National Trust: last year's weather could be the new normal

Last year was the warmest ever recorded, with every month apart from December hotter than average. All four seasons were in the top 10 warmest since records began in 1884. Summer was a scorcher, with 40°C recorded for the first time in the UK. It was also the driest summer since 1976.

“It doesn’t mean every year will be the warmest on record,” says Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre. “But climate change continues to increase the chances of increasingly warm years over the coming decades.”

At Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk, Head Gardener Tina Hammond and her team have been steadily adapting the garden to the demands of climate change. Areas of lawn in the walled Bacchus Garden that were soggy in winter, then burnt brown in summer, have been replaced with tolerant plants. Tina has also switched away from roses towards hardy gingers, olearias and pineapple guavas. Just as important, she says, is mulching to lock in moisture in summer. “Mulch is a garden alchemist – it turns your soil into gold,” she says. “If you have a healthy growing environment your plants are more resilient.” Last summer she watered the borders just once, despite record heat.

Kim Stoddart, co-author of The Climate Change Garden, says gardeners can adopt measures to protect their plots, like dipping ponds and porous paving to absorb sudden deluges, while mulching and gravel gardens hold summer rains in the ground. “Future gardens are likely to take a wilder approach to lawns (if they have them at all),” she says. “Look, listen and learn from nature: learning to problem-solve in tune with the natural world will be absolutely key.”