Gardeners see climate change signs

The Waste and Resources Action Programme's Know Your Compost campaign reported earlier blooming bulbs as the most obvious sign cited by gardeners (60%), while nearly a quarter (24%) have also noticed an increase in the amount of garden waste, such as grass trimmings and prunings.

Encouragingly, 56% understand the important role that recycling garden waste plays in helping to combat climate change but it's a different story when it comes to putting this into practice.

One in five (19%) choose to use peat-free composts and around a third (34%) of gardeners regularly home compost. As the number of people with access to a garden in the UK increases - currently 85% - there's a still more opportunities for gardeners to help.

TV gardener Diarmuid Gavin, who is backing the campaign, said: "We are all now much more aware of climate change and gardeners are in a better position than most to notice how things are changing literally in their own back yards.

"Snowdrops came out very early this year and I've started to cut the lawn earlier than I did last year, too.

"The good thing is that there are lots of ways we can help the environment in our gardens just by doing really simple things.

"Choosing peat-free composts which contain recycled materials is a great way to keep waste out of landfill and stop it rotting down to potentially create harmful greenhouse gases. Home composting is also easy and can cut down your average household bin by about 30%. And both deliver great results in your garden, too."

In addition to earlier blooming spring bulbs, such as crocuses and snowdrops, gardeners also reported noticing changes in the normal growing pattern of their lawns.

Compared with previous years, 44% stated they needed to start mowing earlier in the season, while 36% noticed their lawns kept growing throughout the year and 32% said they needed to mow lawns more frequently as grass seemed to be growing faster.