I don’t think I’ve seen this one before
Trees ‘giving up’: Climate change hammers historic English gardens
At Hampton Court Palace, head gardener Graham Dillamore strode across the burnt beige grass in the spectacular formal gardens southwest of London, laid out in the 17th century.
“If we have a summer like this next year, by God, it’s going to be a struggle,” said Dillamore, who has spent more than 20 years tending the gardens of the Baroque and Tudor red-brick palace where King Henry VIII once caroused.
Created by master designers such as Lancelot “Capability” Brown and William Kent, the gardens of stately homes such as Hampton Court, Blenheim Palace, and Chatsworth House are among England’s top visitor attractions.
But their historic style of planting and ancient trees are being hammered by climate change — including record heatwaves and drought this summer.
Weather changes.
“Some of these trees have actually given up. They’re not going to come back, they’re finished,” said Dillamore, who also oversees gardens at Kensington Palace, the official London residence of Prince William and his wife, Catherine. “We’re losing mature tree stock and that’s tragic in a historic garden.”
It was warmer in the UK during the Medieval Warm Period than it is now. But, cultists have to fearmonger.
