GARDENING
Water-wise gardening Long, dry springs appear to be becoming a regular feature in recent years and although we don’t know what the summer will bring, it makes huge sense both financially and environmentally to become a water-wise gardener. And less need for watering means less time spent attached to the business end of a hose pipe. Choose plants that naturally tolerate drought and your garden will look fantastic even when there’s no rain for weeks. These plants have features like thick, waxy foliage; leaves that are narrow and needle-like or covered in fine hairs; or silvery and light-reflecting. Some create their own ‘heat shield’ by evaporating essential oils to create wonderful scents, including popular herbs like rosemary and lavender. Plan your plantings with a blend of foliage and flowers: create the ‘bones’ of a
near Broadwoodwidger, where the garden I was commissioned to design has recently been completed.
garden with strong structural foliage such as elaeagnus, bay, olearia, and Box, which look good all year and make a beautiful contrast to colourful flowers. For some planting inspiration, I recommend a trip to South West Water’s visitor centre at Roadford Lake,
For pots and borders, succulent plants with fleshy leaves are great as they store water in their leaves and need far less water than many patio plants. However, do bear in mind that drought tolerant plants hate sitting in wet ground for any length of time, so if your soil is poor-draining, create raised beds or plant on mounds so they don’t succumb in periods of heavy rain. For general container planting, improve drought tolerance by planting in large pots (small ones dry out incredibly fast) and group containers close together so they shade each other. Collecting and saving rainwater rather than using tap water can be done in lots of ways. Water butts are simple and
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