You may also like<\/strong><\/p> Leaves may be small or thin, grey or glaucous, hairy, succulent<\/a> or fleshy. Many have very deep or wide root systems that seek out water, or underground storage organs (bulbs<\/a>). Drought-tolerant plants are often low growing and form mounds \u2013 less likely to be dried by wind on a hot day. In their native habitats, they may go dormant or lose their leaves in summer.<\/p> Jump to<\/strong><\/p> Garden designer James Basson<\/a>, based in the South of France, points out: \u201cThe UK may increasingly have extremes of heat and wet through climate change, but its gardens have a depth of topsoil from our past temperate era, which makes conditions very different to the arid Mediterranean.\u201d The plants he uses tolerate five to six months\u2019 heat in Provence without rain in summer; droughts in the UK are more likely to last a few weeks.<\/p> \u201cThere\u2019s a well-established climatic divide between the east and west of the British Isles,\u201d says garden designer Matthew Wilson<\/a>, who designed the famous Dry Garden at RHS Garden Hyde Hall<\/a>. \u201cThis is more important than north\/south in many ways. I\u2019ve planted the same drought-tolerant plants that I have in my own garden in the east Midlands in gardens as far south as the Solent and as far north as Hexham in Northumberland, including Eryngium<\/a>, Salvia<\/a>, Stipa, Pennisetum<\/a> <\/em>and Artemisia<\/em>. But I would probably think twice before trying them in a garden in Wales, Cornwall or the west coast of Scotland.<\/p> \u201cThe key really comes down to how well the soil drains. Beth Chatto<\/a> [who created her famous a dry gravel garden in Essex<\/a>] told me she grew drought-tolerant plants because she had to, with the rainfall in her garden lower than Jerusalem, Tunis and Rabat. Had she the rainfall of Cornwall or Wales she would have grown a completely different range of plants.\u201d<\/p> Nurserywoman Derry Watkins<\/a> created a gravel garden near Bath at around the same time as Beth Chatto, in order to grow the Mediterranean plants she loves on top of heavy clay. She points out that Mediterranean plants tend to \u2018overgrow\u2019 in the UK climate. \u201cWe\u2019ve got too much rain, too much food and probably not enough sun, and they grow too big, too fast. We think we\u2019re having a drought, but the plants don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p> Annie Godfrey, who runs Daisy Roots Nursery<\/a> and sells many drought-tolerant hardy perennials<\/a>, advises: \u201cIf you\u2019ve got dry soil, know why it\u2019s dry. Is it dry clay or a light, free-draining soil? If it\u2019s dry clay, drought-tolerant plants will hate the wet and cold in winter. You\u2019re going to have to do a lot of soil improvement for good winter drainage.\u201d<\/p> Encouragingly, a study conducted from 2005 to 2009 by the University of Reading found that Mediterranean plants including Stachys byzantina, Cistus <\/em>x hybridus, Lavandula<\/a> angustifolia <\/em>and Salvia<\/em><\/a> officinalis <\/em>survived 17 days flooding in winter. Stachys <\/em>and Lavandula <\/em>also survived the same amount of flooding in summer.<\/p> \u201cIt\u2019s fine to grow most drought-tolerant plants in \u2018normal\u2019 garden soil<\/a>, provided the drainage is good and the soil doesn\u2019t hold water over winter,\u201d says Matthew Wilson. \u201cIt\u2019s this latter point that is the make or break for drought-tolerant plants. In my own garden, I grow a mixture of drought-tolerant plants with \u2018normal\u2019 garden plants, such as Eryngium<\/a>, Stipa <\/em>and Verbena<\/a><\/em>, alongside Eupatorium <\/em>and Astrantia<\/em>. I never water.<\/p> The plants have to get by with whatever rainfall we get, which in Rutland is quite low at an average of 647mm a year. The soil here is well drained, but I find the really specialised drought-tolerant plants such as Eschscholzia <\/em>and Salvia candelabrum <\/em>only really thrive in gravel<\/a> and full sun<\/a>. They need the heat, but also the drainage at the \u2018neck\u2019 of the plant, where otherwise they might suffer from fungal disease and rot.\u201d<\/p> If your soil is heavy, grower Annie Godfrey advises adding humus in the form of leaf mould or mushroom compost \u2013 not manure, as it\u2019s too rich. \u201cPut a layer of 5cm of horticultural grit on top and dig it in to the top 20cm of soil so that you\u2019re really opening it up,\u201d she says.<\/p> \u201cDrainage, drainage, drainage,\u201d advises Derry Watkins. \u201cGravel, if possible, is the answer to all your problems. Top the soil with four \u2013 or better six or eight \u2013 inches. The deeper the gravel, the hardier the plants become.\u201d She points out a gravel area could simply be a dedicated raised bed and that it will need a definite edge \u2013 it can\u2019t just fade into lawn.<\/p> \u201cDrought tolerant doesn\u2019t mean you can put plants in the ground and ignore them,\u201d says Annie Godfrey. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to water<\/a> and nurse them through their first season, so that they get a root system that\u2019s going to sustain them through the following years\u201d. Matthew Wilson agrees: \u201cIn the weeks after planting, all plants, including drought-tolerant ones, need irrigating to ensure the root ball stays moist, but also to keep the soil around it damp, which will encourage the plants to root into the surrounding soil. I can\u2019t stress how important this latter point is for all plants.\u201d Annie advises: \u201cThen put a mulch<\/a> on top \u2013 grit, gravel<\/a>, mushroom compost \u2013 something that\u2019s not high in nutrients but will lock the moisture in the soil and cut down the action of the sun and the wind on the surface.\u201d<\/p> Mediterranean plants are often described as \u2018drought tolerant\u2019 but may be better rephrased as \u2018drought tolerant when established\u2019 or \u2018low water requirement\u2019. Annie points out that plants have varying degrees of drought tolerance. \u201cIt may get to the point where you want to help some out if you want them to survive.\u201d<\/p> Derry Watkins cuts back plants such as shrubby salvias, rosemary<\/a>, lavender<\/a> and Russian sage in early spring. \u201cAs soon as you see new growth, cut three-quarters of the plant off \u2013 everything that grew last year, down to the lowest bit of green you can find. It keeps them healthy, more floriferous and they don\u2019t flop open. They live much longer, as you\u2019re renewing the plant every year.\u201d She then cuts Russian sage and sedums back around \u2018Chelsea chop<\/a>\u2019 time in late May \u2013 and then often again. She advises against cutting back in autumn or winter as that makes plants more vulnerable to frost.<\/p> Derry adds that many Mediterranean plants do not enjoy being crowded. \u201cIn their native habitats, they do not want water competition from nearby plants, so grow further apart. And they tend look better grown this way.\u201d<\/p> Get a sense of the climate in your area and the different micro-habitats in your garden Don\u2019t be afraid to experiment \u2013 and learn to accept losses. \u201cI don\u2019t expect anything to live forever,\u201d says Derry Watkins. \u201cIt\u2019s OK for plants to die. Plant something else, or the same thing again, if you like it. I have lots of plants that I don\u2019t expect to live for more than three or four years. If I\u2019ve got a couple of years of joy out of something, I\u2019ve got my money\u2019s worth.\u201d<\/p> \n
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Are Mediterranean plants suitable for the UK?<\/h2>\n
What about wetter winters and unexpected cold snaps?<\/h2>
Do I need to create a gravel garden?<\/h2>\n
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Do drought tolerant plants need watering?<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/08\/RHS-Hyde-Hall-21st-June-2018_210-scaled.jpg\")
Looking after your drought tolerant plants<\/h2>\n
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How to start the transition in your own garden<\/h2>