South facing front garden help please...

[OrgasmicScalp]

We have tried a few plants either side of our front door and they all end up dead or scorched.. Our front is south facing and gets seriously hot sun all day. What plants would thrive in direct sun and no shade?
We've had lavender and a clematis and also some mini trees. I try to water them daily but sometimes I forget.
My husband said I ought to buy some artificial bushes as I can't kill them or a dirty great big cactus!
Any ideas appreciated

I have olive trees either side of mine and they can take full sun and partial shade.

How about succulents, they are drought resistant and come in different shades and textures.

Something like this

Are you talking about pots or in the ground? I have pots either side of my front door and incorporate silica granules into the compost and have a water reservoir in the bottom - it isn't brilliant but stores some water.
At the moment I have Lenten roses, pansies, thyme, bulbs ( daffodil and grape hyacinths, ) ajuga and cinerana (silver leaf bedding plant - it produces a yellow flower but really grown for the leaves) in the pots. In the summer I have annuals- petunias and cosmos like it but I keep them watered ( usually the washing up bowl thrown on them!
Planted in the soil in the front I have borage, phygellus ( South African species looks a bit like a giant fuscia) more thymes, lavender, rosemary, the perennial genaniums which self seed- I have the blue version and the pink ones. I had a ceanothus for ages but it got too big and have clematis but the secret with them is to get plenty of stones covering the roots supposedly to keep them cool..

Clematis definitely don't like being scorched so wouldn't try those again, but lots of plants would be happy there, once established - that's the crucial bit.

They need a good deep root run to get down to where the soil doesn't completely dry out - if you are planting in the ground? Appreciate this is sometimes difficult near the footings of a house where there has been other landscaping like paths and steps.

Not sure if you are planting in containers though? Is so, make them as big as possible, but the plants - not too big! Bay might be OK here, as well as olive. Maybe an impermeable pot material rather than terracotta - metal will also get hot in the sun, so perhaps ceramic with a glaze doesn't need to be shiny)

Worth including something in the pot that retains moisture - not sure what would be best but the garden centre will know!

And then 'mulch' over the top with pebbles or stones, that will keep the soil shaded and moist but let the rain and watering can water though easily.

Good place for inspiration for plants for dry conditions in Beth Chatto - it is a lovely garden on very dry gravel in semi-arid Essex, so they know what survives! And they sell stuff too.

Our previous house had a hot dry south facing front garden. Previous owners had crazy paved it (I know), with pockets for plants... I think this may have helped keep the roots moist? Anyway, it had a small yew tree, fuscia, lavender, sweet box and some other dull shrub whose name I don't remember. I also added Mexican fleabane which self seeded everywhere, and had some sedum in a pot. The lavender also self seeded in amongst the slabs.
Clematis needs it's roots to be cool, so that probably wouldn't work well unless the base was in shade.

Californian poppies

Cordylines have worked well for us. I think the Red Star?

Oh, I also had a geranium in the tiniest pot in hardly any soil attached to the front wall, and somehow that survived with virtually no watering!

Also best not to water daily - once they have settled in, water very thoroughly but only when the soil is very dry poke in your finger That way the roots will be drawn down to the bottom of the pot/deeper into the soil, where conditions are more steady and they aren't vulnerable to you forgetting/going on holiday for a week etc

The other type to try would be types of palm op. They can be quite stunning and survive scorching heat and down to quite low minus temperatures,

Wow thank you.. Lots for me to explore!
I should have said that it'll be in a pot as we don't have any soil at the front. Just a driveway and path so looks very bare..

Also to add that there is no shade at all..
Full hot sun with nowhere to hide!

Bear in mind that big pots dry out less quickly so that helps with watering. Don’t buy ones that are shaped like a saucer though, go for more of a normal pot shape.

Those succulents look so pretty. Think I need something with a bit more oomph and size as the front is bare. Would love to get something to grow in a pot and then climb up.. have romantic honeysuckle dreams

I have some massive pots that my mum gave me so will use those. They are terracotta though?

Candycane.. I didn't know that! It makes sense though so thank you. No wonder my pots don't survive when I'm away. I have alot to learn!

I have a front garden which is south facing and the sun has scorched my beautiful viburnums that have done very well in my back garden in part sun/part shade. The jasmine, mahonia and pittosporums are surviving though. I am now going to copy my neighbour's garden as they have the same aspect and clearly know what they're doing. They have lavender, ceanothus, laurel, wisteria and hydrangea (hydrangea is very thirsty).

Good plan WellTidy
Ill look at those plants too

Lavender doesn't need massive watering. & you should never water in full sun.
Clematis likes cooler shadier position.

Does it frost ? If not you can try orange/lemon trees. (Some spikes though)

I have a south facing front garden. I have a clematis which was here when we moved in and it seems to do fine. I also have a rose bush, again was here when we moved in and a fuschia bush, which has actually grown under the walls doors garden but I don’t mind as I love it.
Over the years we’ve had various plants in pots, marigolds, pansies, daffodils and tulips, obviously they are more spring than summer/all year round. We’ve had lavender but it doesn’t seem to survive the winter. Nemesia? Is a nice one smells amazing and seems to do ok, but again only seems to last one summer, for me anyway. Oh and I have a hydrangea in a pot, it’s doing well too.

Lots of great suggestions .

I have a big pot of shrubby convolulous on my forecourt . It's evergreen and does well .It's in a v large but v cheap metal pot that someone was throwing away . I lined the pot with bubble wrap ,but water still able to drain away .

I tend to add vermiculite to compost to help keep moist .And a little of the water retaining granules you can buy . Not too much because plants dont like to sit in wet soil in winter .

Top tip is to make sure that the level of the compost with plants in it is a good inch or two below the top of the pot .I find this hard to do but if you have too much compost and it's level with the pot top it makes watering hard as the water tends to run off .

And water less often but give it a good drenching - as said upthread .

you should never water in full sun

That has been disproved now - loads of research about it. If you don't water something that is parched, it will be dead by the time it is in shade later in the day. People always used to say that water droplets acted as little magnifying glasses and the sun would scorch the leaves, but that is a fallacy. After all, we get thunderstorms in the summer, everything is soaked and the sun comes out 5 minutes later. Nothing gets damaged.

OP - terracotta pots are porous and dry out more quickly than glazed or plastic pots. How about either olive, bay or rosemary?

I have a Salvia in south facing in full sun. Not a very wide flowerbed by road.

I've never managed to kill a potted grass, I have but I don't know the name of it. It need to be in a pot or it goes everywhere. I've tried not watering it but it's impossible to kill.

I should have also said liriope, which is evergreen but flowers. I have it in purple and white.