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Teasel earns a place on a wildflower site for several reasons at once: its spiny seedheads are a key winter food source for goldfinches, who work them right through the colder months when many other seeds are gone; the tall second-year flower spikes (up to 2m) provide a late nectar source in July–August for long-tongued bumblebees and hoverflies at a point when many earlier grassland forbs have finished; and the dead stems left standing over winter shelter overwintering invertebrates, quite apart from the plant's own value as a striking, architectural presence on rough or disturbed ground like your bund. Being biennial, it spends its first year as a low rosette and only bolts and flowers in its second, so there's nothing to cut in year one regardless.  The stems from flowered plants are best left standing right through autumn and winter — that's precisely when the goldfinch and invertebrate value is being delivered — and only cut back in late February or March, once the seed has dropped or been eaten and before the new season's rosettes get going in earnest. Cutting any earlier sacrifices most of what makes it worth having; cutting much later risks getting in the way of spring growth. If it's spreading further than you want across the field or bund, late-winter cutting is also the point to thin it out, since by then you can see how much has self-seeded and make a judgement call on density rather than guessing mid-summer.
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 I recently came across this image that did more to bring home the idea that the Earth is warming than most images I had seen.
This August tied as the hottest month ever measured globally, matching the previous record set in July 2023, according to the EU's Copernicus climate service. Global temperatures for the month sat 1.65°C above pre-industrial levels — over the critical 1.5°C threshold that countries have agreed marks the edge of climate change's worst consequences. One record month doesn't mean that line has been permanently crossed, but it's a clear sign of the direction of travel. Two forces combined to drive it: the underlying warming from fossil fuel emissions, and a strengthening El Niño — a natural Pacific Ocean pattern that periodically releases huge stores of ocean heat into the atmosphere. Copernicus scientists say El Niño's biggest impact on global temperatures is still to come over the next year, so this run of records may not be over yet. Closer to home, the same summer made Western Europe's hottest on record, and gave the UK its hottest summer since records began in 1884 — a summer the Met Office calculates was made around 130 times more likely by human-caused climate change. Researchers are also clear that this isn't simply a "new normal" to adapt to and accept; without a shift away from fossil fuels, they expect these records to keep falling, faster than communities can adjust. It's a national and global story, but it's also our story. Betchworth has just lived through its third exceptionally dry summer in five years — scorched lawns, parched flowerbeds, stressed trees, cracked walls and driveways. The pattern behind those headlines and the pattern behind our own gardens is the same one. That's exactly why Betchworth Parish Council, Re-Betchworth and the 4Bs Biodiversity Group are bringing the village together on Monday 26th October, 7–9pm at Betchworth Memorial Village Hall, for Our Village, Our Future: Facing Up to Climate Change Together — a video screening and open discussion on what all of this means for us, and what we can actually do about it. Everyone is welcome, and we'd particularly love to hear from residents of every generation. Source: BBC News, "August joint-hottest month on record as climate change and El Niño drive heat," 10 September 2026. It's official, with an average mean temperature of 16.5°C puts this summer as the warmest on record - since 1884. It was also one of the sunniest summers on record (dating back to 1910) and one of the driest in the south east. Head of Climate Attribution at the Met Office, Dr Mark McCarthy, said: “The summer of 2026 has been remarkable and is an example of the extremes we can expect to see more frequently as a consequence of human induced climate change. Our analysis shows a summer like the one we’ve just experienced is now around 130 times more likely because of climate change. In a climate unaffected by human emissions of greenhouse gases, a summer like this would be exceptionally unlikely, i.e. 1 in over 1,000 years. In our current climate, which is changing because of the effect of burning of fossil fuels, we should now expect this to be roughly a 1 in 9 year event."  What have been the effects of our long hot summer? Everyone living in the 4Bs will have their own memory of the summer of 26 summer — a parched lawn, shrivelled flowers, early apple falls, a pond or stream shrinking to nothing, the feeling that we are living in the south of France. It’s been the hottest and one of the driest springs and summers in living memory. Climate change is now affecting us and the wildlife around us in a significant way. Farmers have borne the brunt of this drought, watching crops and pasture struggle through the driest months in years. We need to act now to help build a more resilient environment by adapting our homes and gardens to cope with more extremes of weather as human impacts on climate become more profound.  What does this mean for wildlife? The direct effects of hot dry weather are visible already: trees shutting down early and dropping leaves out of season to conserve water; ponds and brooks shrinking or disappearing, taking amphibian and dragonfly larvae with them; and rivers and streams running low enough to concentrate fish, deplete oxygen and stress the invertebrates that feed everything from trout to house martins. Reduced insect abundance in a dry summer means less food for wild birds, so fewer young survive to fledge. Baked ground cuts birds off from earthworms. Blackbirds, song thrushes, robins and starlings all hunt earthworms near the surface by sight and vibration. In drought, earthworms retreat deep into the soil profile and the surface bakes hard enough that even a bird that finds one can't dig it out. Hedgehogs depend heavily on earthworms and soil invertebrates, and hard ground ahead of hibernation is a genuine concern. Small mammals are surprisingly exposed. Shrews have very high metabolic rates and need to eat roughly their own bodyweight in invertebrates daily — a sharp drop in surface invertebrate availability can be lethal to them directly, not just growth-limiting. Vole populations often crash in drought years as grass growth (their main food and cover) stalls and this affects barn owls and kestrels that depend on them as a food source. Drought stress compounds year on year — this is Surrey's third dry summer in five, and trees already weakened by 2022 and 2025 have less reserve capacity to cope with 2026, making them more vulnerable to pests, disease and storm damage in years to come. What we can do — now, and for the future in the garden this autumn Keep a shallow dish of water topped up for birds, hedgehogs and insects; resist the urge to tidy borders and cut hedges hard while conditions are dry, since long grass, leaf litter and log piles are the moisture refuges wildlife needs most right now; and top up garden ponds using stored rainwater rather than mains water where possible. Protecting the soil carbon and organic matter already in our gardens, hedgerows and woodland — through mulching, minimal digging and leaving deadwood in place — does more for long-term drought resilience than any amount of new planting. Where new planting is done, choose deep-rooted, drought-tolerant native species that are more resilient to drought and flooding. When you walk the Betchworth & Buckland Nature Trail this autumn, let us know what you see — a dry pond, a dying tree, and any signs of recovery. Help build the picture of how the 4Bs is coping with a hot dry summer. [email protected] |
4Bs Nature Group BlogThis blog is maintained by the 4Bs Biodiversity Initiative Team. Its purpose is to provide brief updates of activities and encourage the sharing of experiences and learning. We welcome guests and contributions from members of the 4Bs WhatsApp Nature Group and wider community. To contribute a post please email the editor at biodiversityinititiative1 @gmail.com PagesArchives
October 2026
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