Mediterranean / Dry gardening

It kind of depends on what you consider to be Med plants, it seems to me that lots of the plants grown in the UK actually originate from further south in Europe.

As I understand it parts of the med area get quite wet winters, but probably they dont have sticky clay soils.

Drainage is surely going to be the key to survival and a hot summer to ripen wood on shrubs.

The drainage can be supplied, the hot summer, not.

Although I'm on clay and the winter/summer has been a bit wetter than normal its still dry about 4ins below the surface here.

 

I totally agree; lavender and red valerian being two examples found in most places in the UK.

 

Per my previous post re the Jet Stream:

The Met Office have put this 'summer's' weather into a 24-year context:
"Met Office forecaster Aidan McGivern said: ‘The UK’s summer so far has been remarkably cold by recent standards.

‘Since the year 2000, only 2012 was this cold from June 1 to July 8.’"

It saves me watering the pots though; is great for the pond and frog etc. It is what it is.

 

I seem to remember 2012 being very wet.
If its the year I'm thinking of it was exceptionally dry and warm up until the end of May at which point it started raining and it didn't stop until September, as the song goes.
I think there were floods in some places.

I think this year has that one beaten for rubbish weather TBH, this changeable weather actually started last October and we have struggled to get a longish settled spell since then.

 

And even when it has been dry, there has been much less sunshine that normal.

 

The Met Office say its been the wettest 18-month period since records began:
England soaked by record rainfall in last 18 months, new Met Office figures show

Add the equal coldest 'summer' in 24 years, it's been rubbish weather all round.

 

Another factor in my problem is a thin, shallow, gritty soil with a compacted shale layer only a spades depth below the surface. It puddles in wet weather and it is like watering a sieve in hot dry weather. When I first moved here 20 years ago I planted fruit trees etc. but almost every year we have a hose pipe ban during the summer, last year the ban was on for a full 12 months. I tried to keep my trees alive by watering but this year have left them to fend for themselves. Some have already dropped their foliage so will probably ascend to tree heaven in the next hear or two.