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Lessons from a Hot, Dry Summer: What I'm Changing in My Garden
2026-10-21
This summer has made me think differently about how I grow plants at Wild but Rooted. High temperatures and prolonged dry spells have been challenging, but they've also given me an opportunity to observe which growing methods work well and which plants are going to be more difficult to maintain as summers become hotter and less predictable.I don't want gardening to become a constant battle against the weather. I'd rather create growing conditions that help plants thrive naturally, choose plants suited to those conditions, and spend less time trying to rescue plants that are struggling.
Two things in particular have influenced my thinking this year: the difference that old woodchip mulch made to plant health, and my decision not to continue growing hydrangeas and peonies.
Here are the lessons I'm taking into future growing seasons, along with some practical approaches and plants worth considering if you're planning a more drought-resilient UK garden.
1. Old woodchip mulch made a noticeable difference
One of the clearest things I've noticed this summer is that areas heavily mulched with old woodchip had much healthier plants than areas without the same level of cover.
It's a simple observation, but one that has made me think more seriously about how we protect the soil.
A layer of woodchip shields the soil surface from direct sunlight, helping to reduce evaporation and moderate soil temperatures. This can be particularly valuable during a heatwave, when exposed soil can dry out rapidly.
As woodchip gradually decomposes, it also contributes organic matter to the soil. The benefits develop over time, rather than appearing overnight.
My observation doesn't prove that mulch alone was responsible for the difference, as other factors can influence plant health. However, the contrast was clear enough to convince me that protecting the soil deserves more attention in my future growing plans.
I intend to make greater use of old woodchip where appropriate, rather than leaving soil exposed unnecessarily.
For gardeners wanting to try this approach, a layer of mulch around established perennials and shrubs can be a useful starting point. Leave a little space around stems and plant crowns, and remember that plants requiring exceptionally free-draining conditions may need a different approach.
The important lesson is that drought resilience isn't just about choosing plants that tolerate dry weather. It's also about creating growing conditions that help them cope.
2. I'm rethinking which plants are worth growing
Another decision I've made after this summer is that I'm not going to continue growing hydrangeas and peonies.
Both are beautiful garden plants, and I'm not suggesting that nobody should grow them. But I've become more conscious of the time, water and attention required to keep particular plants happy.
Many hydrangeas prefer consistently moist soil and can wilt dramatically when the soil dries out. Some varieties are more tolerant than others, and temporary wilting doesn't necessarily mean a plant is dying, but maintaining the conditions they prefer can be demanding during prolonged dry weather.
Peonies are different. Once established, they can be relatively resilient, but they still need suitable soil, good drainage and appropriate growing conditions. Their performance during drought depends on factors such as variety, soil type, exposure and establishment.
For me, the decision is about being realistic about the plants I want to grow and the resources I want to devote to them.
Rather than repeatedly trying to accommodate plants that aren't the right fit for my growing system, I'd rather concentrate on species that are better suited to the conditions I can provide.
This is an important consideration for anyone planning a garden for hotter summers. Before buying a plant, think about how much water it will need, how it will cope with your soil and exposure, and whether you can realistically provide the conditions it prefers.
Sometimes the most sustainable gardening decision isn't finding another way to keep a particular plant alive. It's choosing a different plant altogether.
3. I'm looking more closely at plants that can cope with dry conditions
Choosing suitable plants is one of the most practical ways to reduce the work involved in maintaining a garden through dry weather.
Drought-tolerant plants have a variety of adaptations that help them cope with limited water. Some have fleshy leaves that store moisture, while others have small or narrow leaves that limit water loss. Many Mediterranean herbs are well adapted to sunny positions and free-draining soil.
For a sunny herb garden, there are several useful options.
Purple Sage (Salvia officinalis 'Purple') provides aromatic evergreen foliage and culinary interest. It is well suited to sunny positions with good drainage and can cope with dry spells once established.
Winter Savory (Satureja montana) is another hardy perennial herb that suits sunny, free-draining conditions. It's useful in the kitchen and offers year-round structure.
Oregano (Origanum vulgare) is a versatile perennial herb whose flowers can attract pollinators as well as providing aromatic leaves for cooking.
For ground cover in a sunny, well-drained position, Creeping Sedum is worth considering. Its fleshy foliage helps it tolerate dry conditions, and its low-growing habit makes it useful in rockeries and other areas where the soil dries out quickly.
These plants still need water while establishing, and none is guaranteed to thrive in every garden. Matching the plant to the soil and position remains essential.
4. A drought-resilient garden can still be full of flowers
Reducing watering doesn't have to mean giving up colourful borders or wildlife-friendly planting.
There are flowering perennials that can cope with dry conditions once established, provided they're planted in the right position.
Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber) is a long-flowering perennial that can grow in surprisingly challenging places, including dry walls and sunny, free-draining sites.
Purple-top Vervain (Verbena bonariensis) adds height and airy clusters of flowers to sunny borders. Its blooms are attractive to pollinating insects, and established plants can tolerate periods of dry weather.
African Daisy 'Tresco Purple' (Osteospermum jucundum) offers vivid purple flowers and a spreading habit for sunny positions.
For a wildlife-friendly garden, I would look at combining plants such as these with other perennials that suit the site, rather than relying on one type of flower. A mixture of flowering times and plant structures can provide a more varied habitat for insects.
The key is to choose plants that suit the conditions you actually have, rather than trying to reproduce the growing conditions of a completely different climate.
5. Soil protection and plant choice work together
The woodchip observation has reinforced something important: choosing drought-tolerant plants and improving growing conditions shouldn't be treated as separate tasks.
A plant may have natural adaptations that help it cope with dry weather, but it still has to obtain water and nutrients from its surroundings. Protecting the soil can help reduce moisture loss, while good soil structure supports healthy root development.
There are several practical steps worth taking before the next dry spell:
- Mulch where appropriate. Use suitable organic material to protect exposed soil and help conserve moisture.
- Keep new plants watered. Even drought-tolerant plants need sufficient water while establishing their roots.
- Water thoroughly when needed. Aim to wet the root zone rather than repeatedly dampening just the surface.
- Collect rainwater. Make use of rainfall when it arrives so that some water is available during drier periods.
- Choose plants for the site. Consider sunlight, soil drainage, wind exposure and the amount of water you can realistically provide.
These measures won't eliminate the effects of extreme weather, but they can help reduce unnecessary stress on plants and make gardening more manageable.
6. I'm planning for the garden I want to maintain in the future
The biggest lesson from this summer is that I want to be more deliberate about how I use my time and resources.
I don't want to spend every hot summer trying to keep unsuitable plants alive, nor do I want to assume that regular watering is the only answer to dry conditions.
Instead, I want to focus on protecting the soil, choosing plants that suit their growing environment and creating a garden that is resilient without requiring constant intervention.
That doesn't mean every plant has to be drought tolerant, or that we should all grow the same selection of species. Shaded gardens, damp woodland areas and sunny, exposed borders have very different needs. Diversity is still important, and the right plant in the right place remains one of the foundations of good gardening.
But as our summers become less predictable, it makes sense to consider how much water a plant needs, how it responds to heat and whether it is a sensible long-term choice for our particular garden.
For me, the healthier plants in the woodchip-mulched areas and the decision to stop growing hydrangeas and peonies are two practical reminders that the way forward isn't necessarily to work harder. It's to learn from what we observe and adjust our approach.
Planning a more drought-resilient garden?
If you're looking for plants to suit sunny, free-draining positions, explore our range of drought-tolerant plants, including hardy herbs and flowering perennials.
At Wild but Rooted, we're interested in plants that offer lasting value, whether that's food, flowers, wildlife benefits or simply the pleasure of growing something unusual. By choosing plants thoughtfully and looking after the soil beneath them, we can create gardens that are better prepared for whatever the next summer brings.
Wild but Rooted is an online nursery growing and supplying plants for gardeners who want to work with nature. We grow without synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers, with a focus on useful, wildlife-friendly and unusual plants.
Why We Don't Use Pesticides, Herbicides or Fertiliser
2026-10-05
We grow all our plants without pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilisers.It’s a pretty simple choice really. We want our plants to be part of a living ecosystem, not grown in a completely controlled environment where every insect, weed and bit of competition has to be removed.
We don't mind a few bugs!
If a plant has a few aphids or a caterpillar has had a nibble, we don't automatically reach for a spray.
Insects are part of the garden. Some might eat the plants, but others will eat those insects, pollinate flowers or become food for birds and other wildlife.
We'd rather have a few chewed leaves than a garden where nothing else can live.
Our plants are grown outdoors, exposed to the weather and allowed to grow at their natural pace. We're much more interested in sending out healthy plants ready for your garden than perfectly pristine plants.
We don't use herbicides either. We remove unwanted parts by hand and accept that our growing beds aren't supposed to look like a supermarket shelf.
Some plants are weeds in one place and valuable wildlife plants in another. We try to work with nature where we can, rather than trying to eliminate everything we didn't put there ourselves.
So what do we use?
Mostly, we use good soil, the right plant in the right place, a bit of patience and plenty of observation. It's a slower and sometimes messier way of growing, but it feels right to us.
Small is sustainable
2026-08-30
I read an article about a garden centre using 2 swimming pools worth of water each day to water their plants. I'm pretty sure that wasn't rainwater they've harvested. At Wild but Rooted, once our rainwater ran out (which took about a month with no new rainfall), we started using grey water containing only eco-friendly cleansers, and we can keep going with that indefinitely. It also helps that many of our plants are drought-tolerant.Eco-friendly nursery
2026-08-03
We are a plastic-free grower, so don't use plastic pots at any stage. The plants are sent wrapped in moss rather than compost, which keeps the roots aerated during transit and is much less likely to carry soil-borne pests or diseases. It also reduces mess, weight and plastic waste while helping the plants travel safelyFree mulch mat with your summer orders
2026-07-30
During this hot weather, we are packaging our plants with sheep wool insulation and ice. Plants are wrapped in wet moss in a compostable bag and sent via next day delivery. The insulation makes a great mulch mat for your plants!Self Sufficiency in Small Spaces
2022-11-06
Aiming for long-term successMany people start gardening with cucumber, carrots, lettuce etc then give up when their money and time spent has far exceeded that of a supermarket purchase. These sorts of plants are often not easy to grow without the additions used commercially; home-grown and commercially-grown is not a like-for-like practice.
What do you like to eat that grows in your climate?
In the UK, money-saving produce you can grow from home are things like soft fruit, asparagus and fruit trees.
Go Perennial!
Or before you know it, the gardening season is over and you have to get ready to start all over again!
Pet Chickens
2019-01-26
I wanted chickens for five years before my husband finally gave in and finally gave in and let me have them.We've got three hens, which is really more than enough for a family of four, since we get three eggs a day. Now, I've had them a year now and there's never been a point when we haven't had three a day. During the Winter they kept laying, whether that will continue as they get older, I don't know.
Finding ways to cook with three eggs a day can be quite a challenge to use them up. So we have a lot of cakes, omlettes, we have soft boiled eggs for breakfast quite a lot. I also make my own pasta, that's a good use of getting rid of quite a lot in one go, and things like moussaka you can add the odd egg to as well.
We've got an average sized suburban garden and when we first had the chickens we let them run aroud the whole area, but they made a lot more mess than expected, and every time we stood outside the back door we ended up stepping in poo, so they've now got the bottom half of the garden which is laid to lawn, or at least it was until this winter, now its basically a mud pool, we've had so much rain and it's suprising how much chaos three little chickens cause.
So, in the Spring we plan to redo the lawn and then have a little area where they can stay all the time, then in the Winter when we don't want them on the lawn we can stop them getting on there.
For the housing, we chose an Omlet Classic Eglu
, and it really does make looking after them very easy. Once or twice a week, brush the droppings out into the tray below, then just pull the tray out and empty it into the compost bin. We keep the compost bin and a dust-pan and brush next to the house.
My little cluckers!
The Eglu is easy to keep clean, because it's plastic you can wash it with warm water and a little washing up liquid and then leave it to dry with the roof off. It also comes with a food and water bowl. It's surprising how quickly they can dirty a water bowl, so the water does need replacing every other day.One thing the Eglu doesn't account for is somewhere to keep their grit. They have to have access to grit to peck at, so I keep a small bowl and replace this every other day as they frequently knock it over.
I really do enjoy having chickens, I think they are one of the easiest pets to keep. They are very amusing and because you can just let them run free in the garden you don't need to worry about entertaining them in any sort of way. They're ideal for children as well, they are quite robust and my three-year-old loves playing with them, so they are definitely a pet I would recommend for families.
The Benefits of Freelance Work
2018-05-03
Well, it’s fairly obvious really, the ability to work in your pyjamas all day! Actually for me, I don’t really feel awake and in work-mode until I am dressed and have brushed my teeth.There are many reasons why freelancers have a better deal: you can lie in if you need it, you don’t need to iron any work shirts, you can set the thermostat how you want it and turn your radio up as loud as you like. You have a better choice when it comes to lunch- the whole freezer and cupboards full of goodies are a much better alternative to the boring cheese sandwich or expensive canteen. I work through my lunch so tend to bring a jacket potato with chilli, home-made soup or stir fry to my desk. Apart from the trivial, there are some serious benefits to freelance work, especially when working from home: