In the same week that NASA reported January 2016 is the warmest January on record, the RHS announced on Thursday that a Conceptual Garden at this year’s Hampton Court Flower Show will engage visitors with climate positivity about the future.

Near Future Garden takes its inspiration from rapidly changing weather patterns that are seriously affecting the growing cycle of plants and impacting on the design and maintenance of UK gardens.

The RHS is aware that climate change is a serious issue for their 449,000 members. In 2014 it announced the results of a survey which confirmed that gardeners are already dealing with climate change in their own gardens. Four fifths of respondents reported that they paid more attention to the weather in recent years. In addition, 87% believed that climate change is happening now and 62% reported they were optimistic about adapting to the challenges that climate change is already delivering.

The reality of these challenges means many plants now flower out of season and suffer from extremes of drought or long periods of heavy rain. During December 2015 daffodils in UK gardens began bursting into bloom 4 months early as the Met Office reported temperatures were 4.1c above the long term average for the UK, closer to those normally experienced in April. As a result, UK gardeners must diversify their plant selection as shifting seasons bring new challenges to normal growing patterns as well as a big increase in serious pests and diseases that thrive in warmer temperatures. https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/gardening-­‐in-­‐a-­‐changing-­‐world/climate-­‐change/potential-­‐diseases

This rapidly changing climate scenario was the inspiration for Arit Anderson who designed Near Future Garden: “As a gardener and a designer, I am increasingly aware of the major impact extreme weather conditions and shifting seasons are having on plant selection plants for my garden designs. The effects of climate change on UK gardens is an opportunity to encourage gardeners to consider improving their carbon footprint by using carbon enriched, peat free soil such as Biochar to help plants cope with new challenging conditions.

Gardeners care about the weather and their soil, they notice it every day as it affects everything they grow. This is why Near Future Garden will have an important impact on the 146,000 visitors to RHS Hampton Court Flower Show in 2016.”