Drought Tolerant Planting

After having experienced the last two very hot dry summers the need to look at planting to suit these climatic conditions is more important than ever.

In our planting designs we look to suit the planting to the site, the climate, the ground conditions and the garden style. By employing a garden designer to help design your planting borders they will without a doubt be designing your planting scheme with these key factors in mind.

Bed preparation is an important factor when starting a new planting border. For all our design projects we always request that the beds existing soil be improved by adding organic matter this helps to improve the drainage which helps to improve plant viability in dry and wet conditions as well as ensuring that the plants have the best possible start.

Once your soil and beds are prepped and ready it’s time to plant some suitable drought tolerant plants that won’t look out of place in an English country garden

Euphorbias
A fantastic group of plants with great foliage as well as an interesting flower. You get Euphorbias for sun and shade in a variety of different sizes with a variety of different foliage all of which do brilliantly in a drought.

Perovskia
A wonderful plant that gives a haze of blue flowers followed by silvery stems in the autumn. Looks beautiful planted in large groups with ornamental grasses, echinacea or roses.  

Sedums
Again a great variety of different fleshy looking plants with succulent like leaves. These plants are not only great in a drought but a magnet for butterflies and bees giving the added bonus of bringing wildlife into your garden.  

Salvias
A mixed bunch of hardy and tender plants that can be grown as annuals. Salvias once they get going flower their socks off for many months. The hardy salvia’s such as the much loved Salvia Hot lips’ leaves are small, this means less transpiration (loss of water in photosynthesis)  takes place, meaning they do well in drought conditions

Classic silver leaved plants that come from the Mediterranean such as Lavender, Santolina, Rosemary and Artemisia are all excellent examples of drought tolerant plants that you can try out in your garden.

If we are to continue to have hot dry summers, to prevent endless watering, which is not really a sustainable way to garden then mulching the garden is a good idea. Ideally this is done in early Spring or Autumn when the ground is wet as it helps to retain the moisture in the soil. If you are going for a Mediterranean looking scheme then mulching with a gravel or other hard materials is a good option that works well with creating a full look.

If watering is required to help your plants to survive dry periods then here are some watering tips

• Only water if a plant is showing signs of stress

• Water plants at the base around the roots

• Water for a longer period but less frequently, this will encourage plant roots to go deeper to look for water

• Plant at the right time of year. Spring or Autumn when rains are forecast to help settle the plants into the ground.

 Good places to see examples of drought tolerant planting schemes are

Nymans Garden
Beth Chatto Dry Garden
Abbotsbury Sub Tropical Garden
East Rushton Old Vicarage Garden

The Gravel Garden at Beth Chatto’s garden in Essex, showcases excellent planting design, giving some great examples of drought tolerant plant combinations that you can take home to try out in your garden.