CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDENS - IN WOKINGHAM BERKSHIRE
Designing beautiful landscapes for a changing climate
Across Berkshire and the wider UK South-East, we are experiencing hotter summers, heavier rainfall and longer dry periods. Gardens once designed for predictability are being asked to adapt to shifting seasons and weather extremes.
At Botania, we use climate-adapted garden and planting design to create beautiful, resilient landscapes that are better equipped to thrive through changing conditions and continue to offer spaces for people to enjoy, even spaces to buffer against the effect of extreme weather.
By working with the natural characteristics of a site, from healthy soil, diverse planting communities, climate adapted trees that cast shade, water slowed, stored and reused, we aim to create the right conditions for life to thrive, recover from set backs and evolve.
climate-adapted garden & planting design
Building resilience from the ground up
Healthy soil is fundamental to a climate-resilient garden. Well-structured, biologically active soil is better able to retain moisture during dry periods, absorb heavy rainfall and support strong, healthy plant growth. We consider:
- Topography, soil conditions, sun exposure and water flows
- Organic matter incorporation and mulching
- Spaces for excesss water to drain and be stored
- Deep gravel mulch where appropriate
- Layer planting to create self-supporting planting community
- Climate adapted trees to cast shade
- Hedging to shield from strong winds
Planting is then selected according to the conditions of each area on the site, applying the principle of right plant, right place. Drought-tolerant planting in areas exposed to intense sun, shade tolerant planting to areas more shady.
Designing for extremes
Trees are particularly valuable in a changing climate. Carefully selected climate-adapted tree species can provide shade, cooling and habitat while helping to create more comfortable outdoor spaces during increasingly hot summers. Their canopies can also help protect planting and soil from excessive heat and evaporation.
A drought tolerant planting scheme doesn't need to look dry or sparse. Our approach is to combine drought-tolerant and resilient plants with a rich diversity of forms, textures, foliage and seasonal interest, creating plant-rich landscapes that remain beautiful while using water thoughtfully.
Climate resilience is not only about drought. Increasingly, we are designing for extremes at both ends. Permeable surfaces, subtle land shaping and planted swales help slow heavy rainfall, allowing water to soak into the ground rather than run off. Where appropriate a rain garden can be throughfully incorporated in the landscape to deal with water excess.
Nurturing dynamic gardens
A garden is no longer a static composition to be installed and maintained into submission. It is a living landscape, a dynamic, responsive and gradually self-strengthening system when given the right foundations.
Some plants will thrive, some will establigh better than others and a flexible mindset is required to gently nurture a developing landscape, course correct certain aspetcs when needed and let planting communities evolve to respond to evolving conditions.
Please remember that all young plants need water to establish in their first year, sometimes through to their second year until they have been able to grow a root system robust enough to deal with extremes. Watering is an essential part of caring for your new planting. For larger areas installing a drip feed irrigation system may be advisable.
