GCAT assesses climate risk but omits soil type — SkimNews
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- Future National Gardens Group is developing the free Garden Climate Assessment Tool, which evaluates a plant’s tolerance of a user’s chosen location using average temperature, natural distribution, winter cold and climate dryness.
- GCAT was put to professional gardeners for trial and feedback on Monday, while its release timing remains uncertain; RHS science director Alistair Griffiths said the long-term hope is access for the wider gardening public.
- Botanic Gardens Conservation International launched its original climate-assessment tool in Australia in 2022 for trees only, but the UK coalition expanded the model to cover plants.
- GCAT draws on data covering up to 80,650 plant types and 289 UK gardens, with continual updates planned to strengthen its predictions.
- Climate Change Gardening welcomed the tool as information for gardeners in the east of England, the UK’s driest region, who need support moving away from water-intensive lawns, hydrangeas and delphiniums.
- Alistair Griffiths said soil type is not currently a variable, a gap highlighted by Epsom Garden Society secretary Kim Shrosbree, who estimated that 70% of plants presented as suitable in Epsom would not grow in her chalk soil.
Why it matters: The tool gives UK gardeners a shared, location-specific basis for replacing plants that struggle with heat and drought, backed by records from 289 gardens and up to 80,650 plant types. But omitting soil type leaves a material blind spot for gardeners on chalk or clay, where a climate-suitable recommendation can still fail.
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