The country’s first hosepipe ban comes into effect today in Yorkshire and forecasters are predicting the warm, dry weather to persist throughout summer across the country.
Evergreens have been a common concern among the members of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) this year, having endured almost no rain in spring followed by successive heatwaves. Caroline Mazzey, RHS horticultural advisor, said: “Evergreens need water all year. This year’s dry conditions have delayed new growth whilst loss of the older leaves has gone ahead as usual, resulting in sparse foliage. Evergreens in pots are seeing this exaggerated with doorstep favourites such as olive and bay trees among those feeling the effects most.”
While gardeners can help struggling evergreen shrubs and perennials to survive, they are encouraged by the RHS to let lawns go brown, as is the case at some of the charity’s own gardens. While drought can cause the top growth to turn brown, in a well-established lawn the underlying roots should still be alive, ready to send up fresh leaves once rain returns. Avoiding heavy usage of a yellowed lawn will help prevent it wearing away and needing to be re-seeded later in the year.
In its own gardens, the RHS is trialling plants that can navigate cold and wet winters and measuring the water uptake of 20 popular plants in all conditions to understand the amount of water needed for them to survive and thrive. This growing season’s low rainfall, sunny days and high temperatures have led to an increased water demand of 25% on average. At the same time, soil moisture is down from an average range of 15-20% to just 5%. Those plants found to require moderate to high water uptake include Dahlia, while others such as Bistorta officinalis ‘Superba’ performed well with less water.
“At the RHS we’re looking to ‘spongify’ our gardens, holding onto more rain when it arrives so that the plants and soil release it more slowly, helping both flood and drought situations. This needs planning and can’t be done in the few short weeks during a drought, but we can make sure we are using what we have as carefully as possible, not watering lawns where damage would not be irreparable, grouping pots and utilising shade,” explains Janet Manning, RHS Water Reduction Officer.
RHS guidance for gardeners to manage water in gardens can be here.
