Garden Year 2025: Winners and Losers of the Record Heatwave

A Look Back at the Gardening Year 2025: Record Heat in the Garden

2025 was hot and dry.

Did you also feel like you couldn't keep up with watering in 2025? That was probably because the 2025 gardening year was the warmest and sunniest year in the UK since weather records began! This has also been officially confirmed by the Met Office.

The contrast to the previous year could hardly be greater: 2024 was characterized by gray, wet weather. Snails felt particularly at home and there was a veritable snail plague in many gardens. 2025, on the other hand, was dry and hot, with water becoming the decisive factor and defining success in the vegetable patch. While some crops capitulated under the blazing sun, others delivered record yields. Who are the winners and losers of the 2025 gardening year?

Droughts in the UK: Which Vegetables Still Grow Well?

Review: Gardening year 2025

Answers to these questions are provided by a new survey of gardeners from across the UK. In collaboration with the Fryd Community and more than 300 supporters of Garden Organic, we took a close look at the past season. The survey was conducted by Garden Organic and takes place annually. The aim is to identify trends and climate effects over several years. Participants assessed the growth of ten common vegetable crops, such as tomatoes and beans, in the 2025 gardening year.
Respondents garden in many different locations across the UK, creating a spatially distributed sample. We at Fryd have been part of the evaluation since this year. In our Fryd Lab, we want to support citizen science and provide organizations such as Garden Organic with a platform to systematically survey gardeners.

Tomatoes: The Undisputed Leaders

Top 1: Tomatoes

Tomatoes have really exploded this year. According to our survey, three times as many gardeners achieved high yields and reported successful tomato harvests. For our participants, this was mainly because tomatoes were often grown in greenhouses or pots. Here, the water supply can be better controlled and regulated than in a large bed, which probably contributed to the good results. In addition, the consistently warm and sunny weather ensured particularly flavorful tomatoes.

Our tip for tomatoes: It is important to water tomatoes regularly so that they have evenly moist soil. If there are too many fluctuations in the water supply, the risk of blossom end rot increases and the fruits are more likely to burst.

Amaranth: The exotic secret weapon

Top 2: Amaranth

Although only just under 12% of respondents grew amaranth, this crop stood out for its good results and persistent growth. Amaranth is an impressively resilient plant. Its name means immortal or unfading (from Greek). It is one of the oldest crops known to humankind, but has fallen into obscurity, with many even considering it a weed. Yet it is a real insider tip for climate-resilient gardens. While leafy vegetables and lettuces succumbed to the heat or went to seed, amaranth continued to grow vigorously.

Carrots & Onions: Surprise Despite Initial Difficulties

Top 3: Onions & Carrots

This mixed crop is a popular combination anyway and yielded particularly good results this year. Anyone who managed to get the small seeds to germinate and beyond the seedling stage during this dust-dry spring was rewarded. Despite the initial difficulties, many gardeners report the ,,best carrot harvest in years''.
There was hardly any pest pressure on the carrots: the dry weather kept the snails away, and the carrot fly was also less prevalent this year. Onions tend to prefer dry conditions anyway, especially during bulb formation. Here, there is more of a risk of the onions rotting if the soil moisture is too high. This duo emerged as the clear winner in the 2025 gardening year.

Runner Beans Under Pressure

Top 1: Runner Beans

Runner beans were among the unexpected losers of the 2025 gardening season. In previous years, they were a big hit. But the heat thwarted their plans: many plants shed their flowers and did not form pods. It was only with cooler temperatures in September that the plants were able to recover and produce a small harvest. As a result, however, almost 50% of participants reported poor yields or even total crop failure.

Salads Bloom Earlier

Top 2: Salads

The heat also had devastating consequences for lettuce: lettuce plants bolted earlier, meaning they flowered earlier. This greatly shortened the harvest period and led to crop failures. Lettuce is particularly sensitive to heat. The high temperatures early in the year caused the plants to flower prematurely. This makes the leaves bitter and usually tougher. You can counteract this by planting lettuce plants in a shadier spot.

Potatoes and Cabbage Plants Are Ailing

Top 3: Potatoes & Cabbage

The heat has affected many plants, and unfavorable conditions also weaken their resistance, making them more susceptible to disease. Cabbage and potatoes were particularly affected. Cabbage varieties were infested with cabbage aphids early on. This led to a delayed harvest, and it was not until the wetter late summer that the plants were able to recover.
Potato plants also suffered, and many gardeners observed potato scab on the tubers. This disease is promoted by dry soils and had an easy time of it in the 2025 gardening year. In addition, the tubers remained mostly small, and the potato harvest was therefore rather disappointing.

Pests in Transition: Goodbye Snails, Hello Aphids

2025 was the year of the aphid

It's no secret: 2024 was a year of snails, and the heavy rainfall caused a veritable snail plague in many gardens. One bright spot in the 2025 gardening year was that snails were hardly present due to the dry weather. Instead, other garden inhabitants benefited from the warm temperatures. The warm, dry weather caused aphids to multiply rapidly in most gardens. Beans and cabbage plants were particularly high on their menu. The dry weather also favored powdery mildew in the garden. By the end of the season, numerous plants in many gardens were infested. This is also reflected in the survey: many report infested pumpkin and Swiss chard plants.

Growing Vegetables in Hot Weather: Tips for Dry Years

Tips for harvesting in dry and hot conditions

To avoid running dry in hot years, you should keep an eye on water management in your garden. Here are a few things we would like to recommend. On the one hand, there are short-term measures, such as crop selection, which you can adjust in case of drought. On the other hand, it is very important in the long term that you establish a healthy and bioactive soil structure in your garden. This is because garden soil can store an astonishing amount of water. Healthy, vegetated soil with a high humus content acts like a sponge.

Short-Term Adjustments in a Hot and Dry Year

short-term measures

- Mulching to prevent water loss
- Staggered sowing and continuous reseeding to compensate for losses
- Planting drought-resistant crops
- Planting mixed crops for diversification

Climate Adaptation Through Plant Selection

Diversity means resilience!

In this context, it is important to no longer rely on just one strategy when it comes to climate. There are wet and dry years, and in vegetable cultivation it is worthwhile to combine crops that can cope with different conditions. In practical terms, this means planning for drought-resistant and moisture-loving plants together. This seems counterintuitive at first, because mixed crops are traditionally put together according to similar needs. But with changing climatic conditions, we too must adapt our planning.

Rethinking Mixed Cropping and Spreading Risks

Mixed cultivation for diversity!

By combining drought-tolerant and moisture-loving plants, you can better cushion crop failures. Within the mixed culture, new microclimates can also be created in a targeted manner. For example, you can plant tall pole tomatoes next to lettuce and position the tomatoes so that they shade the lettuce, especially at midday.