Fig and almond trees thriving in UK thanks to fewer frosts, RHS says
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Society to retire plants no longer suited to UK’s changing climate after 14% fewer days of ground frost recorded. Fig and almond trees are thriving in Britain as a result of fewer frosts, the Royal Horticultural Society has said. The lack of frost, one of the effects of climate breakdown, means plants used to warmer climes have been doing well in RHS gardens. Almond trees from the Mediterranean were planted at Wisley in Surrey several years ago, and without frost this year have fruited well for the first time.
![[People under umbrellas at the RHS Chelsea flower show]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f8986295ceea5fd9660e2a2b2d43856ad47077d4/0_44_6978_4188/master/6978.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Fig trees can withstand long, dry spells, though are not generally well-suited to the UK’s mild, wet climate. However, at the RHS’s Hyde Hall site in Essex, the team has planted fig trees outside for the first time. They have also planted cacti in the drier areas of the garden.
According to the Met Office, in the most recent decade (2011–2020) there were 16% fewer days of air frost and 14% fewer days of ground frost compared with the 1981–2010 average. Horticulturalists at the RHS’s four gardens are starting to retire plants that are no longer suited to the UK’s changing climate and swap them for alternatives that may have a better chance of surviving.
Tim Upson, director of horticulture at the RHS, said: “For gardeners, 2024 was characterised by water – too much rather than too little as has been the case in previous years. While many woody plants flourished under cooler and wetter conditions, growing rapidly, more warmth-loving plants that had experienced back-to-back boom years were far less floriferous.
