A lot of stuff in my garden is looking rather sorry for itself but we've had no rain for nearly 3 months (bar a few drops) and two intense heatwaves. The first in June was when we were away so nothing was watered for 3 weeks despite a week of temps into the 30's!
Living in the driest part of the country I do tend to garden for and around drought conditions. However, my soil is very heavy clay and 'Mediterranean' plants such as lavender just don't survive an english winter.
I plant regular 'English' garden shrubs, roses and perennials and don't bother with pots and baskets except 2 chimney pots. I've done a lot to improve the soil and mulch quite thickly each spring. Any new plantings are watered copiously for the first few weeks and heavily mulched. I have infrequent deep watering sessions and the garden is left to fend for itself most of the time.
I do an awful lot of cutting back at the beginning of July and that may be the saving of a lot of the garden this year. Many perennials are just trimmed stalks at the moment.
I'm doing a major watering session today because some plants were definitely flagging. It's much cooler and the ground will retain the moisture longer for the plants to get a good drink. I did no watering at all except the chimney pots when it was really hot - a lot of the water would just have evaporated away. Things are already perking up and there's new growth showing on the cut back perennials.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
I will go out on a limb here and say that, in England, it wasn't the heat that did for some plants. It was the shock of the quick change. As with sudden frosts. Plants can cope with remarkable extremes, but what they often can't do is be hit with a hammer - cold or hot. [London jumped from 22 to 42oC].
I suspect that's true (in England) with roses. They grow happily, and indeed thrive, in much hotter, sunnier climes than ours and indeed many derive from those regions. It's a complicated business and it does nobody any favours to try and simplify matters. Aspects like, shade, wind, frost pockets, altitude, temp jumps, breeding, winter rain, water provision and soil types will have a huge influence on what (roses) will do well where.
There is a huge range of poppy and salvia types. The Guardian should know better.
Absolutely, conditions are everything @Fire. It was the hot Saharan wind that did for many of my plants. We used to get it a maximum of once a year for maybe a day or two, but have suffered weeks of it. I have clay too @Topbird and no matter how much I amend the soil and improve drainage in raised beds, lavender refuses to live beyond a week or two. Typical Med plants can’t survive my cold winters either at my elevation, so no jacaranda, oleander or bougainvillea here!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
It is not the heat which has destroyed my interest in gardening, it is the lack f rain. We have had no siginficant rain for most of May, June and this month too. Even things which have been in for years have died. The list would be far too heart breaking to compile. I am not going to replace any of them, the garden can go back to weeds and emptiness for me. I have had enough.
@Palustris From a fellow gardener that makes me feel very sad. I have felt like you in the past. A very dry garden makes me miserable to other people which isn't very fair. Not only is it heart breaking to see your plants suffer or die you feel that you have tried so hard with no reward, the one thing you can't do is give them rain no matter how many hours you spend looking after them. Nature IS a wonderful thing I hope that some of your plants still have life in their roots and that we will be hearing your happy garden thoughts very soon. Best Wishes Suze.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
@Palustris I understand how you feel. I have just come back from 2 weeks away and so many of my plants are crispy beyond what I even imagined they would be. I have just done a massive watering session although it is no substitute for some decent rain and I will re survey tomorrow. Ferns, salvias, grasses, a spirea and so many others may not survive. But there is still life in other plants. I could have cried when I saw it but it will bounce back and so will I. I am sorry you are so down at the moment, best wishes to you and hopefully we will see some decent rain soon and you may see some new growth.
I will go out on a limb here and say that, in England, it wasn't the heat that did for some plants. It was the shock of the quick change. As with sudden frosts. Plants can cope with remarkable extremes, but what they often can't do is be hit with a hammer - cold or hot. [London jumped from 22 to 42oC].
I suspect that's true (in England) with roses. They grow happily, and indeed thrive, in much hotter, sunnier climes than ours and indeed many derive from those regions. It's a complicated business and it does nobody any favours to try and simplify matters. Aspects like, shade, wind, frost pockets, altitude, temp jumps, breeding, winter rain, water provision and soil types will have a huge influence on what (roses) will do well where.
There is a huge range of poppy and salvia types. The Guardian should know better.
Well said Fire. That almost as hot day in late June, was it? It was a Friday - I was on a school, trip (tube, bus, rive boat, then back again 🥵 it was like the seventh circle of hell) I actually fell ill the next day, when the temperature dropped 20 degrees, to about 18. Our bodies struggle with these sudden rises and falls. Some plants do too.
To go back to the original post: after the scorching summer we have just experienced here in London, I’m tending to think that I ought to be adapting my gardening accordingly, in order to save time and watering.
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Living in the driest part of the country I do tend to garden for and around drought conditions. However, my soil is very heavy clay and 'Mediterranean' plants such as lavender just don't survive an english winter.
I plant regular 'English' garden shrubs, roses and perennials and don't bother with pots and baskets except 2 chimney pots. I've done a lot to improve the soil and mulch quite thickly each spring. Any new plantings are watered copiously for the first few weeks and heavily mulched. I have infrequent deep watering sessions and the garden is left to fend for itself most of the time.
I do an awful lot of cutting back at the beginning of July and that may be the saving of a lot of the garden this year. Many perennials are just trimmed stalks at the moment.
I'm doing a major watering session today because some plants were definitely flagging. It's much cooler and the ground will retain the moisture longer for the plants to get a good drink. I did no watering at all except the chimney pots when it was really hot - a lot of the water would just have evaporated away. Things are already perking up and there's new growth showing on the cut back perennials.
Not only is it heart breaking to see your plants suffer or die you feel that you have tried so hard with no reward, the one thing you can't do is give them rain no matter how many hours you spend looking after them.
Nature IS a wonderful thing I hope that some of your plants still have life in their roots and that we will be hearing your happy garden thoughts very soon. Best Wishes Suze.
That almost as hot day in late June, was it? It was a Friday - I was on a school, trip (tube, bus, rive boat, then back again 🥵 it was like the seventh circle of hell) I actually fell ill the next day, when the temperature dropped 20 degrees, to about 18.
Our bodies struggle with these sudden rises and falls. Some plants do too.