Britain’s developing gardens could see fig and almond trees emerge due to lack of damaging frost
Britain’s developing gardens could see an increase in fig and almond trees due to a lack of damaging frost, experts say.
Warming weather due to climate change means plants accustomed to milder climates are doing well, according to the Royal Horticultural Society.
The charity needs to experiment more than ever with garden design and planting to cope with extreme weather conditions.
This year was exceptionally wet, while the coming years could bring drought.
Plans for the five gardens stretching from Devon to Yorkshire include planting atypical species outdoors and creating more ‘rain gardens’ to direct rainwater to the soil where it can be stored.
Mediterranean almond trees planted at their Wisley site in Surrey several years ago have produced good fruit for the first time due to a lack of frost.
Figs, which are generally not well suited to Britain’s mild, wet climate, have been planted outdoors for the first time at the RHS’s Hyde Hall site in Essex.
Figs, which are generally not well suited to Britain’s mild, wet climate, have been planted outdoors for the first time at the RHS’s Hyde Hall site in Essex (file image)
Mediterranean almond trees planted at their Wisley site in Surrey several years ago have fruited well for the first time due to a lack of frost (file image)
RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey
Britain’s developing gardens could see an increase in fig and almond trees due to a lack of damaging frost, experts say (file image)
They have also planted cacti in the drier parts of the garden, and new climate-resistant roses are planned for the coming years.
Data from the Met Office shows that in the most recent decade from 2011 to 2020, there were 16 percent fewer days with air frost and 14 percent fewer days with ground frost compared to the 1981-2010 average.
There were also record-breaking rainfall and floods in 2024.
Tim Upson, Director of Horticulture at the RHS, said: ‘For gardeners, 2024 was defined by water – too much rather than too little, as has been the case in previous years.
‘While many woody plants thrived in cooler and wetter conditions and grew rapidly, more heat-loving plants that had experienced successive flowering years were much less floriferous.
‘As we navigate these extreme weather conditions, the RHS is prepared for some plant losses. What’s important is that we don’t replace in the same way, but continually build our knowledge so that what we plant next has a better chance of surviving the contradictions in weather we’re going to see.”