Developed by the Future National Gardens Group, the Garden Climate Assessment Tool evaluates species tolerance using regional climate variables such as average temperature, winter cold, and dryness. Professional gardeners have begun trialing the platform, which draws on data from 289 UK gardens to assess up to 80,650 plant types. While experts hope the system will gradually replace moisture-dependent plants like delphiniums and hydrangeas, critics note that the current version does not factor in local soil compositions such as chalk or clay.
Key points
Professional horticulturists have begun testing the free online platform before its event…: Professional horticulturists have begun testing the free online platform before its eventual rollout to the general public.
The system is designed to help growers proactively transition away from water-intensive E…: The system is designed to help growers proactively transition away from water-intensive English staples toward drought-resistant species.
Future updates may need to integrate localized ground conditions like chalk and clay to i…: Future updates may need to integrate localized ground conditions like chalk and clay to improve survival predictions.
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“In the 20th century, we could pretty much grow the same things with confidence, we could learn from previous generations,” said Prof Sam Brockington, a curator at Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
“But now we’re moving into climate scenarios that we just don’t have the traditions to understand fully.”
As gardeners around the UK are forced to adapt their growing habits to a rapidly changing climate, a coalition of leading UK horticultural organisations is developing an online tool that will help users predict which plants would survive in future conditions.
The Garden Climate Assessment Tool (GCAT), developed by the Future National Gardens Group (FNGG), will be a free risk-assessment tool that evaluates how a plant could tolerate the projected climate of a user’s chosen location.
Gardeners will be able to feed in a list of plants into the tool, which will take into account a number of factors including annual average temperature, natural distribution, winter cold and climate dryness.
The FNGG comprises horticultural, heritage and landscape organisations including the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the National Trust, English Heritage and the Royal…
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