Historic English Gardens Under Siege as Climate Change Devastates Century‑Old Trees

HAMPTON COURT: At the historic Hampton Court Palace, head gardener Graham Dillamore walked across the parched, beige grass of the spectacular formal gardens southwest of London, originally 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.
Designed by luminaries such as Lancelot “Capability” Brown and William Kent, the gardens of Hampton Court, Blenheim Palace, and Chatsworth House rank among England’s premier visitor attractions.
However, their historic planting schemes and ancient trees are being battered by climate change, with record‑breaking heatwaves and drought afflicting the region this summer.
Garden staff told AFP that the straw‑like lawns were not a source of embarrassment, noting that visitors, also under water restrictions, are sympathetic; the main concern is the long‑term impact and preserving the gardens’ historic spirit.
Mature trees, which require decades to reach their current size, are drooping, and some have already turned brown in August as a stress response to extreme heat.
“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.”
“We’ve already lost trees,” said Rosie Fyles, head of gardens at Chiswick House in west London, whose Kent‑designed shaded lawns, dotted with statues and centuries‑old cedars of Lebanon, date to the 18th century.
The species most affected are those “we really associate with an English garden or an English landscape,” she noted: oaks, sycamores, birches, and limes.
“I think there’s only so much stress they can withstand,” said the gardener, who tends 1,800 trees.
It is not practicable to water mature trees, gardeners explained.
At Chiswick, staff were watering drooping camellias and lilacs, shrubs that normally thrive in sun.
The garden has boosted its capacity to harvest rainwater, but its stocks ran out several months ago.
“There’s only so much we can intervene and control,” said Fyles, admitting this was hard to accept as a professional gardener.
“It’s sobering. It means that we’re having to think about what we plant going forward, what trees will be sustainable going forward in the future climate.”
“I get the feeling we’re in uncharted territory,” said Dillamore.
“I’ve never felt so uncertain about the future in historic gardens and landscapes as I do now.”
‘On the front line’
A survey conducted earlier this year by the National Lottery Heritage Fund found that staff at historic gardens across the country reported climate change impacts — from drought to severe winter storms and excessive rain that foster fungal growth and pest infestations.
Historic gardens are “really on the front line of climate change,” said Drew Bennellick, the Heritage Fund’s head of lands, seas and nature policy, and “the changes are happening actually quite quickly now.”
“We’ve seen sites that lost 80 percent of their tree cover,” he told AFP.
Climate modelling by researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, a UNESCO World Heritage site, predicted that by 2090, 50 percent of their trees will be at risk of death.
Historic gardens “must be protected and preserved,” said Dillamore.
“But they’ve also got to change over the next few years — otherwise we’re going to lose them.”
And this calls for “some very, very difficult decisions,” he admitted.
Some are shifting to Mediterranean plants, Bennellick said, “more grasses, more herbaceous perennials that can survive the drought conditions.”
At Hampton Court, Dillamore pointed to vibrant pink flowers with bright green foliage.
Garden designer Ann‑Marie Powell created test beds of long‑lived plants happy in high temperatures, including Siskiyou Pink plants, native to the southern United States.
Planted in April, they look vigorous despite no automatic irrigation, as do other flowers such as daisy‑like echinaceas from US prairies.
Dillamore said he was happy with the result.
Hampton Court and Chiswick have also stopped digging over flowerbeds and relaxed about weeds.
The Royal Horticultural Society gardening charity announced this month it is considering moving some of its heat‑stressed hydrangea collection from Surrey, southwest of London, to other regions of England.
“The gardens tell the story of Hampton Court just as much as the palace, so I can’t pack this garden up and move it,” said Dillamore.
“We’ve got to retain that feel, the spirit of the place.”

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