About our “Local Gardening” Tool

Jack Haffner; founder of GoTo4Gardening said “After speaking to many garden enthusiasts throughout the UK, I realised how diverse the growing conditions actually are, this is why we have created the Local Gardening section. I would speak to someone who would tell me exactly how to grow a specific plant in one town and then the next day 50 miles down the road I would be informed that the climate there is no good for growing this particular plant! For this reason and after consulting with fellow horticulturists, I decided to launch our “Articles by Area”

By sharing your methods and techniques for what works best in your area you will be helping the UK gardening community. And for each published article you will receive a £10 HTA voucher redeemable at over 2000 Garden Centres Nationwide

Introducing our new, interactive, UK area guide to local gardening.

We have scanned the Internet and don’t think that there is anything else like this available. This is your chance to be part of something new and unique; tell other readers and us about the area in which you live.

We also have a useful weather forecasting widget on each area page so you will hopefully be able to plan your weekends gardening based on what the weather will be!

 

How to contribute to our site:

• Simply email your article to [email protected]
• See your contribution on the site when the climate map is updated every Friday!
• Receive your £10 HTA voucher and show off your web publishing to your friends

Questions?

• I’d love to, but I’ve never written anything before!

Not a problem at all. We will send you a template to help you structure your article. Or you can take inspiration from existing content.

• The template has sections that I don’t have experience with

The template is only a guideline, write what you think is important for your area, add sections if you like!

• The areas are too big

Yes, we know. The logistics of splitting the UK down even further makes this weather map just too complicated. Maybe in the future, we can expand the map and have contributors.

• Do I have to write about the whole area?

If you want to write for the whole area, go for it. If you want to write about your specific location then that is great too – we’d love to read what you have to say either way!

(We reserve the right to refuse any content that doesn’t meet our editorial standards – in which case a voucher will not be issued)

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Why is the UK climate so varied?

The variability of the UK’s weather is well known. It can be hot and sunny one day, yet cold and rainy the next. Not only is the UK an island with the Gulf Stream bringing weather from the tropics, but it has a nearly Artic latitude; Manchester and Moscow share the same latitude! It’s not just the tourists who think it rains a lot; statistically there are over 120 rainy days each year in the UK!

There are so many reasons why the UK climate is so varied. Let’s have a look at some of the reasons:

• The UK is in the mid-latitude westerly wind belt, on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. We are surrounded by relatively warm waters and are close to the continental weather influences of mainland Europe.
• Topography and land use. In the UK the changes of topography over relatively short distances, combined with a long coastline and many islands, all contribute to the variety of weather.
• Air masses. This map was designed by Anthony Bennett and makes a very complicated topic a little easier to understand.

 

 

 

Wherever you find yourself gardening in the UK, the climate will give you a unique set of conditions to work with. We hope that this interactive climate map will be an interesting and informative way of finding out about your area, and a fun way for you to share your localized gardening and growing tips.