Longer, drier summers are becoming a familiar challenge here in the south of England, and it’s only expected to get worse. The Met Office predicts that by 2070, our summers could be up to 60% drier. The Environment Agency has also warned that the UK might struggle to meet its water demands in just 25 years. But there’s news for garden enthusiasts that will give them some hope: improving water usage in our garden will lower our water bills and usage, and lessen the need for more dams. Specific planting arrangements and choices will reduce the garden maintenance needs, and we can still garden in a way that can support the local ecosystem.

You might hear “drought-tolerant” and “drought-resistant” used interchangeably, but there’s a subtle difference. Drought-tolerant plants have evolved to thrive on minimal water, while drought-resistant plants, though they need some regular watering, can survive long stretches without it. This difference is central to a landscaping style that uses drought-tolerant plants to conserve water called’ Xeriscaping’. Although xeriscaping originated in hot, arid climates, its principles can be adapted to gardens in the UK. So here are some steps for making your garden more drought tolerant.

Its always good to have a plan when making garden alterations so the first thing is to consider the climate and soil type in your area. In Sussex we tend to have warmer drier summers with mild wet winters. Soil types do vary although it roughly follows the pattern of shallow chalky soils along the coast and more loamy clay soils inland, behind the South Downs. By knowing these conditions, it can help determine what plants are going to grow well in your area.

Specifically in your garden, it’s important to consider how much sunlight different areas get as areas in full sun will be hotter and will lose water through evaporation quicker compared to shaded parts. Also you need to be clear out any existing vegetation you already have in your garden and how it will merge with a more drought tolerant environment.

Designing the layout of your garden is the next step and it should play to the strengths of your space such as planting shade loving plants in covered areas of the garden. A good way to add structure to the garden is to incorporate a range of short- and long-lived plants as this will create a balance in the space. Some more practical ideas are grouping together plants that have similar water needs and planting them closer together so when watering the areas can be specifically targeted and receive the most benefit.

Don’t shy away from hard landscaping in a drought-tolerant garden. It can add both structure and style. Gravelled areas, for instance, reduce the need for watering a lawn and bring a Mediterranean feel to your garden. Using permeable pavers is another smart choice. They help separate spaces while preventing runoff and flooding, conditions that many drought-tolerant plants struggle with.

When choosing plants, it’s good to pick both drought tolerant and native plants as well, to help support local pollinators and other wildlife. Plants with grey-green or silver leaves are also good option as their coloured leaves help to conserve moisture in the plant by reflecting away the sun’s rays. Here are some suggestions; Lavender is highly drought tolerant as it loves well drained soil and full sun, its silver-grey foliage helps it retain moisture.  Another plant with silver leaves is the aptly named Silver carpet, Stachys, which is a low growing evergreen perennial from South Africa that thrives in poor rocky soils that are well drained, great for in chalky gardens. Sedum (Stonecrop) is a succulent that likes both chalk and loam soils with water storing leaves, these are useful for adding texture and height into the garden as they come in a range of shapes and sizes. Grasses also work really well in drier conditions like the range of Stipa grasses, Mexican feather grass, which is ideal for gravel gardens as it grows in any soil type and prefers to be in sunny spots. Lastly Arbutus, the Strawberry Tree, is an evergreen that produces red fruits and white flowers and loves to be in the full sun in well drained chalk, loam or sand soils. These are just a few varieties of plants that could thrive under drier conditions.  If in doubt, look to see where the plant has come from eg South Africa, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, the Mediterranean will obviously have a greater proportion of tougher plants.

While drought-tolerant gardens are low maintenance, they still need some care to keep the plants thriving. Weeding is crucial to prevent unwanted plants from soaking up the limited water and nutrients.

Water is essential for all gardens, but especially for drought-tolerant ones. Improving water retention in the soil is a great way to support your plants. You can do this by adding large amounts of organic matter to improve soil structure or by mulching after planting.  You can do this by covering the bed with around 2-3 inches of gravel or organic matter like compost and bark to help retain moisture while plants establish.

Conserving water is equally important, particularly during dry summer months. Using collected rainwater and grey water (household water waste, eg from baths) can help reduce extra consumption. Once established, drought-tolerant gardens are easy to maintain and look fantastic.

You can start on a smaller area of your garden with an experiment, using dry tolerant plants, to see how it goes, and how long the beds can survive without water. Also you can visit Beth Chatto’s shingle garden, West Dean Gardens and Waterwise in Worthing to see how the experts are doing it.

What to do this August

Obviously keep up the watering in this sustained hot weather, especially with plants in pots and new plants.

Top up the mulch to retain moisture and keep weeds down

Keep pinching out your tomatoes and sowing new rills of lettace, radishes and spinach

Time to prune the bigger shrubs that have just finished flowering like Wygelia, Philadelpus, and Sprirea- cut out the old flowering wood back to new growth that next year’s flowers will bloom from them

Mow your lawn on a higher setting now to keep moisture in the grass to help mitigate against summer browning in dry spells

Apply a nitrogen feed if Red Thread fungus is taking over your lawn

Have a bit of a rest- things slow down in the garden now, and so can you.

Where to go in August

Try a visit to the Hanna Pechar Sculpture gardens in Dorking.

Tickets must be booked in advance because of limited car parking

Black & White Cottage

Standon Lane

Ockley

Dorking,Surrey

RH5 5QR (postal only – use RH5 5QU for SatNav)

Telephone: (+44) (0) 1306 627 269