Our recent hot summers have tested even the most established gardens. This year, prolonged dry spells and drought in many places across the UK mean hosepipe restrictions for millions.
Water is something we always consider in the early stages of design. In my own garden, I wanted to ensure it was more self-sufficient and less reliant on mains water. I incorporated underground water storage into the landscape and connected it to an irrigation system. This means my garden can draw on stored water to protect the planting during exactly the kind of summer we’re having.
It’s this thinking that we build into every large bespoke garden design, and a great example of how irrigation and water storage can be at the heart of the landscape design. On a large site, planning how water will be collected, stored and distributed is just as important as the planting.
For owners of larger gardens, the concern goes beyond a patch of brown lawn. It’s the mature trees, specimen hedging and long-established borders that represent years of growth and investment. Here’s what we prioritise, how we plan for it, and what a hosepipe ban means for a garden of this scale.
Which areas of a large garden should be prioritised during dry weather?
It’s important to prioritise newly planted areas and mature structural assets over established lawns, which should be allowed to go dormant. Focus should be where the loss would be most devastating, such as trees, shrubs, and hedges planted within the last three years, as well as pots and high-value herbaceous borders.
The good news if your lawn is golden rather than lush green, is that it can usually recover. Lawns possess a unique survival mechanism that larger structural plants lack. Grass grows from a crown right at the soil surface, and when water is scarce, it shuts down and turns brown to protect this crown. Thankfully, once rain returns, it bounces back quickly.
Newly planted areas and trees, hedging, and borders may need immediate protection because they have larger permanent structures to support. If their root systems dry out completely, the structural tissue collapses, leading to irreversible dieback or total plant failure.
Read more about how we design a multipurpose garden and achieve sustainability at scale.
How water should be prioritised
Knowing how to distribute water strictly based on plant establishment and replacement cost is key. Here is a general guide we work to:
- New planting (0 to 12 months): have tiny root systems and zero drought tolerance
- Recent planting (one to three years): root systems are still developing and require deep soaking to survive
- Specimen trees and mature hedging: these form the architecture of the garden and take decades to replace
- Established borders: mature perennials can withstand some stress but need targeted support
- Lawns: completely cut off from water allocation.
The focus should be on rotating deep-soaking sessions for vulnerable areas rather than giving the whole garden a daily sprinkle, as that can force roots to stay near the scorching surface.
The role of garden management in checking soil moisture, irrigation systems and plant stress
A high-end garden contracting company acts as the proactive guardian of your landscape. There’s more to it than mowing lawns.
Our skilled garden maintenance team carry out moisture auditing using electronic probes to map soil moisture levels at varying root depths rather than guessing by eye. We’ll also conduct irrigation monitoring by running pressure tests, cleaning nozzles, and adjusting seasonal timers to prevent water waste. We keep a keen eye on early physiological warning signs, such as micro-wilting, leaf curling, or subtle colour changes before visible dieback sets in.
To stay ahead of extreme weather, we map out distinct pockets of heat, wind, and shade across a large property to predict where plants will stress first. Sometimes we may also add deep layers of compost or bark mulch to reduce surface evaporation. Delicate species can be moved or covered with temporary shade cloths during extreme heat spikes.
Our approach to planning irrigation and discreet water storage
We design water management into the infrastructure from day one in every large garden we build, following the same principles I use in my garden. Sustainability is a core pillar of our design philosophy, and that starts with treating water storage as part of the landscape. This approach includes:
- Discreet sub-surface storage: large, underground rainwater harvesting tanks integrated beneath terraces, lawns, or driveways to collect run-off without affecting the visual design of the garden
- Zoned trickle systems: we map out automated, sub-surface drip irrigation systems during the initial master planning stage, delivering water directly to root zones
- Working with Elemental: an environmental assessment tool for landscape designers to maximise water conservation, alongside other key environmental areas.
You can see this approach in practice in our Winchester garden project, where drip irrigation and a concealed reservoir tank support the planning, and in a Farnham garden, which incorporates water harvesting alongside irrigation.
Ponds, lakes and streams: how they support wider water management
Where permissions and conditions allow, open water features can serve as active ecological and irrigation reservoirs.
Ponds and lakes can be engineered to collect high-volume surface rain run-off during heavy winter downpours. Water can be passed through reed beds and silt traps, which clean it organically, making it safe and ideal for low-pressure irrigation pumps. Water features are also critical tools for handling droughts. Unlined, clay-bottomed ponds slowly leak water back into the surrounding ground during dry spells, naturally keeping the root systems of nearby specimen trees hydrated.
It’s worth noting that any abstraction from natural streams, or significant alterations to watercourses, requires strict permissions from the Environment Agency to protect local water tables.
What are the most suitable plants to help larger gardens cope with hot, dry weather?
These drought-tolerant structural plants and flowers need less frequent watering and thrive with minimal water once established. Silver foliage, deep taproots, and structural grasses all help build a self-sustaining landscape. Here are some of our favourites:
- Lavandula angustifolia (English Lavender)
- Nepeta (e.g., Walker’s Low Catmint)
- Salvia (e.g., Hot Lips)
- Hyalotelephium (Sedum)
- Eryngium (Sea Hollies)
- Stipa tenuissima and Stipa gigantea
- Erysimum Bowles’s Mauve
- Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina).
Hosepipe restrictions and what that means for your gardeners
Millions of people across the UK are under formal hosepipe bans. These are implemented by individual water suppliers, and professional gardeners will be aware of whether this affects you. A temporary use ban (TUB) fundamentally changes how we work on larger gardens as we must follow strict rules.
- Mains water ban: professional contractors can’t use a standard hosepipe or sprinkler connected to the mains supply on domestic or non-commercial gardens
- The 28-day landscape exemption: a vital exemption for professional landscapers that means we can use a hosepipe to water newly laid turf or new planting for the first 28 days after installation to help them establish
- Young tree exception: water companies frequently allow hose use for young trees, whips, and hedges planted within the last three years if hand-watering is physically impractical
- Automated drip irrigation exemption: drip or trickle irrigation systems are generally permitted if they are fitted with a non-handheld timer and a pressure-reducing valve, delivering water directly onto or beneath the soil surface with no surface run-off
- Permitted manual methods: watering cans, buckets, and water butts filled with non-potable or harvested rainwater are always permitted.
We provide effective architectural landscaping to support long, hot weather conditions, and offer aftercare to take care of the garden in all weathers. Find out more about hiring a garden design and landscaping company, or please contact us if you’d like to discuss garden design or ongoing maintenance.