Latest news with #climate adaptation
The Independent
23-07-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Hosepipe ban: Botanist reveals which plants to save and which to sacrifice
With hosepipe bans in force across several English regions and more restrictions likely to follow, gardeners face some tough choices. When every drop counts, which plants deserve your precious water from the water butt, and which should you leave to fend for themselves? As someone who has researched how British gardeners need to adapt to respond to our changing climate, I can tell you that not all garden plants are created equal when it comes to water needs. Some plants will bounce back from a summer scorching, while others may never recover. Top plants to prioritise for watering 1. New woody plants Any woody plant installed in the last 12-18 months should be your absolute priority. These haven't yet developed the deep root systems needed to find moisture reserves and going without enough water the first year or so after planting could kill them. Water thoroughly and add a deep mulch of wood chips to help the soil hold water. For young trees you can install a watering bag around the trunk but you still need to top it up. 2. Hydrangeas Hydrangeas adopt a conservative strategy when it comes to drought. They shut their stomata (leaf pores) rapidly when they sense dry soil, and keep them closed until consistent moisture returns. They often drop their leaves too. This can mean many weeks without growth, after even a relatively short drought period. So if you want to keep them looking at their best, they need consistent watering. You can cut growth back to reduce water loss, and save the the plant at the cost of flowers. 3. Moisture loving trees Japanese maples (Acer palmatum), along with other moisture-loving trees like birch and beech, are prone to serious die-back during summer droughts. Their shallow root systems and large leaves make them particularly vulnerable to water stress. Water and mulch them. 4. Soft herbaceous plants Astilbe, dicentra, filipendula, heuchera, primula, trollius and many other soft herbaceous plants require good moisture levels and may not survive prolonged drought. 5. Shallow-rooted shrubs Rhododendrons and azaleas are shallow-rooted shrubs particularly susceptible to drought stress, especially the large-leaved evergreen species which are also prone to wind damage when stressed. 6. Clematis Many clematis varieties struggle with drought. Since they're often grown for their spectacular flowering displays, maintaining adequate moisture around the roots is crucial, especially for autumn-flowering varieties, or spring-flowering varieties which flower on the previous year's growth. A gravel mulch can help keep the roots cool and damp. However, clematis orientalis, terniflora, and evergreens such as C. cirrhosa can be surprisingly tolerant of a hot dry period. 7. Ripening vegetables If you're growing vegetables, prioritise crops approaching harvest and those that split when moisture returns after drought, such as carrots. Runner beans and courgettes need moist soil to keep cropping and potato yields are heavily influenced by water levels. 8. All the pots Anything in pots has limited access to soil moisture reserves and will need regular attention. Move containers to shadier spots if possible. Always use a pot saucer to hold water and prevent it draining away. Plants that can survive without extra water Research into plant water-stress shows that many common garden plants are surprisingly resilient. Forsythia adopts a risk-taking strategy. It keeps growing and photosynthesising even when soil moisture becomes limited, gambling that it can regrow after damage. This makes it remarkably drought-tolerant. It is also tolerant of heavy pruning which can save it in severe conditions. Mediterranean shrubs like lavender, rosemary, sage and thyme are naturally adapted to dry conditions. Their grey, hairy or waxy leaves are evolved to conserve moisture. Soil conditions are crucial though. If the plants are deep rooted they will draw water up, but if your soil is shallow or compacted they might well be less drought tolerant. Sedums, sempervivums and other succulents store water in their fleshy leaves and can survive extended dry periods. RHS research identifies Sedum spectabile as particularly reliable under stress. Ornamental grasses generally have efficient root systems and many species actually prefer drier conditions once established. Established shrubs including cistus, phlomis, buddleja, cotoneaster, berberis and viburnum have deep roots and proven track records for drought survival. The RHS report identifies these as garden stalwarts, with high stress resilience. Some trees, including eucalyptus, bay (Laurus nobilis) and holm oak are remarkably drought tolerant. Those to sacrifice Grass lawns are thirsty and can be left to go dormant. If you have a newly seeded or turfed lawn from this year, some limited watering may be justified. But in general, embrace the golden colour of water-stressed lawns. As long as you don't create too many bare patches from over-use, the green colour and growth will come back when it rains. Annual bedding plants like busy lizzies and begonias have shallow root systems and high water demands. However, they are only there for one season and are easily replaceable, so prioritise them for watering only if they're particularly important to your garden's summer display and you can spare the water. You could save some by potting them up and enjoying a display that needs less water. When you do water, research shows that technique is crucial. Water thoroughly but less frequently to encourage deep root growth. Focus water at the base of plants rather than on leaves, and water in early morning or evening to reduce evaporation. Consider 'split-root' watering for established shrubs – water one side of the plant thoroughly, then switch to the other side two to three weeks later. This keeps plants hydrated while chemical signals from the dry side's roots prevent excessive new growth that would increase water demands. This drought is a taste of Britain's gardening future. The plants struggling most in this year's drought are likely to become increasingly unsuitable for British gardens without intensive irrigation. Be willing to swap out plants that suffer in drought for new plants that are more tolerant. Refresh plantings to adapt to the new climate.
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
National, Labour agree changes needed for weather-event buyouts
Major flood damage during this week's downpours in the Tasman distrcit. Photo: Tim Cuff / POOL The two major political parties want a bipartisan approach towards dealing with climate adaptation and property buy-outs during weather events. Last week, an independent reference group made recommendations for climate adaptation legislation, including that people should not expect the government to buy out severely weather-damaged homes. The group, set up by the Ministry for the Environment, recommended after a 20-year transition period, homeowners whose houses are flooded or damaged by weather events should not expect buyouts. It said individuals should be responsible for knowing the risks and making their own decisions about whether to move away from high-risk areas. no captoin. Photo: RNZ The group also recommended that funding for adaptation measures, such as flood schemes, sea walls and blue-green infrastructure, should follow a 'beneficiary pays' approach in most cases. While the government is yet to formally respond to the report, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in principal, the government won't be able to keep bailing people out . He said Climate Change Minister Simon Watts had been working hard to get a bipartisan view on how to deal long term with these weather events. "This is a long term issue. We need a proper framework in place to work out whether its landowners, councils, whether its central government, banks, insurers that actually have to create a framework for dealing with these weather events an how we handle them going forward." Hipkins agreed that the frame work needs to be worked through on a bipartisan basis so the issue doesn't become a "political football". "We have to be realistic. Government is not going to be an insurer by default, but there are decisions that governments has taken, whether it's local government or central government, where houses can be built and there is some consequences for that," Hipkins told Morning Report. "We have a share of the liability here, but it doesn't mean we have all of the liability." While Hipkins would not say whether he agrees in principal to phase out the buyouts, he said whatever we come up with needs to be fair and consistent. "Fairness has to be at the heart of it," he said. Labour leader Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Finance Minister Nicola Willis told First Up the government is working to ensure councils are clear about natural hazard risks when they allow people to build. Willis said authorities must strike a balance between identifying hazard risks, and ensuring sufficient investment in infrastructure to prevent catastrophic damage. "You come to this question of when people know that they are building on a flood plain, or they know that the area they're building on is at very high risk, is it fair to ask tax payers to always bear the costs of that? And those are some of the questions that this independent have been working through," she said. Willis said extreme climate events are increasing and we can expect that to continue as a result of climate change. She said it is going to be important for New Zealand that we carefully plan where housing development occurs, what kinds of infrastructure we build and what investment we make into adaptation such as stopbanks. "We need to have frameworks as a country that work not just as an ad-hoc basis, but to the extent possible, can endure from one Parliament to the next because these are long-run issues, so long-run incentives are needed." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
