Garden Blog

As June blazed into July, Europe has found itself in the grip of yet another unprecedented heatwave. Here in the UK, as temperatures hit 30 degrees plus, garden centres began selling out of drought tolerant perennials. Instead of fighting the heat, most are looking more towards Mediterranean ‘style’ gardens and species that thrive on neglect.

In addition to exploring perennial plants that align with this new focus on planting resilience, there’s also a growing need to incorporate shade.

Planting trees is the most long-term sustainable way to create cooling shade and not just for our benefit, but it also protects the soil, shelters plants and builds a microclimate than can endure extremes.

Looking back at some of the gardens I designed for various RHS shows notably Hampton Court Palace, I am reminded of three gardens in particular which were designed with hot summers in mind.

The Court Garden and Romantic Charm (images above) were Mediterranean in their design with many drought-tolerant and arid soil thriving plants. Hot Springs (images below) was much more tropical in its planting, but all three gardens featured ponds which was my forte in those days!

Even back in the 90s we had some hot summers and each show garden I had designed in those days, seemed to be when we experienced hot summers especially during show week. The only downside was having to water excessively for the show, which would take hours in the evening and the morning. This would defeat the object for drought tolerant designed gardens on a domestic level but was crucial for the show.

As climate patterns shift, our gardens become not just aesthetic places, but indicators of ecological adaptation and we therefor need to think about this when planning any new borders or garden landscaping.

June was a busy month, filled with exciting new projects for clients along with re visiting existing gardens where I began planning fresh planting and design ideas for the autumn season. I was so pleased to see the transformation on one such garden of the wildflower meadow and around the house – it has really started to make the house more ‘nestled into its surroundings’

During the month I was also busy with the garden shop – buying lots of gorgeous antique and vintage pieces, along with new ranges of garden tools and decorative items.

Here is just a taster from my June haul!

If you need any help selecting drought tolerant plants or ideas for your garden – please drop me a line and we can discuss the next steps