The Messier Bits: Our First Summer Dry Bed
I began this bed in 2020, in the autumn. It was the first time I’d tried putting all my summer dry/Mediterranean style garden research into practice. I was nervous, and it all felt wrong, back then.
It was a huge change for me to NOT dig the soil and to add no compost, no blood and bone, nothing at all to the soil or the planting holes. The only thing we added was 10 inches of ramial woodchip mulch.
The first year was extremely dry and the plants came through ok without any irrigation, but looking a bit grey. But since then this bed has sailed through the dry and has developed into a colourful, resilient garden.
For more information about this method of gardening see
Cutting the edge and spreading mulch.
The garden is planted but the cutting grown plants are so tiny you can hardly see them.
The first year was extremely dry, but I didn't put on a hose.
Year two and starting to show some promise.
Curry plant, achillea terracotta and lavender.
Autumn of the third year. The red tree is amalanchier, with sumac on the right.
Sumac above autumn colour of euphorbia grifithii Dixter.