Guides · Water
A garden that survives without watering
Hosepipe bans are now normal in France for part of most summers. A garden that depends on a tap is a garden that dies in the year it is banned.
Drought-tolerant does not mean drought-tolerant on day one. Every one of these plants needs two summers of deep, infrequent watering to put roots down, and then genuinely none. The failures happen at both ends: not watered at all in year one, or still watered in year five, which keeps roots shallow and rots the collar.
Three details do most of the work. Plant in autumn, so winter rain establishes the roots. Plant slightly high, never in a dish that collects water, and on heavy ground plant on a raised gravel mound. Then mulch with 5 to 7 cm of gravel rather than bark — gravel keeps the collar dry, stops evaporation, and reflects heat away from the crown.
The look follows from the plants: silver and grey foliage, small leaves, upright grasses that move, flowering that peaks in June and dries rather than rots. It is not a compromise garden. It is the garden this climate is actually asking for.
The four rules
- 01Plant in October or November. Spring planting means a first summer on life support.
- 02Gravel mulch, 5 to 7 cm, kept clear of the stems. Not bark, which holds damp against the collar.
- 03Water deeply once a week for two summers, then stop completely.
- 04On clay, mound. Winter wet, not summer drought, is what kills a dry-garden plant in France.
The plants
12 species in our database are rated low water — 1 tree, 1 hedge, 4 shrubs, 2 grasses, 4 perennials. Prices are French retail nursery prices per plant, 2026.
| Species | Type | Height | Spacing | Price | Why it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OliveOlea europaea · Olivier | tree | 5,00 m | 5,00 m | 240 € | Needs sharp drainage; on clay it is planted on a raised gravel mound, never in a sump. |
| SilverberryElaeagnus × ebbingei · Chalef | hedge | 2,50 m | 0,60 m | 15 € | Evergreen, salt- and wind-proof: the hedge for an exposed or coastal boundary. |
| Cotton lavenderSantolina chamaecyparissus · Santoline | shrub | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 8 € | Silver mounds that hold their shape all winter and ask for nothing. |
| LavenderLavandula × intermedia 'Grosso' · Lavandin | shrub | 0,80 m | 0,60 m | 9 € | Dies of wet feet, not of cold. On clay it goes on a 20 cm gravel ridge. |
| Rock roseCistus × purpureus · Ciste | shrub | 1,20 m | 1,00 m | 12 € | Flowers for six weeks on poor ground and resents being fed. |
| RosemarySalvia rosmarinus · Romarin | shrub | 1,20 m | 0,80 m | 11 € | Evergreen structure and a kitchen crop from the same plant. |
| Autumn moor grassSesleria autumnalis · Seslérie d'automne | grass | 0,50 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Plant in blocks as a low matrix: it closes the ground and stops weeding. |
| Golden oatsStipa gigantea · Avoine géante | grass | 1,80 m | 1,00 m | 13 € | Holds its structure through winter and catches low western light. |
| Mediterranean spurgeEuphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii · Euphorbe des garrigues | perennial | 1,10 m | 0,80 m | 10 € | Architectural all winter. Wear gloves: the sap burns skin in sunlight. |
| ThymeThymus vulgaris · Thym | perennial | 0,30 m | 0,30 m | 5 € | Plant it where you walk past it, at the terrace edge and along the path. |
| Wood sageSalvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' · Sauge des bois | perennial | 0,60 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Flowers twice if you cut it back hard after the first flush. |
| YarrowAchillea 'Terracotta' · Achillée | perennial | 0,70 m | 0,50 m | 7 € | Flat heads that read well against grasses, and it does not need staking on poor soil. |
A gravel mulch costs about 24 € per square metre in materials, and it is the cheapest line in any budget that saves the most work later.