Creating a Resilient Garden for Wet Winters and Dry Summers

After what felt like a long, wet winter, we’re now set for increasingly long hot and dry spells over the summer. This 'boom or bust' weather has become our new normal. It can be a real challenge to maintain a beautiful and interesting garden. After all, would you rather be watering or sitting with your feet up and enjoying a drink?

Many plants that thrive in wet conditions struggle during dry spells, and vice versa. Plants that love dry conditions can rot in winter puddles. However, all is not lost. It’s a great opportunity to adapt your garden to be more resilient. You can do this by capturing and storing rainwater using water butts and swales. Additionally, using mulches can help your soil and plants retain water.

Choosing the Right Plants

One of the best ways to create a resilient garden is by selecting plants that can survive all conditions. We’re talking about extra-resilient plants with deep root systems, tough foliage, and a high tolerance for environmental stress.

Once you start looking, you will naturally spot these plants. There are some great resources on the RHS and other horticultural sites. To get you started, here are a few plants that I have selected from my own experience, and I know they are easily available.

• Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea)* – Tough and pretty in pink, with daisy-like blooms that attract pollinators.

• Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta)* – Tall stems with long-blooming golden flowers that are highly tolerant.
• Bee Balm / Bergamot Monarda didyma, also Monarda citriodora)* – Vibrant purple and red flowers loved by bees.
• Lambs Ears Stachys byzantina)* – Ground cover with silvery-green leaves you just have to touch, and spikes of small lilac flowers; a dry plant that handles wet winters surprisingly well.
• Mexican Fleabane Erigeron karvinskianus)* – Mat-forming with masses of white and pink daisy-like flowers. It grows just about anywhere but does like to seed and spread, which can be handy for struggling areas like front gardens and paths.
• GeraniumRozanne
  – Mounds of purple-blue flowers, adored by bees.
• Daylily Hemerocallis spp.)* – With varieties flowering in shades from yellows to wine red and pink, there is one for everyone.
• Coreopsis Coreopsis verticillata)* – Rounded clumps of airy foliage with masses of yellow, orange, or red flowers.
  
  

• Switchgrass Panicum virgatum)* – An ornamental grass that creates a lovely hazy effect in groups.
• Feather Grass Calamagrostis brachytricha)* – Lovely green foliage topped with stunning feathery plumes that will stand all winter.
• Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius)* – A highly adaptable and attractive shrub, usually with deep red foliage and pom-pom blooms.
  
  

Summer Garden Care Tips

Here are some tips for keeping your garden thriving this summer:

• Water deeply but infrequently during dry spells to encourage deep root growth. A good soak once or twice a week is ideal.
• If your soil has become compacted over the winter, meaning water runs off rather than soaking in, open the top of the soil with a fork. If you haven’t already, add that mulch.
  
  

With thoughtful plant selection and design improvements, your garden can not only survive but thrive in our boom or bust climate. Resilient gardens are not only beautiful and diverse, but they also require less maintenance and fewer resources. I’d say that’s a win for both you and the environment.

I hope you have found this useful. If you’re thinking about how to make your garden more adaptable and resilient in the face of our changing climate, and would like some professional help with design and/or planting changes, do get in touch: info@vickylincolngardendesign.com.

If you just need some guidance, why not book a one-off garden design consultation?

For garden inspiration and ideas, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my blog at www.vickylincolngardendesign.com.

Bee enjoying Libertia chilensis blooms, another resilient favourite