After one of the earliest heatwaves on record in May, and the thermometer hitting 39 °C in some parts of the UK this week, now is a great time to add some hot weather plants to your summer garden.
Plants for heatwave gardens
Keep your garden looking it's best, even in a heatwave, with our favourite drought-tolerant plants. Add a few of these to your summer pots and borders, and you'll be surprised by how easy they are to care for.
Lavender
Plant it somewhere sunny with decent drainage, and it'll flower all summer. Loved by bees, and great for patio pots.
Sedum
Look closely at the leaves, and you'll see why this copes well in the heat. Sedums are thick and fleshy, they're basically little water tanks. Turns a rich rusty red in autumn.
Verbena
A great drought-tolerant plant that makes a statement in flower beds. Tall stems with clouds of purple flowers, that float above everything else in the border.
Eryngium (Sea Holly)
Spiky, silvery-blue flowerheads that love hot weather and salty, coastal gardens. Tougher than it looks, Sea Holly is happy to fend for itself in soaring temperatures. An unusual choice for summer pots.
Rosemary
Rosemary is dry weather hardy and aromatic too. It’s one of the toughest plants you can put in dry soil. A great way to bring some homegrown herbs into your BBQs and summer cooking too.
Nepeta (Catmint)
Soft, hazy purple flowers that bloom all summer. Great value for money as Catmint will spread itself around without much help, and will return to your garden year after year.
Sempervivum
Little stars of the drought-tolerant garden with their tiny rosette succulents. Brilliant in decorative pots or a gravel bed, and you could genuinely forget to water them for weeks.
Salvia
Hardy plant that comes in a huge range of colours and will keep flowering, week after week. A reliable choice if you want colour without the fuss, and the pollinating insects will love it too.
Achillea
Achillea boasts flat-topped flowers in yellow, pink or red, sitting on feathery foliage that copes well in poor soil. It loves being left to its own devices, and can thrive with little water.
How to look after your garden in a heatwave
Water deeply but less often. A good soak encourages roots to grow down into the soil rather than staying near the surface. This makes plants more resilient when a dry spell hits. Also water in the cool of the evening to reduce the amount of moisture lost to evaporation.
A layer of mulch around the base of plants will help to lock moisture into the soil, so it doesn't evaporate as quickly in the heat.
Look after pots and baskets. If you're watering your pots a lot this can wash the nutrients out of the soil, so give your plants a boost with a good liquid feed.
As for the lawn, leave it! Unless it's newly sown or freshly laid turf, you shouldn't be watering the lawn. It will recover quickly when the rain comes.
