John Taylor responds to David Lindenmayer on logging and increased fire risk. The greatest risk to our forests is catastrophic fire. And forest fires are increasing in frequency and intensity. Whether the forests are in state forest or national park, […]
In this recent article published in Pearls and Irritations, Julian Cribb sets out some uncomfortable facts about soils, water and more: A silent disaster is unfolding in the world’s food-producing soils: erosion, loss of organic carbon, nutrient depletion, salinisation, acidification, […]
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy, Penguin/ Random House 2025 What would be the most disturbing moral question any botanist, plantsperson, passionate gardener or naturalist could face? Imagine if you could only save a small proportion of the world’s seeds but […]
Gardens that can save the world by Lottie Delamain (foreword by Isabella Tree), Timber Press, 2026 Hope is a curious feeling. On one hand, it is desperately needed as a counter weight to despair and as a motivation for positive […]
Last spring members of AGHS Tasmania Branch visited Longford Hall in Northern Tasmania. The property, first established in 1820s, has variously been a boys’ school with farm, a girls’ school, a Carmelite monastery and, at times and currently, a private […]
The Australian Garden History Society (AGHS) is opposed to the installation of plastic grass because it contravenes our mission to conserve significant gardens and cultural landscapes. You can read our policy here: AGHS Policy on Plastic Grass Feb 26. In […]
Shade – The promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource by Sam Bloch, Random House, New York, 2025 The author Sam Bloch is an American environmental journalist and his examples in Shade are largely based on observations from the United States, […]
Anna Beesley is a PhD researcher at the University of Melbourne undertaking a study exploring how climate change is impacting public historic gardens in Australia. Anna is also a horticulturalist, former lawyer and former custodian of an Edna Walling garden […]
The ‘sponge cities’ concept for addressing climate change that is accelerating urban flooding was championed by the Beijing-based landscape architect Kongjian Yu, the most recent winner of the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize. It was the inspiration for […]
Sustainable food production, urban tree planting, reduction in the use of peat, investment in renewable energy, increasing circularity in horticultural plastics and the responsible management of water resources are among many environmental issues affecting the horticulture industry. This blog post, […]
Image: Kew Gardens from the air, © Thomas Nugent, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) Using data gathered from across West London, including Kew Gardens’ own weather station, researchers have built climate models to predict Kew’s future climate. This alongside global […]
Introducing our Antipodean historic gardens and climate change project… Gardening in a changing climate requires experimentation and flexibility. It can help to learn how others have responded to more dry spells and unseasonable wet periods or, importantly, are planning ahead […]
Smoke haze from bushfires, Sydney, December 2019, photo Francesca Beddie I am on the verge of tears of rage. Never in my seven-plus decades have governments been as reckless with their citizenry as those over the last 30 some […]
Seasonal Climate Outlook April 2024 to June 2024 published by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. NIWA’s mission is to conduct leading environmental science to enable the sustainable management of natural resources for New Zealand and the planet. […]
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Melbourne Gardens, image courtesy Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Climate change requires adaptation not only of our landscapes, but of the way we think as individuals and organisations. Horticulture has traditionally relied on historic observation of plant […]
Government House Tasmania (GHT) is situated on 15 hectares of land. It is part of a complete estate comprising 4.5 hectares of established gardens and ponds, paddocks, cottages, stables, and other buildings. The Estate gardens are regarded as one of […]
In 1996, when my book Gardens of the sun was published, climate change was a topic of intense interest and comment. Vociferous discussions and debate took place in parliaments and the media. In the main, there was a feeling of […]
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology publishes historical data about the climate in Australia, including maps ranging from the most recent day, back to 1900 for rainfall and 1910 for temperature, http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/maps I doubt whether there are many gardeners left who […]
In late November 2010, rain began falling in Queensland. By January 2011, floods had impacted 75 per cent of the state. Thirty-three people lost their lives. Nearly 6,000 people were evacuated from 3,600 homes. In Brisbane, I watched a beautiful […]
Climate change often highlights long-standing preservation issues rather than discovering new problems. Professor May Cassar, Director of University College London’s Institute for Sustainable Heritage[1]. By their nature, heritage gardens are dynamic, complex and continually evolving. They often combine plants […]
Our new bridge built over Second Creek, with the dense wonga vine growing above and beyond into the gum trees, photo Susan Marsden, 2024 In her article in Australian Garden History, vol. 32, no.3, January 2021, Susan Marsden drew on diary […]
The City of Sydney’s plan is that when a plane tree needs to be removed, it will be replaced with a species better suited to the changed climate in the long term. The replacements will be a mix of native […]
Dr Kim Loo, general practitioner, and member of Doctors for the Environment Australia responds to Fevered Planet by John Vidal, Bloomsbury, 2023, Doctors for the Environment started more than 20 years ago when three doctors sat around a kitchen table […]
Claudia Hyles (AGHS ACT, Monaro and Riverina) visited Amsterdam earlier in 2023 and reports on its green spaces. Late spring and early summer in Amsterdam is a time for enjoying beautiful gardens, not only the famous bulb-fields at nearby Keukenhof. […]
Espeletia or frailejones the subject Diazgrandos’ research, image Rinaldo Wurglitsch, Flickr, CC-BY-2.0 The appointment of a new chief scientist at the New York Botanical Garden has focussed attention on the fact that since its inception in 1891, NYBG has been […]
For caretakers and managers of historic and beautiful places Together with other heritage organisations, National Trust experts are creating a range of guidance for the owners and managers of historic and beautiful places. This guidance is available for any person or […]
Eryldene is a historic house and garden in Sydney, with an important collection of camellias. The Eryldene Trust has recognised the need to respond to changing climatic conditions to conserve Eryldene’s heritage values and has therefore developed an Environmental Sustainability […]
Wednesday 8th February – Thursday 11th May 2023 (session times Thu 23 Mar Thu 27 Apr Thu 11 May 11am – 12.30pm) Do you want to contribute to climate change research? Do you want to understand how climate change is affecting […]
C.R.U.N.C.H (Climate Resilience: Understanding New Challenges for Historic Gardens) TIME This on-line event on 30 March will explore how historic gardens are building resilience to climate change. Speakers from the UK, USA, Australia and beyond will share local and global […]
A study published in January 2023 in the Lancet, a peer-reviewed public medical journal, finds that doubling the average amount of tree cover in European cities from 15 to 30 percent could reduce urban temperatures by 0.4 degrees Celsius — […]