Plants to dry for as heat rises
Now’s the time to get your plot prepared for long, hotter summers
SUMMERS across Europe are getting hotter so as gardeners we need to adjust. If you want to enjoy brightly coloured blossoms in lush green surroundings, it is important to prepare yourselves now for a long dry season.
Set up a water butt before they sell out and buy a longer length of hosepipe that will reach your bathroom so you can siphon out the grey water for the plants. It sounds like a lot of work, but it is quite good fun. Mulching the flowerbeds with a good 10cm of bark chippings will help retain as much moisture as possible around plant roots and keep down weeds.
Mulch also makes flowerbeds look more finished, and any organic variety will add vital nutrients to the soil when it breaks down.
The best solution for beating the drought is to fill your garden with plant species that thrive in drier conditions – plants that really enjoy them. Santolina pinnata is a good example – it is a beautifully rounded shrub that brings great form to the flowerbed. The finely cut feathery foliage is adorned with small lemon-yellow flower heads throughout the summer.
It is useful for its compact shape and evergreen structure.
The wonderful silky silver foliage of Convolvulus cneorum looks good all year round and its open white flowers with yellow centres spring out of pinkish buds in early summer.
The ubiquitous red valerian that can be seen growing out of walls and on rooftops is a perennial that thrives in poor and very dry sites, in shade or in full sun. It is a guaranteed survivor in times of drought – and its large flower heads made up of tiny star-shaped flowers in pink and white are on display from summer to autumn.
The huge purple allium globes do well in dry weather, but the tightly packed, spiky balls of the echinops are also a must.
This perennial grows in dense, spreading clumps of deep green spiky leaves that nicely help to fill a border at ground level.
The closed flower heads stay tight and spiky for quite some time before softening to show tiny purple-blue flowers.
Lavender is an absolute favourite in the garden and is well adapted to drought. Its thin grey leaves prevent moisture loss so it is perfect for the hotter weather. It brings scent, shape, colour and grace to the garden.
The beautiful mounds of greygreen succulent leaves of the sedum are a reason alone for having them in the garden. The thick leaves will retain moisture.
Although they are perennial in nature, they are interesting all year round – from the new clumps of fresh leaves through to distinctive flat panicles of flowers which stay in flower for months before becoming strong stem skeletons in winter.
For the autumn flowering season, Sedum spectabile ‘Brilliant’ has a bright pink flower colour and Sedum telephium a deep red leaf colour.
Dramatic Stipa gigantea can provide a focal point with its huge tufting crown of grassy leaves that give rise to flowering stems up to 2.5 metres.
These stems bear elegant panicles of golden oats through summer and into winter.
These species are just a few examples of drought resistant plants, but there are a huge number of others to find out about.
Allow good time for their root systems to establish and they will thrive well in these drier times, leaving you to look forward to a long, hot lazy summer.