16/05/2023
How do we future proof our gardens?
The answer is multi layered and complex as we are in uncharted waters never experiencing the rapid and extreme effects of climate change and it’s devastating legacy before.
Education trial error trial and hope?
Observation has always been important, but now more so, to help us raise consciousness by seeing what happens in your own back garden. I don’t think the answer is in irrigation systems and artificial lawns or changing our plants to more Mediterranean suited species. I think it’s more complex than that; to me that’s the plaster over the wound. We all need a starting point, I started with the soil.
Last year when our temperatures reached the 40’s in some areas, we had a hit for the first time of the extremes and of what many countries are experiencing already.
After the heat passed all seemed normal, a few crispie’s here and there but not too bad. I realised at that point that we wouldn’t see the devastation until the following year, and it was curious to see what benefited and what didn’t. I was surprised that Rosemary was largely killed off as well as hebe’s! Both known to be incredibly hardy. However, Acers did extremely well and have come back more vibrant than before. What effects on crops? I believe many failed disrupting many chains and ecosystems in nature.
My studies with the Soil Food Web under Dr Elaine Ingham has made the most sense to me. I like science and it has helped me understand where and how to prioritise my role to help, and that the most important, respectful and humble way forward is to acknowledge that we have damaged and killed our growing lands. In order to restore and future proof, I believe the first step must be how do we improve the soil and how do we get the beneficial microorganisms back in the soil that since time immemorial, have been working in perfect unison and harmony creating a bio diversity (we humans still haven’t figured that one out) to create the environment to supply n
