Source: BBC Radio 4 PM Programme
URL: N/A
Date: 10/04/2013
Event: Ten years ago "I think people imagined that right now we'd all be growing cacti"
Credit: BBC Radio 4
People:
Eddie Mair: We'll have the weather, in a second. First, in the midst of one of the coldest springs in decades, the Royal Horticultural Society is asking gardeners to tell them how climate change might be affecting them. Reporting for PM, live from the RHS Gardens in Wisley in Hampshire, Andrew Bomford.
Andrew Bomford: Yes Eddie, there's a big difference between the weather we experience at any one time and climate change. So the cold spring right now is weather, the wet summer last year was weather, and it'll be a while before we know if exceptional weather events, like the spring snow, the flooding or the dry winter we had a year ago, are all part of longer-term climate change or not. So, how can gardeners help? Well, here with me in the beautiful RHS Garden at Wisley, where there are lots of signs of spring today, is John David, Head of Science for the RHS. John, what do you want gardeners to do?
John David: Well, what we're asking them to do is with - anyone with an interest in gardens to - whether they're allotment holders or whether they just like visiting gardens like this one, to tell us about what they experience now, what they're aware of, in terms of change, what their expectations are of the future and whether they're doing anything different in the way they garden, as a result.
Andrew Bomford: Because I think a lot of people get quite confused about this and think about global warming - you know, ten years ago, when we talked about this, I think people imagined that right now we'd all be growing cacti and that clearly hasn't happened.
John David: Well no, because we still, as you were saying in the introduction, we're still experiencing weather. The background changes are not so evident. But what we are seeing is greater - greater extreme events, and these are more unpredictable. And that's something that will be a challenge for gardeners in the decades to come.
Andrew Bomford: So, what are you going to do with this information?
John David: Well, we will be analysing it, and we're preparing a report which will be published in October, which will be following on from a report which was published over ten years ago, on "Gardening in the Global Greenhouse." And this will help us to understand better what kind of preparations we need to be making in the future.
Andrew Bomford: Okay John, so what people can do is complete an online survey that the RHS and the University of Reading have prepared, and the best way to find that is by typing "gardening in a changing climate" into a search engine, and I'll remind you about that in again, in a moment. But there are some practical steps that gardeners can take, too, and with me also is Leigh Hunt from the RHS. And Leigh, we're in the Teaching Garden at Wisley, and there are some examples here of how gardeners can mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
Leigh Hunt: Well, as John has mentioned, there's two things - there's hot conditions in the summer and flooding, which are going to affect gardens greatly, with predictions of climate change. Now here we've got a green roof - the green roof is just a covering of plants over something like a flat roof or a shed, and that's both reflecting heat, it's soaking up moisture so preventing the flooding because it doesn't run from the sky to the drains so quickly. And, if you can get climbers up the walls, like these, again it's going to cool things down.
Andrew Bomford: And most of us, of course, live in urban environments. What can gardeners do in urban areas to cut climate change?
Leigh Hunt: It's really that message about getting as many plants as you can. We know that 10% more vegetation would help to mitigate the predicted rise in summer time air temperatures, and as gardeners own 25% of the land in towns and cities, every bit really can make a difference.
Andrew Bomford: And what about our precious British lawns, are we going to lose them?
Leigh Hunt: Oh, it's a vexed question, isn't it, but we're not going to have those moist, warm summers, so I think we're going to have to look about being different, using our horticultural skills, looking for other options. But hopefully we'll have them for a few years to come.
Andrew Bomford: Okay, well, Leigh and John, thanks very much for that. And a reminder again of how to complete that survey - you type "gardening in a changing climate" into a search engine. That'll take you to the RHS and University of Reading survey page, and the survey takes about half an hour to complete. Meanwhile, Eddie, the garden here is looking very nice, very spring-like, it's getting a bit chilly at the moment but I understand that there are signs that the weather is about to improve, so maybe it's time to get back into the gardens, this coming weekend.
Eddie Mair: Andrew, thanks for that. Weather in just a second - first of all, apologies for my mistake. Wisley is - RHS Wisley is in Surrey, not in Hampshire. Don't go to Hampshire to find the RHS Gardens at Wisley, 'cause it's not there.