By the Dart • Garden Design Garden design by Colette Charsley The Times They are A-changing


It is a depressing and soul-destroying sight to see your garden at best sodden and water-logged and at worst completely or partly flooded. our climate is changing. Dramatically. our usually reasonably benign weather is becoming more extreme. Winters are getting much wetter, often with successions of violent storms. summers are getting hotter and drier. there is no point trying to fight


We need


to re-appraise how we design and plant our gardens.


this. We need to re-appraise how we design and plant our gardens. the Dutch, for whom climate change is perhaps a more immediate threat, have adopted a radical approach. Cities like Rotterdam are preparing to lose the battle against climate change by turning as much space as possible into giant sponges. they are not trying to keep the water out but are coming up with strategies to live with it. As an example they are creating ‘water plazas’ - squares that are designed to flood that are set lower than the surrounding streets and giant planted swales that will also absorb water. this is the mind-


Raised beds with porous path


set that we can adopt, albeit on a more domestic scale. If you are able to, consider creating areas in your


garden that can flood and hold excess water. these can be planted as swales or allowed to form temporary


ponds. Raised planting beds will drain much more quickly than the surrounding ground and will also add good structural elements. If they are built about 45 cm high they can also be used for seating. Alternatively plant on mounds that are about 25 cm higher than the surrounding soil, add grit to help drainage, particularly under bulbs. Probably one of the most


Raised bed with gravel planting


important things to do is to add as much organic matter as possible to the soil. this will not only help drainage and improve the soil structure but thick mulches will retain moisture over the dryer summer months. use water permeable materials


wherever possible, particularly on paths and terraces, you can also raise them slightly and add a gentle camber. If water sits on these it will encourage algae and moss to grow which will make them very slippery. there are a surprising number of plants that will tolerate these conditions. some suggestions include:


• silver birch • amelanchier • crab apples • geranium rozanne • hemerocallis • astrantia • miscanthus sinensis varieties


• fuchsia magellanica ‘Riccartonii’


• geum • phlox paniculata • verbena bonariensis • aquilegia • digitalis purpurea


colette@charsleydesign.com • www.charsleydesign.com t: 01803 722449. m: 07774 827799. Follow me on Twitter @ColetteCharsley


Professional Landscape and Garden Design


Creative and beautiful designs for village, town and country gardens


Colette Charsley PG Dip OCGD 01803 722449 07774 827799


colette@charsleydesign.com www.charsleydesign.com


sunken Areas Flooded


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