HTA Chief Executive Fran Barnes has told members at its Annual Conference that environmental horticulture is now an “absolute requirement” for government to actively plan for, following a summer of record heat and prolonged lack of rainfall.

Opening Horticulture the Conference 2026 at London’s Barbican, Fran said the extreme conditions had underlined the need for more gardens and parks, trees, green infrastructure and resilient landscapes.

“2026 – the year when the not normal may have become the new normal. The tipping point.

“The more extreme our climate becomes, the greater the need for our industry.

“2026 has underlined the fact that horticulture is not just a nice-to-have.  It’s gone beyond being quite important.  It’s now tipped into an absolute requirement for a government to plan for. 

“The future is going to need what you grow and sell.  For shade, for flood mitigation, for biodiversity and for our health.”

Reflecting on one of the hottest days of the year, Fran described seeing people taking shade beneath mature trees as London’s concrete pavements and buildings became increasingly hot.

“I saw how those people were benefiting from the foresight of the growers, planners and landscapers who cultivated and planted those trees and green spaces over a hundred years ago.  What a gift they gave to a future they would never see – our present.

“There is a saying that the best time to plant a tree was 50 years ago. The second best time is today!

“The decisions we make this decade will shape the towns, cities - and the lives – that Britain’s children will thrive in - or have to endure - as adults.”

Ahead of the launch of the HTA’s new Value of Green Spaces report at the conference, Fran highlighted the wider contribution of gardens and green spaces.

“People who spend more time in gardens and green spaces are more productive. They enjoy better health outcomes. Businesses thrive in greener environments.

“Yet too often green spaces and gardens are still discussed as though they are luxuries. I completely reject that thinking. Because gardens are not elitist. Gardens are for everyone.

“Britain's 22 million gardens already form one of the country’s most important green assets.”

Fran said recognising the value of environmental horticulture also meant creating the conditions for businesses to invest in it for the long term.

“Businesses need certainty to make confident decisions to invest…

“We’re not asking for certainty about the weather. None of us can control that. Nor certainty about global events. None of us in this room can control those either. But it is legitimate to ask for certainty about the things government can - and does -control.

“Taxes. Regulation. Environmental policy. Employment policy. Planning. Trade.”

She highlighted the HTA’s continued campaigning on water resilience, the cost of doing business, trade with the European Union, employment costs, planning and biosecurity, alongside its growing engagement with decision-makers across Westminster, Holyrood, the Senedd and in Northern Ireland.

This includes meeting the minister – now Environment Secretary – to secure commitments to support horticulture, and the HTA’s Plants in Parliament event, which demonstrates growing support for environmental horticulture.

Fran said the conversation around environmental horticulture had now moved beyond recognition towards investment.

“When I stood at this conference a few years ago, much of the conversation was about ensuring horticulture was recognised. Today, I believe the conversation has moved on.

“The question is no longer whether environmental horticulture matters. The question is whether the country is prepared to invest in one of the solutions sitting right in front of it.

“Government right now has an opportunity to leave a legacy for our grandchildren in 2076... so that they can sit in the shade of a tree which has been grown from seed in the autumn of 2026 in a garden that was designed, landscaped and planted this year and feel overwhelming gratitude for the vision those people had. 

“And I cannot think of a better group of people than HTA members to deliver that… for the future.”