YOUR CLIMATE

Here at GardenEzi we don’t care for the term “climate zone”. This is because we believe that the government climate zone maps used by gardeners around the world are too complicated.  And they don’t  take into account the fact that just about any designated zone will offer a whole range of localized climate conditions dictated by:

v  Large lakes and rivers

v  Oceans and coastlines

v  Forests

v  Open plains

For instance, if there’s a range of mountains across your “zone”, those living on the seaward side of them will have a different gardening environment from those living on top of the mountains and those living in a valley – or open plain – on the other side. 

So we’ve come up with the GardenEzi Climate Guide which divides the world into only seven basic types:

                                                GardenEzi Climate Guide

TYPE 1. Cold – Winters long and severe up to 5 months with constant snow and blizzards, hard frosts from fall (autumn) to spring, brief intense summer (about three months), rainfall mostly in spring and fall (autumn).

TYPE 2. Temperate – Winters quite long (minimum three months) and cold, frequent snow, occasional hard frosts usually in early spring and late fall, warm to hot (often humid) summer with wet and cold spells, rainfall distributed throughout the year

TYPE 3. Warm temperate – Winters brief (three months) and cool to cold, occasional snowfalls, some frost, well-distributed rainfall but most common in winter and spring, warm and sometimes hot and humid summers

TYPE 4. Mediterranean – cool winters with very rare snowfalls on high ground, light frost on low ground, rainfall mostly in winter (but often spring and sometimes fall ), hot and dry summers

TYPE 5. Arid – desert environment with little rainfall usually in cooler season, very hot, dry days and cool nights which can become very cold depending on location and season

TYPE 6. Sub tropical – Winters brief (about three months) cool and mild, occasional frost on low ground,  summers long, warm to hot and humid, only very slight seasonal change in “spring” and “fall (autumn)” , mostly winter rainfall though rain may fall at any time

TYPE 7.Tropical – No winter but only wet and dry monsoonal seasons where conditions vary from warm and dry to very hot and humid, rainfall generally divided into annual “long” and “short” monsoons

Unless you live in the Arctic Circle or the Sahara Desert your garden will fall into one of these broad types.  And now it’s up to YOU to find out what local climate conditions are likely to affect what you grow and how you grow it.  Things you need to know about include:

  Rainfall pattern

Frost and snow pattern

Heat and humidity/aridity

Very hot or cold winds

Tornadoes, gales or hurricanes

Frequency of fog or mist

Day length midsummer/midwinter