Interesting article; thanks. I do a lot of those things, too: fall planting, mulch (wish I had the kind Kew makes), selecting plants that tolerate periods of drought, and planting or taking advantage of sheltering plants that create a microclimate. Like England we had a very warm and dry March, with no rain for four weeks, and by now a full year of generally warm and dry weather, interrupted by three weeks of intense cold in February. It has just rained, finally, though not heavily, but the forecast predicts rain for next week.
The interesting thing is that the garden has been going great guns. Plants are as lush as can be and growing almost visibly; my husband has to cut the grass continuously to keep up with it; and the Teas are having their best season in years. I was worried about them getting through a summer drought after suffering so much damage, but they're putting out long red canes as I continue to cut off the old growth killed by canker or cold. Since we still have most of April, and May, before us, I think they may be able to grow enough to get through the summer, even if it's a dry one.
My suspicion is that many gardeners, in many situations, water more than they need to.
Melissa
P.S. Like Kew, we don't water our grass, EVER. When it's green it's green, and when it's brown it's brown. But it always comes back, thicker and fuller every year. It seems the main thing is to cut it, and leave the clippings lie.

I saw the picture posted of Kew Gardens on another thread - interesting to read the article after seeing that picture.

Nothing like experience gained over 170 years. I liked the point about fall planting to use the winter rains to help settle the plants. That is a good thing to do here, too. And mulch- that's some kind of system they have going.

Anne...great article...I remember the odorous locale of the giant compost.

Aside from the mass plantings of roses, Kew has many very old rhododendrons that yield colour at the most appropriate time.

{{gwi:257215}}

Two days on the grounds...and I was just starting to find my way around...what a collection!

Wow...the summit of garden glory, I'd say.

What a gorgeous scene! Truly lovely. I love it that a rhododendron planting is called a dell. Wonderful that it has its own name. Of course, there is another name for for a wild growth of native rhododendrons in the Appalachian mountains. Hunters in the old days could get lost there and wander hopelessly for days, so they called it "laurel he!!".

Alas, with my pH 8 soil, rhododendrons fail for me. Somehow I do manage with blueberries, similarly needing acid soil, but I grow them in a heavily amended raised bed and I monitor the soil.

I am guilty of wandering off the topic, so I will end here.

Rosefolly

Folly's thought was my own -- it was that Rhododendron "dell" that caught me. Who KNEW they could look like that? Even in the PNW, I've not seen anything quite like THAT!

And of course, we all want what we can't have.
No rhododendrons for us here in my alkaline conditions. But it's nice to dream. :-)

Jeri

Jeri,
That photo shows a garden at its peak of glory. I can't grow acidophile plants either, but a picture like that is a spur to me to realize an equivalent glory with the plants I can grow. The scale and height, the volumes and empty spaces, the massive and beautiful bloom, the play between sameness and difference, all these I can create in my garden using plants suitable to my conditions.
Melissa