden.
The presence of some of these is often a sign of a healthy, diverse and resilient ecosystem, which creates a layered food chain in your garden which interacts in your garden. There are non-chemical methods which can be used if control measures are required. These can include manual removal of pests, pruning diseased parts of plants or hand weeding. The use of barriers and traps can also be useful methods. It’s important to remember that many organisms labelled as pests are a natural part of the garden ecosystem and a food source for other wildlife. Also many so-called weeds are UK native plants.
The RHS Gardening in a Changing Climate Report offers further advice on changing your gardening habits for the changing climate in the UK.
What This Means For Your Garden Plan
While gardening will increasingly be purposeful in the future – supporting wildlife, managing water and weather and making the most of changing conditions – UK gardeners don’t have to relearn gardening. They just need to replace a handful of traditional gardening habits and tailor these to the specific conditions of their own garden in Aberdeenshire.
Get Advice To Future Proof Your Aberdeenshire Garden
With Gerbera Designs, you’ll get:
- A planting plan tailored to your garden and taste
- Expert plant knowledge for the Aberdeenshire climate now and into the future
- Local sourcing and supply of plants
- Plant aftercare guidance as standard and tailored to your garden
Book a planting design consultation with Gerbera Designs and we’ll help you create a plan that works with our local growing conditions now and into the future, not against them.
