Anyone managed to save their garden from the heat?

[Janesdufflecoat]

We are South East with a small garden with raised beds on 2 sides, even with daily watering the heat has decimated my plants!

Been and bought a few new ones today to try & brighten it up abit but with a hosepipe ban looming I'm not optimistic!

Has anyone managed to save a similar garden?

We have a new garden this year as my husband finally finished the landscaping , it’s mainly lawn ( brown ) with one long border and lots of containers . We are also SE but everything we have planted has flourished luckily .

Ironically my pots have survived even really small ones but the beds have really struggled, even though everything in full sun is supposed to be suitable for full sun! 🤷‍♀️

OP, are you actually sure they are dead? Perennials will often shrivel above ground while maintaining healthy roots below, and will regrow as soon as there is decent rainfall, or next spring. I’ve been fooled into buying expensive replacements in the past, only to have the “dead” originals miraculously put forth new leaves from the woody stems.

I wouldn't waste your time tbh. I used to have a massive garden and I'd spend hours and hours watering all the plants with a watering can after work in very hot, dry years, it didn't work and the annuals all died, most of the perennials came back the next year.
None of the plants like tap water.
You are better off letting the garden die down early, cut everything back that's dead and hope for a better rainfall next year,
generally plants are very good at recovery and would have spent the hot weather throwing down deep roots in a bid to find ground water so they will actually be better next year.

My husband said this - they'll comeback next year - I guess just disappointed because it was looking great & now it doesn't! 😕

I've done loads of cutting dead stuff off today - planted my new ones & given it a really good water - hopefully what's left will perk up abit!

Choisya, fuscias and roses are thriving in my garden without any watering so thinking about filling in gaps with more of those. Other things not so much! But not taking anything out until I see what they do next year. (In the east so been very dry).

I just didn't thousands on my garden (mostly hard landscaping). I've been watering the beds. I chose tropical plants as garden is north facing and gets no sun in the winter, but quite a bit in the summer. Should have gone Mediterranean! Grass is dry as a bone but will come back.
I've been watering every other day, obviously hope the hose pipe ban coming Wednesday doesn't last too long!

I planted a lot of Sedums/Stonecrop and the sun has done wonders for them. They are fairly drought resistant. Got rid of lawn as the ground is very stony and has lots of tree roots from neighbouring garden. These trees also shed dead foliage and it’s a never ending process clearing them up. Flowers in containers are not doing well but a few shrubs are clinging on in pots 😊

No. There’s some survivors but also some losses. We’re going to take note of the survivors for future planning.

Yes Hedda will do this too! I don't have any lawn, decking & paving, it really is small so I don't have to worry about that!

I lost a lot. But like U my garden is brand new. and only a small section isn’t south facing all day.
In the end I dug up some, put them into pots and moved them to the only shady part of the garden and I managed to save them.

I don't water the garden, except a couple of times when a plant is new.
Rarely loose anything that doesn't come back.

Mine looks tatty but the shrubs have made it through. I didn’t put any annuals in this year so I’ve not had much colour. The baby trees I put in last year or over winter have made it through with a bit of watering. My new hydrangeas haven’t, but I guess we’ll find out next year if the roots made it.
Roses did ok this year and hollyhocks gave lots of colour but that was about it for flowers.

I’m waiting for some consistent rain to begin and will put some autumn plants in then for colour.

Mine is knackered after 40 degrees - the shrubs have singe marks. Not much growth either this year, which is depressing. The perennials are coming back just now, after looking like they were utterly dead.

I'm hoping to mulch and a wet autumn. The ground in the SE so dry, its like dust.

None of my sown annuals did well at all such as cosmos and linaria, they died very quickly. Only annual that thrived was the borage. I didn't bother watering them as I was trying to conserve water. I used washing up water now and again for the roses, shrubs and some youngish trees I have. Some of new raspberry plants had gone to crisp and lychnis coronaria too.

I didn't want to lug my washing up bowl 15m from the kitchen to the garden minding the narrow walkway to the pots and garden in the awful heatwave. It just felt like too much effort.

Thank the gods for the recent rain we've had. Can't wait for the end of week for more rain!

Yes, one of the few advantages of a North facing, heavily shaded garden.

This what didn't need watering
Salvias
Lavender
Agapanthus
Marigolds
Sage
Rosemary
Sedum
Christmas rose
Jasmine
Passion flower
Wisteria
Camellia
Rose (nearly dead)
Olive
Succulents

These died
All bedding plants
Gooseberry riboflora

South west south facing garden

I'm south-facing, so lots of sun all day long in the summer. My Japanese anemone is flowering now and my cyclamen too, surprisingly as they normally flower in the late winter/spring time. It goes to show which plants that are resilient in the heat and those that can't survive.

Raised beds are more vulnerable to the heat because there is more surface area to lose moisture from, and also just like containers, the roots get hotter because the ground can't function as well as a heat sink.

As others have said, start watering now to help those plants that are still alive. Lots will be dormant. After you've watered, mulch the beds with compost, bark, gravel or stone chippings to keep the moisture in.

For the future on very hot days in a small garden you can shade the plants to keep the worst of the heat off them. Cover them in horticultural fleece or a bed sheet during the midday period or all day on those horrendous heatwave days. I would also consider getting some of those heat reflective car windscreen shade things and standing them in front of the raised beds on hot days, to keep heat off the roots.

Get into the habit of saving your grey water from kitchen sink, showers etc. Leave a basin or bucket in the sink then tip on the garden whenever it's full. Water one spot heavily and rotate rather than sprinkling the water everywhere each time, to make sure the water is reaching the roots and isn't wasted in evaporation.

If you have room for a container pond or two, that will help your garden feel cooler and be great for wildlife.