How the garden is coping with the drought 2022

How the garden is coping with the drought.

We are currently experiencing the longest drought period we have seen- the garden hasn’t received rainfall since the week ending 20^th June (our rainfall is measured and recorded every Monday). Thankfully we have rain forecast in the coming days.

As a result, some of the planting has started to suffer and the Garden Team have had to take steps to limit the damage. The Gravel and the Scree Gardens have remained largely untouched as the drought-resistant planting here is adapted to cope in extreme heat and dry conditions. The Water Garden also hasn’t required too much intervention as the soil in this low-lying part of the garden remains reliably moist throughout the year.

Water Garden

The Reservoir Garden and the Woodland Garden is where our Garden Team have been concentrating their efforts, attempting to limit the drought damage. The improved clay soil in this area of the garden is perfect for shrubs and perennials requiring a richer, moisture retentive soil; plants such as, echinacea, phlomis, helenium, vernonia and rudbeckia. With access to a nutrient rich soil and a steady supply of moisture, these plants usually thrive, growing tall and producing masses of flowers late into the season. Unfortunately, the prolonged drought has caused many of these plants to wilt and sometimes collapse. Where this has happened, plants have been cut to the ground to reduce water loss and to tidy them up. Once the cooler weather and hopefully more rain arrives in autumn, plants should recover and send out new growth. Finally, any bare soil in the Reservoir Garden has been mulched with soil improver to help conserve any moisture that may still be around roots.

A bed in the Reservoir Garden showing Stipa gigantea, iris, agapanthus, stachys, Verbena bonariensis and phormium alongside mulched bare areas and the brown lawn.

The Woodland Garden is the other area where the dry weather is evident. Any moisture in the ground is quickly taken up by the many large trees, resulting in less available water for shrubs and herbaceous perennials. This week, our Garden Team have been removing any dead material on shrubs like philadelphus, deutzia and weigela and direct watering anything showing signs of stress.

Despite the conditions which plants in the Reservoir Garden have been faced with; drought, extreme temperatures and drying wind, there are many plants still performing well. This area of the garden hasn’t been irrigated at all this year, so again has been without any water since the third week of June.

Here is a list of the plants holding up well to drought in the improved clay soil:

• Achillea
• Agapanthus
• Amsonia
• Baptisia
• Bergenia
• Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’
• Centaurea ‘John Coutts’
• Cephalaria gigantea
• Echinops
• Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe’ and E. paniculatum
• Euphorbia cornigera and E. margalidiana
• Oenothera lindheimeri
• Geranium sanguineum var. striatum
• Glaucium
• Hylotelephium
• Iris (bearded)
• Kniphofia
• Limonium platyphyllum ‘Violetta’
• Melissa officinalis ‘All Gold’
• Miscanthus
• Nepeta
• Origanum
• Veronica perfoliata
• Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Arend Stolz’
• Phlomis tuberosa ‘Amazone’
• Poa labillardierei
• Salvia rosmarinus ‘Green Ginger’
• Salvia verticillata ‘Purple Rain’ and S. x sylvestris ‘Blauhugel’
• Saponaria 
• Stachys byzantina
• Stipa gigantea
• Verbena bonariensis and V. macdougalii ‘Lavender Spires’

Written by Leanne Crozier