Susie’s Garden
If your garden is looking tired after a long dry spell, Susie’s advice gives you a lush paradise worthy of the hottest climate!
In my North Pennine garden I’m very lucky to have well-drained soil. Plants flourish here despite the winter frosts because they don’t have that mix of cold and wet which is so damaging. But that also means that if it doesn’t rain for weeks it becomes a problem. To get round that we mulch heavily, covering the soil with either woodchip, compost, manure or leafmould to hold moisture.
The very dry spring made many gardeners wonder what to grow. I particularly love the gravelled area of my garden. Here I have a south-facing bench and am surrounded by plants that like it hot. The soil wasn’t very good here so we laid down a woven polypropylene membrane. I cut cross slits into the membrane and planted grasses and perennials, then covered it all with two inches of gravel.
Everything thrived and many of the plants have seeded themselves into the gravel. Butterflies crowd around tall purple wands of Verbena bonariensis, hover flies feast on the spiky heads of sea holly and evening primroses open at night to scent the air.
Plants from hot parts of the world have evolved to cope with drought. They include Mediterranean herbs like lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme and oregano. Their leaves may be hairy or needle-like to prevent water loss, or have an oily surface to protect against strong sun.
Then there are fleshy succulents such as agaves, echeverias or aeoniums. I use them to fill containers in summer because they barely need watering.
If they get too lanky and tall you can “behead” them, taking the rosette from the top and rooting it in potting compost. Little plantlets will form along the stem and can be detached and rooted too. You can even grow new plants from leaf cuttings!
Diascias, from South Africa, are good for planters as they have a long flowering season and like sandy, free-draining soil. Grasses also do well in pots. I grow Chinese fountain grass, Pennisetum alopecuroides, and pheasant grass, Anemanthele lessoniana with sprays of red-orange leaves.
So if you choose the right plants and cover the soil your garden will cope whatever the weather.