Climate and Weather
General Climate
First of all we need to be clear what we mean when we use the words 'Weather' and 'Climate'.
In common usage, we tend to speak about the 'weather' today or yesterday or tomorrow. In other words, weather is what is happening at any point in time – it is time based and takes no account of location. We might say it is raining today or the forecast for tomorrow is for windy conditions.
On the other hand, we talk about the 'climate' in relation to a place, which might be a continent, country or something much more local – it is more location based. Climate is concerned about time but only in very broad terms. Climate has been described as the summary of weather conditions over a typical year.
So what is the significance for gardeners of this distinction between weather and climate?
If the weather is particularly dry, a gardener may need to artificially water some plants or if a frost is expected some plants may need to be protected. However, we don't make design decisions on the basis of a shower of rain or a strong wind.
On the other hand, the climate of a particular location tells us if the area is prone to very strong winds. It tells us about the range of temperatures to be expected throughout the year and the average rainfall. These are factors that we need to take into account when designing our garden, when deciding what features to incorporate and which plants are likely to thrive.
Local and Micro Climate
We normally talk about climate in relation to the general location of our garden plot. However there are often additional factors that we need to take into account when designing a garden.
For example, there may be two almost identical plots of land next door to each other – one being sheltered on three sides with the open side facing south and the other similarly enclosed but with a north facing aspect. The climatic conditions of the two plots will be very different. The growing season for the south facing plot could start one, two or even three weeks earlier than the north facing plot. We refer to this variation as 'Local Climate' and it is something to take into account when planning our garden.
Even within either of our plots, there can be even more variation brought about by features in the immediate vicinity of individual plants, such as the shelter provided by a fence, hedge or wall. We refer to these variations as 'micro climate'. Unlike the general and local climate, which constrains our garden design, we have more control over micro climate and may even introduce features to deliberately create areas that are suited to particular plants that we wish to grow.
Read more about Climate and Weather |
Read more about Soil and Climate |