How will you remember the scorching summer of 2026?
If you’ve been enjoying alfresco meals, wearing shorts seven days a week and revelling in having the sort of tan you normally only get after a fortnight on the Costa del Sol, you’ll have loved every minute of it.
If you’re a keen gardener, then your mood (unlike the weather) has probably been rather less sunny.
‘Brutal’ and ‘a horror show’ are common verdicts from gardening friends after this long, hot spell.
Many of us feel broken in body as well as spirit: healthcare experts have reported a huge rise in injuries from lugging water around the garden, dubbed ‘watering can-itis’ by some physios.
I’ve spent the summer trying to keep my 70ft garden going, as well as working in my local park, which is largely run by volunteers.
Last autumn we planted dozens of new shrubs there and just keeping them alive with a watering can has been a mighty struggle: my left shoulder has been aching since July.
Constance Craig Smith has spent the summer trying to keep her 70ft garden going, as well as working in my local park
As well as the heat, it’s the extraordinary lack of rain that has really made the past few months, the driest in 190 years, with a drought declared across 70 per cent of England and all of Wales, so tricky for the garden.
At times, I’ve felt tearful and overwhelmed by the sheer work involved in keeping plants alive.
With hosepipe bans now an annual scourge, many of us are considering how we can adapt our gardens so that they are still colourful, without injuring ourselves to keep plants going.
We are asking ourselves if we can justify the energy and environmental cost of lavishing huge amounts of water on thirsty plants such as hydrangeas, azaleas, rhododendrons, petunias and sweetpeas.
Monty Don, who gardens in Herefordshire, not usually one of the country’s driest parts, recently announced on Gardeners’ World that he is rethinking his planting at Longmeadow to cope with future droughts.
‘That means a totally different palette, a different set of plants and a different challenge,’ the host, who this week announced his retirement from the show after 23 years, declared.
Philippa Burrough is used to dry summers – her magnificent garden at Ulting Wick, in
Essex, famous for its springtime display of tulips and often featured in magazines and on television, is in one of the most arid parts of the UK.
The gardening expert has kept her plants and shrubs alive with a watering and so her left shoulder has been aching since
When I spoke to her, just after she’d got back from a visit to the physiotherapist for her gardening-related bad back, she described this summer as ‘horrific’.
She has lost a well-established beech hedge, and her dahlias – previously one of the best performers in her late summer garden – have been ‘terrible’.
She struggles to name plants that have done well this year, before coming up with gaura, sedums and ornamental grasses.
‘The roses have also been amazing, which surprised me until I remembered that some roses are native to the Middle East, so they can cope with extreme heat.’
Philippa is also about to embark on a two-year project to change the planting in her eight-acre garden to make it more drought-tolerant. ‘We’re going to have to rethink the way we garden,’ she says. ‘We’re going to have to plant shade belts to make conditions more bearable and start using a range of different plants. It will be a big sea-change for all of us.’
Instead of feeling gloomy at the thought of the classic cottage garden becoming a rarity, should we view it as an exciting challenge and a chance for a reset?
After all, Mediterranean plants – think jasmine, lavender, rosemary, oregano and lemon trees – are deliciously fragrant and great for wildlife. A drought-tolerant garden, once it’s bedded in, would certainly be less time-consuming to look after than a traditional English one.
Great Comp Garden in Kent has one of the most diverse collections of Salvias, which are in a class of their own
In the years to come, plant breeders will surely rise to the challenge of breeding drought-resistant versions of our favourites. In the meantime, now autumn is on the horizon, we have an opportunity to revive, and rethink, our long-suffering beds, pots and borders.
As soon as we’ve had some decent rain, I plan to use every scrap of organic material from my compost bins to mulch around the plants that survived. This will lock in moisture and help feed the roots. I’ll repeat the process in the spring and the result will, I hope, be stronger, more resilient plants.
Where there are gaps – like many gardeners I’ve lost some of my hydrangeas and dahlias in the heat, even when watered – I’ll invest in more drought-tolerant sedums, cistus and lavender.
Autumn is a better time to plant perennials. It gives plants longer to establish deeper roots that will enable them to access water deep in the soil that will help them through the summer months.
Read on for more tips on how to care for your sun-beaten garden – and for inspiration on which drought-tolerant plants to try for next year.
It’s time we all adapted our planting so that we can enjoy future hot summers with much less stress.
Is your parched lawn beyond help?
The enduring image of summer must surely be our parched, straw-like lawns. Luckily, grass is resilient and is almost certainly just dormant.
Although grass turns brown as a protective strategy, to conserve moisture in very dry spells, underneath the roots are very much alive. Thanks to recent showers, my own lawn is already showing green shoots.
Although grass turns brown as a protective strategy, to conserve moisture in very dry spells, underneath the roots are very much alive
You may be tempted to restore it, but it’s best to let nature take its course.
This includes scarifying – removing dead grass and moss to improve growth. A lawn needs to be growing strongly to withstand scarification, so now is not the time.
Reseeding would be a complete waste of time and water, too, as grass seed germination requires copious watering.
You can decide whether it needs reseeding and tackle weeds next spring.
Don’t rush to mow any new growth, either. In normal weather conditions, letting the grass grow longer helps a lawn retain its moisture, giving it a better chance of surviving. I’d advise leaving your grass until it has substantially revived, before one final pre-winter trim.
If this summer has left you thinking you no longer want a lawn, think carefully before you remove grass. Heavy rains are forecast this autumn – and lawns absorb water better than hard surfaces. They’re also more wildlife-friendly.
What to plant now to drought-proof your border
Whether you are looking to fill gaps left by dead plants or planning a new bed or pot, take inspiration from sun-drenched Mediterranean regions such as Spain, Greece and the South of France, where plant varieties have evolved to cope with little water and searingly hot temperatures.
All plants – including ‘drought tolerant’ varieties – need regular watering when first planted to help them establish strong roots, which is why autumn planting is ideal. Salvias are in a class of their own – see the box.
Here are my suggestions for ten other leading perennials . . .
My top 10 heat-loving heroes
Stores moisture
Commonly known as stonecrop or ice plants, sedums are among the toughest plants you can grow. Their leaves store water, helping them to power through droughts.
The best-known variety is ‘Autumn Joy’, with pale green leaves and heads of rich pink flowers. But the real showstoppers are the sedums with red stems and leaves, topped by pink or red flowers, like ‘Red Cauli’ (pictured), ‘Matrona’ and ‘Xenox’.
Sedums are easy to propagate, so you can get more plants for free.
Sedum ‘Red Cauli’ (left) and Eryngium x zabelli ‘Big Blue’
Striking flowers
Known as sea hollies, eryngiums are striking. They have a spiky bract surrounding a cone-like centre of delicate flowers. They love a sunny, well-drained site and once bedded in need little water.
Try Eryngium x zabelli ‘Big Blue’, with long-lasting bright blue flowers carried on steely blue stems. ‘Neptune’s Gold’ has golden-yellow foliage tipped with silver-blue. While Eryngium planum ‘Steel Blue’ bears branching stems carrying small purple-blue flowers.
Maintenance-free
Once established, catmint has deep roots which help it survive during hot summers. Water it well in the first year, and it will then be maintenance-free. Cats (and bees) find it irresistible.
A compact variety is Nepeta racemosa ‘Amelia’, the silver- green foliage contrasting with the blue flowers. For a larger space, there’s the lavender-blue Nepeta x faassenii ‘Six Hills Giant’.
Blue purple Nepeta catmint (left) and yellow
Delicious colours
Often seen growing wild on roadside verges in Italy and France, bearded irises are a cottage garden favourite that will thrive in very hot weather.
They come in all sorts of colours, from white, yellow, and peach to darkest purple, red and even chocolate brown. They’ll flower best if their rhizomes bake in the sun after they’ve flowered in late spring.
Thrives in heat
Its popular name, Jerusalem sage, is a hint that this stately plant relishes hot conditions.
The whorls of hooded flowers are carried on tall stems with heart-shaped leaves from late spring right through until autumn.
Yellow Phlomis russeliana is the best-known variety. Or try pink Phlomis italica and Phlomis tuberosa ‘Amazone’.
Jerusalem sage (left) and agapanthu
Fuss-free fave
In their native South Africa, agapanthus grow like weeds, and they’ve adapted well to Britain, too, so long as they’re in a sun-drenched spot.
Agapanthus have large rounded umbels of trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of blue, purple, pink and white.
Once they get going, which takes a few years, they are the most fuss-free of plants.
Loved by bees
Members of the mint family, agastache are loved by bees and butterflies. Native to North America and Mexico, they cope well with dry conditions.
They have a long flowering season, producing aromatic spikes of tubular flowers in a palette of purple, pink, blue, orange and apricot.
A charming plant that’s well worth growing.
Agastache (left) and lavender
No watering
Lavender is the quintessential Mediterranean plant, combining attractive flowers with a wonderful fragrance that make them a magnet for pollinators.
Lavenders need full sun and free-draining soil and, once established, need no watering.
Try the compact purple-blue free-flowering ‘Hidcote’ (pictured) and lavender-blue ‘Munstead’, which spreads easily.
Flowers twice
The number-one pollinator magnet in my front garden, echinops have spiny green leaves and unusual globe-shaped flowers in shades of blue.
For a compact form with a really zingy flower, try Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’.
They’ll be happy in any well-drained, sunny spot. Cut them back after the first flowers fade and you’ll get a second flush.
Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ (left) and Shasta daisies
Endless blooms
Also known as Shasta daisies, Leucanthemum have proved almost bullet-proof this summer, producing flowers for months on end with minimal watering.
The white flowers with a bright yellow centre, held on sturdy stems, will be even more prolific if you keep deadheading them.
Varieties include ‘Snowcap’, ‘Ox-Eye’ (pictured), ‘Crazy Daisy’ and the yellow ‘Banana Cream’.
Shrubs that can stand the sun
Shrubs are the backbone of any garden, giving year-round structure, filling awkward gaps and providing low-maintenance colour.
Here are some of the most resilient shrubs which, once properly established, should withstand heat and drought.
Gaura: A graceful shrub with masses of tiny star-shaped flowers held on slender stems. It flowers all summer long and performed brilliantly in sun-baked gardens this year. Try white ‘Whirling Butterflies’, ‘Siskiyou Pink’ or ‘Whiskers Deep Rose’.
Hebe need minimal care after their first year in the garden
Hebe: These sun-loving evergreen shrubs from New Zealand come in a range of sizes and are especially useful in small gardens. They require regular watering in their first year but, after that, need minimal care. Good varieties are rose-purple ‘Wiri Charm’, mauve ‘Blue Gem’ and white Hebe albicans.
Rosemary: A classic Mediterranean culinary herb that forms a neat, aromatic shrub and is a must-have in any garden. ‘Roman Beauty’ has lovely violet- blue flowers or, for a striking pink-flowered variety, there’s ‘Roseus’.
Perovskia: Commonly known as Russian sage, this has aromatic leaves and upright spikes of violet- blue flowers which create a shimmering haze from mid-summer onwards. Very drought-resistant. Try ‘Blue Spire’ (pictured) or ‘Lacey Blue’.
Escallonia: Often grown in coastal areas, this evergreen shrub has good drought-resistance once established and will thrive in warmer areas of the country. Two of the best varieties are blush-pink ‘Apple Blossom’ and ‘Iveyi’, which has fragrant white flowers.
White blossom of a Cistus Ladanifer rockrose
Cistus: Tough as old boots, evergreen cistus has really proved its worth this summer. The papery flowers, usually pink or white with yellow centres, emerge in June and July and smother this medium-sized shrub with cheerful blooms.
Caryopteris: A little-known but very attractive late summer shrub with silvery foliage which grows to about 3ft in height and carries clusters of fluffy flowers. ‘Heavenly Blue’ and purple-blue ‘Dark Knight’ are good choices.
Buddleia: The purple flowers are a familiar sight along railway embankments, and this resilient shrub is famously loved by butterflies. There are buddleias of all sizes available, including dwarf ones suitable for containers. Look out for striking orange-flowered varieties such as ‘Sungold’.
Santolina: Also known as cotton lavender, santolina grows in dry, rocky areas of the Mediterranean, so it is perfect for a dry garden. It has evergreen leaves and nectar-rich flowers. Try ‘Primrose Gem’ or ‘Lemon Fizz’.
Yellow balls of Santolina chamaecyparissus, also known as lavender cotton
Roses: Who knew that roses were so drought-tolerant? Most well-established shrubs have really shown their mettle over this scorching summer, even if the flowers wilted on the hottest days. Everyone has their favourite variety of rose; you really can’t go wrong.
September SOS: My Plan of Action
Your garden may be looking sad, but with the arrival of rain and no frost in sight, now is the time to rev things up – and enjoy one last blast of colour. Here are things to consider. . .
Don’t despair if you think a plant is dead. Check if a shrub is still alive by gently scraping the stem near the base of the plant with the edge of your secateurs: any green will indicate it’s still alive.
Even if there’s no green, there’s still a chance a mature plant will sprout anew from the base next spring so don’t dig it out, just prune back the brown stems – and mulch (see box).
Deadhead spent flowers on plants like cosmos or dahlias to encourage them to make new blooms rather than set seed.
Give flowering plants a boost to produce late blooms by watering with diluted tomato feed or an organic seaweed fertiliser. This is important with patio pots, as flowers will have used up the nutrients in the original potting compost.
Make sure any tall plants or young trees are well-staked, so they won’t keel over in the high winds that are predicted this autumn.
Now is the time to pick up a bargain: garden centres still have late-summer flowering plants for sale, often at end-of-season prices.
Look out for ornamental grasses, salvias, heleniums and echinaceas to fill gaps and add colour. Most will happily overwinter, so you can enjoy them again next year.
If containers are looking spent, refresh the soil and plant with autumn beauties like heather, heucheras, cyclamen and low-growing sedums.
Check on rainfall – even if the weather is cooler, plants still need watering if there hasn’t been regular rain. Keep a close eye on camellias, which are making new buds for next year’s flowers at the moment.
Start planning next year’s garden now by ordering hardy annuals such as cornflowers, calendula, nigella and scabious. Sow them this month; they are robust enough to withstand winter temperatures and will reward you with flowers in late spring and early summer.
The magic of mulch
Mulch – a layer of nourishing biodegradable material placed around plants – can reduce water evaporation by 70 per cent and protect roots from hot temperatures, studies show.
Mulch serves to warm up the soil, stimulate growth in winter and early spring, suppresses weeds and, as it decomposes, provides nutrients for the soil.
You can use materials such as well-rotted manure, wood chippings and garden compost. One of the best composts is leaf mould. Make some by sweeping up leaves from deciduous trees such as beech and oak and stuffing them into black bin bags.
Pierce holes in the bags for drainage, tie, and leave for a year. You’ll be rewarded with beautiful, crumbly material (gardeners call it ‘black gold’), for a moisture-retentive layer.
To apply mulch, spread 2-3 in deep around your plants.
In autumn, the soil must first be moist, so wait until there has been consistent rain beforehand. In spring, avoid mulching on days when there’s any frost.
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