I've never had a gravel garden but have wondered if they would make the garden hotter generally. We have a gravel driveway with a patch of helianthemums on one side. This summer, the helianthemum stems that were lying on the gravel turned to crisp (south-facing). I'm imagining houses in the cities with front gardens that consist of paved driveways & gravel gardens - would that feel like an outdoor oven in summer?
@NoSlugsPlease. A couple of years ago I wanted to transform what is left of the "lawn" into a gravel patch. Childhood memories in Italy reminded me of how hot those pebbles get if they face south south-west. I am sure even a dry lawn is of some help to some critters while hot pebbles will reflect the heat around. So I left the lawn which in spring is full of stuff insect and bees like, I do May and June with no mowing (this year not once I have used the mower because of the draught). Now it is in a sad yellow state but it will be OK for spring. It must be said that I never cared for lawns.
I've never had a gravel garden but have wondered if they would make the garden hotter generally. We have a gravel driveway with a patch of helianthemums on one side. This summer, the helianthemum stems that were lying on the gravel turned to crisp (south-facing). I'm imagining houses in the cities with front gardens that consist of paved driveways & gravel gardens - would that feel like an outdoor oven in summer?
Although the air temperature won’t change much your perception will be that it’s hotter, as we experience the heat coming up through our shoes/feet from the heated stone where grass would absorb it.
This is a new video from the Middle Sized Garden on "drought tolerant planting". Jane doesn't say what soil she is planting into, and much of her garden is in raised beds, so flooded soil in the winter isn't likely to be a problem.
This is one more take on possibly and difficult useful plants.
I've never had a gravel garden but have wondered if they would make the garden hotter generally. We have a gravel driveway with a patch of helianthemums on one side. This summer, the helianthemum stems that were lying on the gravel turned to crisp (south-facing). I'm imagining houses in the cities with front gardens that consist of paved driveways & gravel gardens - would that feel like an outdoor oven in summer?
I think you can create 'micro-climates' in a garden. Planting trees and shrubs and having masses of greenery, and, say, a pond, may well bring the temps down, as compared to bare clay, concrete or shingle which will hold heat and be hard to walk on during a roasting day, giving it back out to the air at night.
Shade will almost certainly help against plants frying.
It's well known that temperatures are always warmer in cities - that's why we see all these tropical gardens springing up in London. The day's heat is absorbed by all the concrete and brick and given out at night as the air cools.
@coccinella I've been thinking along the same lines as you, as I wouldn't mind a rather dry lawn and I think I would still prefer that to gravel. It's just that after this summer, I've started to actually read those articles about gravel gardens with drought-tolerant/Mediterranean plants; even the RHS website had something about it. However, it doesn't seem logical (in my novice mind) to have drought-tolerant plants that would survive but achieving this by creating a space that would be hotter (or perceived to be hotter, as @JoeX explained). Unless it's a north-facing garden that gets no sun...
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I'm imagining houses in the cities with front gardens that consist of paved driveways & gravel gardens - would that feel like an outdoor oven in summer?
So I left the lawn which in spring is full of stuff insect and bees like, I do May and June with no mowing (this year not once I have used the mower because of the draught). Now it is in a sad yellow state but it will be OK for spring. It must be said that I never cared for lawns.
Luxembourg
It's just that after this summer, I've started to actually read those articles about gravel gardens with drought-tolerant/Mediterranean plants; even the RHS website had something about it. However, it doesn't seem logical (in my novice mind) to have drought-tolerant plants that would survive but achieving this by creating a space that would be hotter (or perceived to be hotter, as @JoeX explained). Unless it's a north-facing garden that gets no sun...