Anyone who has scrolled through properties for sale in the Algarve will have noticed how few of the gardens are lawn. Gravel, olive trees, rosemary and a handful of well-placed pots carry most of them. That isn’t a fashion choice. Water is scarce and expensive in southern Portugal, so the planting grew up around it. After a run of hot summers and hosepipe restrictions, British gardeners are starting to reach the same conclusions, usually a little later than they would have liked.
Start with the soil, not the plants
Mediterranean plants don’t want rich, damp soil. Lavender, rosemary and cistus sulk in heavy clay that holds water round their roots, and they do far better in something gritty. If your soil is heavy, dig in a generous amount of horticultural grit, or plant on a slight mound so rain runs away from the crown. A layer of gravel mulch about five centimetres deep does two jobs: it keeps moisture in the ground and keeps the plant’s neck dry.
Plants that earn their place
Lavender and rosemary are the obvious choices, and they are obvious for good reason. Cistus, the rock rose, flowers for weeks in early summer and shrugs off drought once established. Santolina gives a silver mound that stays tidy with one trim a year. Sedum and sempervivum cope with a shallow, sunbaked bed where little else will. An olive tree makes a good focal point in a large pot, and in a sheltered southern garden it can go in the ground.
Group plants by how much water they want. It sounds fussy, but it stops you giving the thirstiest plant in the bed the same treatment as everything else, and it is the single easiest way to cut watering time.
Watering habits that make a difference
Water deeply and rarely, rather than a little every evening. A good soak encourages roots to go down, where the soil stays damp longer, while a daily sprinkle keeps them near the surface and dependent on you. Early morning is better than evening because less water is lost to evaporation and the foliage dries before nightfall. A drip line under mulch is cheaper than most people expect and wastes far less than a sprinkler.
New plants do need regular water in their first year, and that is the point at which many gardeners give up on a dry garden and decide it doesn’t work. It does work, but it needs one summer of attention first.
What to do with the lawn
You don’t have to dig it up. A smaller patch of grass, kept for the children or the dog, uses far less water than a front-to-back lawn. Letting the rest go golden in August does it no lasting harm, and most lawns recover when the rain returns. Where you want ground cover without mowing, creeping thyme tolerates foot traffic and smells good when it is stepped on.
A note on British winters
The bigger risk in the UK is cold and wet together. Most of these plants tolerate a hard frost better than they tolerate sitting in a puddle, so drainage matters more than shelter. Raised beds, sloping ground and gravel all help. Choose the sunniest spot you have, accept that a few plants will die in a bad winter, and keep cuttings from the ones you care about.
