Drought tolerant plants

With our increasingly dry summers and hosepipe bans, it’s more important than ever to choose drought tolerant plants which can tolerate our challenging conditions. Here are some of our recommendations for you.

Drought resistant plants originate from hot and dry areas of the world. They adapt in their native habitats by becoming deeper rooting, and their leaves are often silver, hairy, sticky, scented, succulent, needle-like or waxy to help reduce the effects of the heat. We’ve put together a list of plants to help you with your drought tolerant garden!

How to help plants cope with dry conditions

Even drought resistant plants will need some water in their first year whilst they establish, but there are a few things you can do to help your plants cope with dry conditions:

1. Improve your soil before planting by working in lots of organic matter such as well rotted manure or compost. Organic matter acts as a sponge and is highly water-retentive, as well as providing nutrients for your plants.
2. Before planting, soak the root balls of your plants in a bucket of water until they are wet through. This will prevent them drying out too quickly as they adjust to their new home.
3. Mulch around your plants in the spring using organic matter, slate chips, gravel, bark or pebbles to reduce water evaporation.
4. Water young plants deeply every few days rather than little and often. This encourages deeper rooting rather than surface roots and will help plants tolerate drought conditions once they are established.

See our ‘Water-saving tips for your garden’ article for more advice on saving water!

Drought tolerant plants for sun

Drought tolerant plants for shade