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This planting design provides a range of drought-resistant plants that, once established, will thrive in an environment that can be low in soil moisture while still providing a variety of interest throughout the year.

Drought-tolerant planting with a yellow theme

© James Lawrence

The function of this selection is to provide a set of plants that can still thrive in challenging drought conditions. Once established, the plants will need minimal care and will perform well without much watering or feeding, reducing our need to use valuable resources. Growing plants in conditions close to their natural environments means they tend to be happier and less likely to suffer from pests, diseases or disorders.

The carpeting Nepeta and Hylotelephium will help protect the soil surface from erosion and moisture loss associated with bare soil. The groundcover plants will also help reduce the ability of unwanted plants seeding in bare patches of soil, therefore reducing the need to perform weeding. The fleshy foliage of the Hylotelephium allow the plant to store moisture to help the plants cope with periods of drought. 

Additional organic mulching, preferably with , can improve soil moisture retention and weed suppression. Mulches should be spread when the soil is already moist, to help trap some of that moisture before it dries out in summer.

1 - Cytisus ‘Boskoop Ruby’ 

2 - Genista ‘P´Ç°ù±ô´Ç³¦°ì’

3 - Elaeagnus ‘Gilt Edge’

4 - Cytisus x praecox ‘A±ô±ô²µ´Ç±ô»å’

5 - Salvia ‘Blue Spire’

6- Hylotelephium ‘Ruby Glow’

7 - Nepeta ‘Blue Dragon’

2 - Genista ‘P´Ç°ù±ô´Ç³¦°ì’ – a semi-evergreen, medium-sized shrub with small leaves and a profusion of fragrant, bright yellow flowers in spring.

3 - Elaeagnus ‘Gilt Edge’ – an evergreen shrub with dark green leaves edged in yellow. Small, fragrant, silvery flowers form in autumn and are sometimes followed by orange berries.

4 - Cytisus x praecox ‘A±ô±ô²µ´Ç±ô»å’ – a bushy, dense, deciduous small shrub with small leaves that are silky when young. Plentiful bright, deep yellow flowers are produced in late spring. 

5 - Salvia ‘Blue Spire’ – a small, upright deciduous sub-shrub with white stems bearing deeply divided, aromatic greyish leaves and large, plumy spikes of small violet-blue in late summer and autumn. Previously known as Perovskia.  

6 - Hylotelephium ‘Ruby Glow’ – a herbaceous perennial forming a low, spreading clump of deep red stems, with fleshy purplish-green leaves and flat clusters of starry deep crimson flowers. 

7 - Nepeta ‘Blue Dragon’ – a spreading perennial with bright green, aromatic foliage and short spikes of large, blue-violet flowers from midsummer to early autumn.