Weather - is the combination of rainfall, temperature, wind sunshine and air humidity which affects your garden at a particular point in time.
Climate - is the summary of the weather that is likely to affect your garden all through the year. The climate maps of your area should be used as a rough guide only. They provide averages over many years rather than telling you the extremes of climatic conditions which you are likely to enjoy (or suffer) during a particular year. Furthermore, the overall climate of your region will be much modified by the factors all around the garden (the local climate) and the factors around each plant (the microclimate).
General climate.
The general climate gives a rough guide to the weather you may expect within your garden. In Britain it varies from nearly sub-tropical (S.W. coastal areas) to nearly sub-arctic (N.Scottish highlands). The general climate is controlled by the latitude, altitude, direction of the prevailing wind and the closeness to the sea. The effect of latitude is obvious to everyone, southern gardens are warmer than northern ones. The effect of being close to the sea is equally well known, western coastal gardens are kept virtually frost-free by the Gulf Stream. Less well known is the effect of small increases in altitude and the plant-damaging effect of salt in coastal areas for as much as 5 miles inland.
Local climate.
The local climate is the modified type of general climate. It is controlled by:
Slope - a south facing sloping position starts its growing season about 1 week before a level plot.
Openness - nearby trees and bushes will cast shade and reduce solar energy, but they will also reduce the damaging effect of high gusts of wind.
Proximity of buildings - town gardens are affected in many ways by the nearness of walls, houses etc. Walls cast shadows and thus reduce solar energy, these can also cast rain shadows and so decrease rainfall. Walls affect the temperature, heat is released over night and south facing walls can potentially form a sun trap.
Soil type - frosts are more prone to occur over sandy soils than over heavy ones.
Proximity of water - a nearby large lake can have a good cooling effect on hot summer days.
Micro climate - The is the modified kind of local climate in the direct vicinity of a plant. Large variations can occur from one part of your garden to another part. Close by walls and hedges or overhanging plants will obviously result in less light and less rainfall than in an open garden, the effect of this rain shadow can be to cut the water supply to only 25% of the rainfall in the open garden. On the credit side the effect of nearby walls and plants is to cut the danger of frost on clear, still nights and to reduce the harmful effect of wind. The general climate cannot, of course, be changed. The local climate is generally impossible to change but they can often be improved by introducing cloches or windbreaks.
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