Climate Change Gardens
                                     (February 2019)

​What on earth is a climate change garden, I hear you ask? A climate change garden is a garden better equipped to handle extremes in temperature, flooding, drought and unpredictable weather. It’s a savvy garden space which uses careful planning, observation and innovations to insure your garden into the future. Moreover, a climate change garden will provide much needed habitat and food for wildlife and beneficial insects, and it will also make your home more energy efficient and liveable.
 
Some inclusions in climate change gardens:

• Living wind breaks and screening plants, particularly in wind prone areas and those receiving hot afternoon sun. Wind breaks filter pollution and dust, as well as creating micro-climates for protection of more sensitive plants, wildlife and people. Using a variety of hardy species reduces the risk of losing the entire crop to species-specific pest and disease problems, as well as unforeseen cultural vulnerabilities; 
• Raised garden beds, to protect plants from flooding;
• Permanent or temporary shade cloth cover, particularly in veg and fruit growing areas. Including areas with light shade cover, around 20%, will protect plants from extremes in temperature, heavy rain and hail. It will also reduce evaporation;
• In rural areas, gravity fed back up watering, in the event of prolonged power outages;
• Swales, dry creek beds and other innovations designed to make the most of any rainfall received;
• Plants more tolerant of both low and high temperatures, dry and periods of waterlogging. Select plants and utilise garden styles which require little or no additional water once established. Prairie-style, New Perennial movement and Xeriscaping are low water use gardens which spring to mind;
• Promoting species-rich and diverse gardenscapes; monocultures are significantly more vulnerable to being wiped out. This goes for the productive garden too; planting a variety of plants over a staggered period and with different flowering and fruiting times, means there is always something performing well in any given season.

 

A Xeriscape garden in Canberra ACT, which is designed to require no additional watering once established.

Trees planted in built up urban areas significantly reduce Urban Heat Effect, reducing temperatures by 10 Degrees Celsius or more.

This pic is of the climate change garden at Kentgrove in Goulburn NSW. The permanent shade structure and raised garden beds protect veg from temperature extremes, heavy rainfall and hail.