Glorious Gardens for Dry Conditions
After one of the driest summers on record with hose pipe bans currently in place in large parts of England and Wales, you might be wondering how to create a garden to survive, and even thrive in these testing conditions. In this blog, we take a look at how to do just that.
Restrictions vary but generally people aren't allowed to use hose pipes - or anything that connects to a hosepipe or an outside tap - to water their gardens, plants or lawns (more than 28 days old) or fill a pond.
According to research from the Met Office, future summers in the UK could last longer with an increased risk of drought, with “summer-like” weather patterns leading to warmer and drier autumns, as well as hotter and drier summers from the mid-2020s onwards.
For keen UK gardeners, it looks like preparing for drier, warmer conditions in their planting plan is the best way of future-proofing the green space we love so much.
“We’ve seen a slow but steady trend towards planting for drier conditions,” says Rob Hardy, garden designer and director of Rob Hardy & Co, “and I believe we all have a responsibility to conserve water and use it wisely. The exciting news is that there are lots of ways we can continue to landscape and plant to enjoy our gardens for many years to come.”
“Developing green space continues to be a vital part of the global attempt to combat climate change and following these simple guidelines will help you design and plant a garden which you can enjoy responsibly, benefiting the environment too.”
Understand how your garden captures and keeps water. Often modern gardens have been designed to shed water quickly by directing water to drains and gullies, but this can lead to very dry soil conditions and contributes to localised flooding. It doesn’t need to be like this though. If we consider using concealed swales, retention ponds, attenuation tanks and water butts in our garden designs, we can subtly and elegantly capture rainfall and keep moisture in the garden, alleviating the need for a hosepipe in the traditional sense, almost altogether.
Plant for the climate we’re in. By designing our planting wisely, we shouldn’t need to water plants once they’re established. In fact, watering too much can mean that plants grow shallow roots, which leaves them vulnerable to dry spells. Coneflowers, Catmint and Agastache are all drought-tolerant and fantastic for the bees whilst shrubs like lavender and rosemary need very little moisture to thrive well.
Koelreuteria paniculata
Consider trees from warmer zones. Trees evaporate water, reflect sunlight and provide shade, serving to reduce the temperature of the garden through their canopy. If you’re looking to create a garden which is cooler in summer, then planting a tree is a great way of doing that.
Some of our native trees are struggling as temperatures soar but there are plenty of wonderful alternatives from other parts of the world, such as the Koelreutaria paniculata (Pride of India), which enjoys dry soil and warmer temperatures whilst at the same time is able to cope with UK winters.
We chose to use this attractive, petite deciduous tree in our gold medal award winning Macmillan Legacy Show Garden in 2021 to demonstrate how the changing climate will affect our gardens.
Water early in the morning and after sundown to reduce water loss through evaporation. Watering thoroughly but less frequently also encourages your plants to develop deeper roots, making them more able to cope with prolonged periods of drought.
Consider using a mulch, compost, bark or gravel to reduce moisture loss from the soil and keep beds regularly weeded in order to stop desirable plants being robbed of the water and nutrients they need. When mulching for moisture retention, use a thick layer of mulch 5-10cm deep and mound it in a donut-like fashion a few centimetres away from the plant or tree base encouraging water to flow down toward the plant roots. Lots of materials can be used as a mulch, but why not use try using homemade compost?
Use rainwater/grey water wherever possible. It’s imperative that we look at reusing and recycling in every area of life and our gardens are no different. If you can’t install a swale, retention pond or attenuation tank, you can reuse clean wastewater collected from our kitchens and bathrooms to make sure the garden stays well-watered.
Another simple way of collecting rainwater is to install a water butt. These unobtrusive containers can be tucked away against a wall or behind a shed and will collect water from a roof before it runs away down the drain. There are lots of ways in which you can hide these tanks too, even placing them underground, which can provide you with free clean water to use around the garden.
Says Rob “Contemporary garden design is adapting to a changing climate, but I don’t believe this is necessarily a negative thing. By playing our part in conserving water, reusing and recycling materials and planting wisely, we have an opportunity to invest back into our green space and benefit our communities and the environment as a whole. We can be part of the solution!”