If, as a keen gardener, climate change and rising temperatures are at the forefront of your mind – and with the recent heatwave just behind us, who could blame you? – it might be time to start thinking about futureproofing your outdoor spaces to be more resilient in the face of extreme weather conditions.
Drought, of course, is a big concern and experts only expect the problem to increase as time goes on… so what can be done to protect your gardens and ensure they continue to thrive, no matter what happens?
Changing your planting can help you design a robust garden – and you might want to take a leaf out of Wakehurst botanic garden’s book and consider something like prairie grassland.
According to the Guardian, the changing climate has led the Sussex-based garden to take steps to protect its 535 acres, with grassland planted in 2019… featuring 12 million seeds, 110 different species and over 50,000 live plants spread over six acres of beautiful countryside!
Speaking to the news source, Iain Parkinson – head of landscape and horticulture at Wakehurst – said: “The reason for the prairie was to think about the future and this summer is a really good example of what we think that future will be, which is much hotter and drier.
“We want to create landscapes at Wakehurst that move away from the conventional form of gardening, which requires lots of irrigation, weeding and mulching, to developing landscapes which are more resilient to the changing climate.”
Prairies themselves hail all the way from North America, flat, temperate grasslands that are made up of different grasses and lots of lovely wildflowers. Peak flowering season is in late summer to early autumn, so your garden will continue looking beautiful for longer with grassland like this!
Different species to consider if you do want to have your own little house on the prairie include black-eyes Susan, showy aster, elegant gayfeather, wild lupine, butterfly weed and purple coneflower.
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