{"id":3641,"date":"2025-07-30T09:59:40","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T09:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/?p=3641"},"modified":"2025-07-30T09:59:41","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T09:59:41","slug":"drought-tolerant-and-water-conscious-planting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2025\/07\/30\/drought-tolerant-and-water-conscious-planting\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought Tolerant and Water Conscious Planting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When selecting plants we consider the environment, and plants needing additional regular watering \u2013 other than for establishment \u2013 are not used. Our aim is to enhance habitats, to encourage year round wildlife activity, and introduce adaptability to cope with any impact of the effects of global warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond plant selection, we also adopt water conscious methods and practices that minimise water use, without sacrificing beauty or productivity. Some examples are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>We apply mulch, derived from our green waste, which helps to reduce evaporation, suppress weeds and keep soil temperatures stable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>We focus on building healthy soil, as it holds more moisture naturally. By mixing in organic matter, we boost water retention and promote deep strong root growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>We group plants with similar water needs together; this technique known as hydrozoning allows us to water more efficiently.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2019 we have been using drought tolerant varieties of tender perennials including Rudbeckia, Dahlia and Salvia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year many regions have experienced prolonged heat with little rainfall, putting a strain on gardens and landscapes. The photos below demonstrate how adept these drought tolerant species are to drought conditions with no watering whatsoever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Salvia have established here very well, are softly structural and full of colour. In the past this area would have been planted with an annual bedding scheme which can require watering during difficult phases of weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.20-AM.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.20-AM.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.20-AM-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.20-AM-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.20-AM-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.20-AM-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Drought tolerant planting at the north east corner of Hatherly Labs<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.21-AM-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2641\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.21-AM-1.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.21-AM-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.21-AM-1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.21-AM-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.21-AM-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When selecting plants we consider the environment, and plants needing additional regular watering \u2013 other than for establishment \u2013 are not used. Our aim is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1117,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,71,75,93,147,201,217],"tags":[2007,567,609,769,2003,1999,2001,1941,2009,1317,1333,2005,2011],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Drought Tolerant and Water Conscious Planting - Budding news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2025\/07\/30\/drought-tolerant-and-water-conscious-planting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drought Tolerant and Water Conscious Planting - Budding news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When selecting plants we consider the environment, and plants needing additional regular watering \u2013 other than for establishment \u2013 are not used. Our aim is [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2025\/07\/30\/drought-tolerant-and-water-conscious-planting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Budding news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T09:59:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T09:59:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2022\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-16-at-8.33.20-AM.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vtp201\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vtp201\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2025\/07\/30\/drought-tolerant-and-water-conscious-planting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2025\/07\/30\/drought-tolerant-and-water-conscious-planting\/\",\"name\":\"Drought Tolerant and Water Conscious Planting - 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