Whetting the appetite for a dry spell of weather

The recent long dry spell has influenced John to write about plants for a dry garden

In my early years of horticultural training at Balfour Street Trades school, Kingsway Technical College, then at Chelmsford Agricultural College, we learned how to create a garden and grow crops on all kinds of soils. For low-lying wet soils it was waterside plants, bog and ponds with a range of plants that enjoyed those conditions. Many areas in north-west Scotland on heavy clay soils with high rainfall have problems, but rhododendrons, azaleas, turnips, swedes, kale and cabbages all just love it once some soil amelioration and drainage are attended to.

Gardens down in the south-east can be on deep peaty fen soils that are great once drained. Some coastal locations on sandy soils needed plants that could grow on dry soils and tolerate salt water spray.

However, it is not just soil type that affects plants, but also climate, which changes from north to south as well as west to east.

Up in Tayside, we miss out on all of these heatwaves enjoyed by those in the south, but we also miss out on all the rain which arrives in the west of Scotland.

Training in horticulture covered all of these variables over the UK, but today we also have additional problems with climate change and very erratic weather patterns that are hard to work with.

After a very wet 2019, we have just come through a very dry spring, with cloudless skies almost devoid of any rainfall from early April to mid June, though we did get a wee shower at the end of April.

The garden hose was in constant use and even although the weather forecasts promised a few showers for our area, they always missed Dundee – except one thunderstorm which arrived on June 21 with gales and hailstones.

That did help to add moisture to both garden and allotment.

However, that long dry spell did make me think on what changes I would make to the garden if dry conditions prevailed.

Although weather forecasts promised a few showers, they always missed Dundee – except one thunderstorm on June 21 with gales and hailstones

Over the years, I have continuously added more plants and removed those that died as soil and climate were not to their liking.

The 2010 severe winter killed many plants, but then, surprisingly, several came back to life a couple of years later.

My palm tree Cordyline australis (great for dry soils) died back to soil level, but grew back again after two years, however my well-established date palm never survived.

Fuchsia Mrs Popple regularly dies back to ground level, but always comes back in spring. Many of my dry areas have been improved by adding in garden compost to add fertility and retain moisture.

My garden is on a south-facing slope with soil on several levels retained by walls, so there are many dry spots to find plants for – especially in cracks in the wall, as well as on top of it.

The landscape structure uses several flowering shrubs preferring dry conditions such as lavender, rosemary, Euonymus, both the silver form, Emerald Gaiety, the golden leaved Emerald ’n’ Gold, and the pink-flowered Cistus purpureus.

Plants with silver to grey foliage which reflects the hot suns rays are favourite for dry gardens.

Eucalyptus makes a very attractive tree and the shrub Senecio with yellow flowers is superb on top of dry walls next to the succulent