{"id":13501,"date":"2022-08-02T14:00:30","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardensillustrated.com\/?p=633"},"modified":"2022-08-03T16:16:16","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T14:16:16","slug":"how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations\/","title":{"rendered":"How to plan a dry garden plus plant combinations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Klaudia Mihalova\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 02 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Central Spain is not the most hospitable of gardening environments<\/a>. Winters are cold, while summers can be be intensely hot for long periods and with little rain. Traditionally, Spanish gardens have followed French or Italian models, but now a new generation of garden designers<\/a> is emerging, inspired by a love of the Spanish landscape and by the plant communities that naturally thrive there<\/a>. Here, Spanish garden designer Fernando Martos<\/a> gives advice for planning a dry garden and shares some of the combinations of plants he uses in his design.<\/p>\n

Planning a dry garden<\/h2>\n
Choose plants from regions with a long, hot, dry season<\/a> that have a \u2018low water requirement\u2019 rather than tolerance to drought.<\/li>\n
Encourage plants to root deeply by breaking up the soil<\/a> in the planting hole as deeply as possible at the base. Water infrequently and heavily<\/a>; \u2018little and often\u2019 only encourages surface rooting.<\/li>\n
Plant when small. Older or larger container-grown plants will have shallow root systems, which make them vulnerable to heat and drought.<\/li>\n
Grow plants \u2018lean\u2019 and don\u2019t feed them. Plants are more resilient if grown slowly. Feeding plants from stressful environments may result in several years of strong growth followed by a sudden demise.<\/li>\n
Mulching<\/a> keeps moisture in the soil and, crucially, roots cool. Chipped bark is good, but gravel or other mineral mulches are better, but only if the soil in the planting is not going to be disturbed.<\/li>\n
Irrigation is essential for plants to look good, rather than just survive. But as some plants, such as lavenders<\/a>, suffer an increased risk of fungal disease, plants should be grouped according to their irrigation needs.<\/li>\n
Ugly irrigation pipes can be disguised with mulch. Drip irrigation systems where pipes lead water to individual plants are the most economical.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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Dry garden plant combinations<\/h3>\n
Light and airy<\/h4>\n
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Teucrium fruticans<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 clipped into mounded shapes \u2013 dominates here, its spring flowers add to\u00a0the beauty of the grey foliage that complements the\u00a0Lavandula<\/a> angustifolia<\/em>\u2018Hidcote\u2019<\/strong>. Several clumps of\u00a0Calamagrostis x acutiflora<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Karl Foerster\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0add bulk while, in the background, the taller\u00a0Stipa gigantea<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is illuminated by backlighting \u2013 crucial\u00a0to make the most of this early flowering grass.<\/p>\n
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Golden glow<\/h3>\n $\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
Backlit grass\u00a0Stipa tenuissima<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>grabs the attention here, its feathery plumes complementing the more defined\u00a0Phlomis russeliana<\/em><\/strong>. In the foreground\u00a0Nepeta<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u2018Six Hills Giant\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0is in full flower, about to be joined by similarly toned\u00a0Lavandula angustifolia<\/em>\u2018Hidcote\u2019 <\/strong>\u00a0and yellow\u00a0Achillea filipendulina<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Parker\u2019s Variety\u2019<\/strong>. Further back, the silver-leaved\u00a0Stachys byzantina<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0makes a dramatic intervention among a drift of lavenders.<\/p>\n
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Bright and bold<\/h3>\n
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Surrounding an airy clump of\u00a0Stipa tenuissima<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the golden-yellow\u00a0Phlomis<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Edward Bowles\u2019<\/strong>, the densely shrubby hybrid\u00a0Achillea filipendulina<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Parker\u2019s Variety\u2019<\/strong>, and the richly coloured\u00a0Nepeta<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2018Six Hills Giant\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Iris\u00a0<\/em>\u2018Syncopation\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 all plants that have a low water requirement \u2013 create a light and fluid composition. Behind is a veil of\u00a0Stipa gigantea<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0flower heads \u2013 these airy displays\u00a0never block views, but add extra sparkle.<\/p>\n
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Soft curves<\/h3>\n
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A Quercus ilex<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>trunk links the garden to the landscape. A soft mound of the flower-covered\u00a0Cistus<\/em>\u00a0x\u00a0skanbergii<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0echoes the curve of the\u00a0grass\u00a0Sesleria autumnalis<\/em><\/strong>, which slowly forms tight mats of pale foliage that complements the colours around it. Behind, the more flamboyant\u00a0Stipa gigantea<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0draws the eye towards drifts of\u00a0Nepeta<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Six Hills Giant\u2019 <\/strong>and\u00a0Stachys byzantina<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n
For more on dry gardens, don\u2019t miss our piece on dry garden guru Olivier and Claire Filippi\u2019s Le Jardin Sec.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n
Here\u2019s our list of the best drought tolerant plants.\u00a0<\/a><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Klaudia Mihalova Published: Tuesday, 02 August 2022 at 12:00 am Central Spain is not the most hospitable of gardening environments. Winters are cold, while summers can be be intensely hot for long periods and with little rain. Traditionally, Spanish gardens have followed French or Italian models, but now a new generation of garden designers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":13502,"template":"","categories":[1,51],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/08\/how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/08\/how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/08\/how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/08\/how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/08\/how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/08\/how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/08\/how-to-plan-a-dry-garden-plus-plant-combinations-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Klaudia Mihalova Published: Tuesday, 02 August 2022 at 12:00 am Central Spain is not the most hospitable of gardening environments. Winters are cold, while summers can be be intensely hot for long periods and with little rain. Traditionally, Spanish gardens have followed French or Italian models, but now a new generation of garden designers…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/13501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}