Transcript:
The days are getting longer, and spring is around the corner. For many home gardeners, it’s a time of hope and anticipation.
So it’s the perfect time to plan how to help your flower beds thrive as climate change brings more extreme and unpredictable weather.
Marsden: “Flooding, droughts, heat, cold, all the extreme weather we’re seeing is going to impact plants.”
That’s Christy Marsden of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership.
She says one of the most important things you can do is get your soil tested and then take steps to improve your soil health – for example, by adding compost. Healthier soil retains more water during droughts, and it’s less likely to erode during heavy storms.
Marsden also suggests growing a wider mix of flowers than you might have grown before, with varieties that thrive in a range of conditions.
And she recommends relying more on perennial plants, which come back every year, and less on annuals.
Marsden: “Perennials are more able to withstand some of those extremes because they have deeper roots. They’re more established.”
So while climate change is a challenge, she says by being flexible and trying new things, you can still grow a beautiful garden in a warming world.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media / Thanks to the Midwest Climate Resilience Conference for logistical support.
