Skip to content
Garden Forward
Create My Garden

Drought-ready sunny border

Silver, violet and gold; loose, gravelly and Mediterranean in feel.

Pale pink Japanese anemones flowering in front of a timber alpine chalet below a rock face
Shutterstock

Conditions required

Full sun, free-draining soil, little or no irrigation after establishment.

Seasonal coverage

Flower from late spring to first frost, seedheads through winter.

Wildlife coverage

Strong bee and hoverfly value; seedheads for finches.

Resilience strengths

Very high drought and heat tolerance; poor waterlogging tolerance.

Planting density

5–7 plants per square metre

Estimated size

6–12 m²

Estimated product basket

Approx. 30 plants, 2 bags of horticultural grit, 4 bags of gravel mulch

Plant combination

  • Lavender

    Lavandula angustifolia

    Summer · drought 5/5 · wildlife 4/5

  • Russian sage

    Salvia yangii

    Late summer · drought 5/5 · wildlife 4/5

  • Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

    Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'

    Late summer to autumn · drought 5/5 · wildlife 5/5

  • Catmint

    Nepeta racemosa

    Early to late summer · drought 5/5 · wildlife 5/5

  • Globe thistle

    Echinops ritro

    Midsummer · drought 5/5 · wildlife 5/5

  • Little bluestem

    Schizachyrium scoparium

    Autumn · drought 5/5 · wildlife 4/5

Start a projectFind locally

Demonstration data. Climate, plant and retailer records shown here are realistic samples awaiting horticultural validation and live data connections.