As I write this, I’m looking out on my little patch of bone-dry back lawn. Most of England is expected to come under a hosepipe ban this summer and it’s predicted that by 2050 London will be experiencing the kind of temperatures currently found in Barcelona. How do we future-proof our gardens and open spaces against climate change? Clare Coulson reports on a striking new initiative at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, a Carbon Garden that both highlights how temperatures have changed since the late 19th century – in a sweeping border of perennials that segue from cool, icy blues through to hot orange and red – and demonstrates what we will have to be planting for our hotter, drier future.

“We need to think about how much water a garden will need,” says Kew’s head of garden design Richard Wilford. “Don’t plant things that are going to struggle. If you’ve got a sunny garden, put varieties in that will cope with future drought.” At the heart of the Carbon Garden is a striking fungi-inspired timber pavilion, designed by Jonathan Mizzi, that highlights the symbiotic relationship between plants and networks of fungi beneath the ground – and the extraordinary statistic that 99 per cent of carbon on Earth is stored there. The garden itself looks glorious and there’s plenty of radical food for thought.

Radical thinking is also on display in Charlie Teasdale’s story about a Swedish tailoring brand that is using an algorithm to create high-quality made-to-measure suits for less than £1k. Alexander Moström and Daniel Apler, the two entrepreneurs behind Blugiallo (a portmanteau of the words meaning blue and yellow in Italian), have set out to “reframe sleek, made-to-measure tailoring for a younger, more digital-savvy client” who wants to shop online rather than on Savile Row. Traditionalists may raise an eyebrow, and it’s taken quite a bit of training for the algorithm to get the made-to-measuring just right, but Moström and Apler are confident they’ve cracked it. Could this be the future of suitmaking?

Seaweed may not be top of everyone’s culinary wishlist, but I’ve been itching to run a piece about how to cook it and where to eat it since being converted by the burger with laverbread and kelpchup served at the Cafe Môr beach shack in Pembrokeshire. Rosanna Dodds has done the honours, writing a delicious dive into the world of dulse, sugar kelp, bladderwrack and mermaid’s hair. She takes us from the Isle of Skye to The Connaught Grill in London via New York, harvesting top tips from chefs. I’ll be stopping by The Culpeper in Spitalfields on my way home for a Freezer-Door Martini, which mixes Boatyard gin with seaweed, samphire, sea purslane and capers.

Alice Lascelles, meanwhile, explores the new Japanese latte trend: hojicha. The toasty-tasting cousin of matcha, hojicha is made from charcoal-roasted green tea leaves and offers all of matcha’s supposed health benefits, but with a fraction of the caffeine. “While matcha is vibrant and grassy, hojicha has a naturally sweet, nutty flavour with a gentle smokiness and subtle caramel notes. It’s a comforting, nostalgic flavour for many in Japan,” says Hiromi Matsunobu, founder of London’s Japanese café Matchado. Up until now it’s been hard to find in the west, but that’s all about to change…

Have a lovely weekend!

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FOUR MORE STORIES TO READ THIS WEEK

The HTSI longevity quiz: how healthy are your habits? We consulted more than a dozen experts to find out how best to improve diet, fitness and sleep. Take our test to find out how to maximise your health 12 of the best open-top cars for summer Are these the greatest convertibles under the sun? Six summery ways to give it Watermelon prints for Palestine, Anni Albers textiles and a carpet of flower sculptures A guide to summer on Ischia, Italy’s ‘green island’ To My Ships founder Daniel Bense on where to swim, sleep and order a sunset Campari

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