As I write this, I've just scrolled through some photos of my garden taken in July 2022. The images show a parched plot suffering from lack of water during what was later named the driest July since 1935.
Today, nobody knows what summer still has left in store, but canny folk can stay one step ahead of the weather by making their gardens more drought resistant.
A few small changes now will make a big difference to how your garden fares if the mercury soars and rain refuses to fall. For example, improving soil, collecting rainwater and good husbandry practices will all help. However, the key thing is to introduce some plants that have evolved to survive in dry ground with low levels of rainfall.
Apart from making gardens more resilient during a dry spell, adding a few of the right plants also makes life easier for anyone pushed for time – once established, they tend to be able to look after themselves, meaning there's no need for lugging watering cans around twice a day.
There are countless trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, climbers and even annuals that are drought tolerant. Many originate from the Mediterranean and share similar traits – leaves are often silver or a grey-green colour to reflect sunlight, and they tend to be small or narrow in size, possessing fewer pores than larger ones to reduce moisture loss.
Look closely and you'll notice the leaves and stems of some plants are covered in a layer of fine, downy hair. This stuff is very tactile, but it's there for the practical purpose of trapping any moisture from the air. Others have foliage coated with a shiny, waxy layer that slows down the speed of water loss.
Common olive, Gleditsia triacanthos 'Skyline', holm oak and Turkish hazel are all trees that will remain happy if it doesn't rain. Several conifers are equally durable, with Italian cypress and stone pine being among the best.
There's no shortage of drought-tolerant shrubs. Oleander, Elaeagnus angustifolia, phillyrea and phlomis are at the top end of the size scale, while those looking for something smaller can pick from the likes of lavender, cistus, curry plant and perovskia. Shrubby, evergreen herbs such as rosemary, common sage and thyme thrive in dry soil with full sun.
In the world of perennials, Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet' forms a mat of woolly, grey-white leaves and Verbena bonariensis boasts 6ft tall stems topped with purple flowers. Sea holly, agapanthus and Crambe maritima can all handle dry weather in their stride.
Those looking for grasses should snap up Stipa tenuissima and Muhlenbergia capillaris, and as for bulbs, Allium sphaerocephalon and Tulipa sprengeri are perfect. Passion flowers and jasmine will provide a vertical show whatever the weather, and osteospermum, gazania and verbena are great bedding plants for containers.
Use plants to plug gaps in beds and borders, or display an array by creating the ultimate drought-tolerant planting scheme… a gravel garden. To make one, remove any surface vegetation and define the perimeter with stone edging or similar. Cover the soil with a 2-3in deep layer of gravel.
As for planting, scrape back some gravel and dig a hole – the bottom of the rootball should be in the soil, and its top level with the surface of the gravel.
Improving your soil and keeping up with garden maintenance will help to drought-proof your garden. If you have soil that drains like a sieve in summer, dig in plenty of garden compost or well-rotted manure to help it retain moisture.
Mulching soil traps moisture in the ground and prevents it evaporating quickly during windy or warm weather. Spread a 2-3in layer of garden compost, leafmould or composted bark over bare, damp ground (if the soil is dry, give it a soaking) and rake level – take care not to cover low growing plants and leave a gap around the stems of woody specimens.
Garden Guru
I have a 20-year-old black bamboo that's developed small brown flowers. I once read that bamboos die after flowering – is this correct?
Marianne Kilmartin
Usually, but not always. To try to save your plant, cut back all canes and then feed with a high nitrogen fertiliser. If the plant doesn't produce new canes next spring, then the chances are that it's dead. Interestingly, all black bamboos that come from the same mother plant as yours will also be flowering now or in the near future.
My hydrangea has got a few leafy shoots without flowers that are higher than the bulk of shoots that carry flowers. Should I prune them off?
Jo Butcher
No. Most hydrangea produce their flowers on two-year-old wood, so those leafy shoots will bear blooms next summer.
Got a problem in your plot? Email Martyn Cox at martyn.cox1@outlook.com
Five best dry weather wonders
1. Cistus x purpureus 'Alan Fradd'
Forming a 3ft tall mound of lance-shaped, dark green leaves, it bears masses of crimson blotched, white flowers between June and July.
2. Euphorbia 'Miner's Merlot'
From June until September, this perennial bears lime-green flowers on 2ft tall stems above clumps of purple flowers.
3. Fremontodendron 'California Glory'
A sun loving, evergreen wall-shrub that produces a succession of 3in wide, bright yellow flowers all summer long against a foil of lobed leaves.
4. Nerium oleander
Oleander is a tall, tough, evergreen shrub with lance-shaped leaves and tropical-looking, pink, white or red blooms.
5. Phlomis italica
Balearic Island sage is a spreading, evergreen shrub up to 3ft tall that carries whorls of pale pink flowers in early summer.