Presentation – The Climate Change Garden
This meeting was made possible using, for the first time, the Zoom videoconferencing platform.
Our guest presenter, Kim Stoddart, expertly covered the increasingly important and challenging subject of climate change which is close to the hearts of all allotmenteers. In 2020 we’ve experienced many extremes of weather, from the wettest February on record, to the warmest spring; then autumn-like weather most recently and the hottest day of the year.
Kim’s presentation confirms the view that it is no longer gardening as usual. There are many aspects to the potential problems ahead and the importance of how we need to adjust to climate change gardening.
Key issues and solutions presented were:
- Improving soil , soil health, no dig gardening*, mulching, composting
- Implementing water saving measures, water retention
- Designing the plot to cope with extreme weather events, plants stress and damage, low maintenance, raised beds, pests & disease
- Creating a resilient vegetable plot, growing in blocks, crop rotation, slow it-spread it-sink it
- Planting a climate change orchard
- Reshaping a flower garden to be climate change proof, mixed & companion planting, wildflowers
- Peasant gardening techniques and dealing with weeds
- Nature holds the answers, biodiversity, attracting wildlife, natures pest control
- Perennial growing, seed saving
The solutions show how we can strive to shore up our defences for climate change savvy gardening by adopting resilient and new gardening techniques.
*For more information about no dig gardening check out Charles Dowding’s website He is a leading authority on this technique.
If you want to know more and create a climate change resilient allotment plot this excellent book The Climate Change Garden by Sally Morgan & Kim Stoddart, is available from their website, or by email to kimstoddartgardening@gmail.com