As a retired climate scientist, and current gardening fanatic, I’m often asked “What should I grow that will survive coming climate change?” My usual articulate response is to expouse something like “Uh ….”, or possibly “Um ….”, and then later hope that I didn’t drool. The difficulty is that trying to answer the what-to-grow question is vastly complicated, even without the uncertainty of climate change. Different species of plants have different light, soil, moisture, wind, pollination, and pest requirements. Heck, different strains within a species can have different requirements. Layer on top of that the unique characteristics of a planting site and the habits of the gardener, it takes some real thought to give good planting advice. Sprinkle in the uncertainty of climate change and it’s a wonder that there are indeed some rules of thumb that can help us to create gardens that will thrive into the future.
A terrific answer to every climate aware gardener, and one that I tried to answer for my Master Naturalist research presentation. Amazingly, I had essentially the same conclusions, though I thought some nativars might be okay, and that trees happy from 2 zones down to1 zone up should be selected, given their longevity--debatable conclusions. Anyway, I'm really writing to suggest that you start posting to Reddit as many younger people seem to go there for whatever they want to know. And, if you choose to do that, suggest adding a TL:DR (too long; didn't read) as a very short summary and enticement to read a bit more And, of course breaking content into sub-titled sections. A thought or two for your consideration.
Like it. The redwoods here permit only small challengers to their domain, but what a domain. I stay with natives. Manzanita bushes are my favorite.
A terrific answer to every climate aware gardener, and one that I tried to answer for my Master Naturalist research presentation. Amazingly, I had essentially the same conclusions, though I thought some nativars might be okay, and that trees happy from 2 zones down to1 zone up should be selected, given their longevity--debatable conclusions. Anyway, I'm really writing to suggest that you start posting to Reddit as many younger people seem to go there for whatever they want to know. And, if you choose to do that, suggest adding a TL:DR (too long; didn't read) as a very short summary and enticement to read a bit more And, of course breaking content into sub-titled sections. A thought or two for your consideration.
Wonderful post, Pru! Glad you're coming to Izaac Walton next week. You'll see many of these points in action.