Landscape Design
How and What to Plant in Dry, Sunny Spots
Save water and improve your site’s look with these design tips and help from a pro
Dry, sunny and wind-swept places in the garden often pose a challenge for the home gardener. But extra watering to keep plants alive in those places is a waste of your time and resources. Beyond planting drought-tolerant plants, I also encourage you to think about how you can have a space that takes advantage of full sun.
Use Plants That Bloom
Prolific flowering plants, like wildflowers and plants used for cutting gardens, need a lot of sun to produce many blooms. A full-sun exposure is a prime opportunity to create a garden bursting with flowers, as long as you use plants that are drought tolerant as well.
Learn Your Garden’s Microclimates for a Resilient Landscape
Prolific flowering plants, like wildflowers and plants used for cutting gardens, need a lot of sun to produce many blooms. A full-sun exposure is a prime opportunity to create a garden bursting with flowers, as long as you use plants that are drought tolerant as well.
Learn Your Garden’s Microclimates for a Resilient Landscape
Join the Meadow Movement
Ornamental grasses have gained popularity in residential landscapes, and there are more species available in nurseries today than ever before. Grasses are fantastic for dry, sunny spots because they are adapted to full sun, harsh winds and dry soils.
Choose grasses that are native to your region and read up on the prairie gardening movement. If you dream of a flowing prairie garden with wildflowers peeking up through long grasses, get it started in a dry, sunny space.
Ornamental grasses have gained popularity in residential landscapes, and there are more species available in nurseries today than ever before. Grasses are fantastic for dry, sunny spots because they are adapted to full sun, harsh winds and dry soils.
Choose grasses that are native to your region and read up on the prairie gardening movement. If you dream of a flowing prairie garden with wildflowers peeking up through long grasses, get it started in a dry, sunny space.
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Use Funky Succulents
I’m astonished by some of the alien forms I’ve discovered in succulent plant collections at botanical gardens in arid climates. Indeed, they have spirals and spikes and blooms that are out of this world. Succulents make a statement in the landscape. Plant them in groups to create a succulent community. Start with one or two large species, like an agave or a yucca, and fill in with the smaller spreading ground cover types, like sedum and small echeveria. Succulents thrive in the driest and warmest conditions.
I’m astonished by some of the alien forms I’ve discovered in succulent plant collections at botanical gardens in arid climates. Indeed, they have spirals and spikes and blooms that are out of this world. Succulents make a statement in the landscape. Plant them in groups to create a succulent community. Start with one or two large species, like an agave or a yucca, and fill in with the smaller spreading ground cover types, like sedum and small echeveria. Succulents thrive in the driest and warmest conditions.
Protect From the Wind
Wind exposure can destroy plants over time — either cold winter wind or hot summer wind. Both extremes can contribute to dry site conditions. Once you’ve determined the direction the wind is coming from, you can redirect it with a wall or hedge, creating a buffer.
Walls have two sides: the windward side, which faces the wind, and the leeward side, which is fully protected. The wall’s leeward face is its most protected spot. If you put in a solid wall, you create a protected pocket of space where sensitive plants can be planted. A wall with a south face and a north face will have very different microclimates on either side. Also, be mindful of the color of the wall, because color affects how the wall will reflect or absorb heat and will impact the immediate surroundings.
Hedges are like a living wall that buffers from the wind. Both hedges and walls can define spaces in the garden. Think of them as parts of a framework for creating outdoor living spaces.
Wind exposure can destroy plants over time — either cold winter wind or hot summer wind. Both extremes can contribute to dry site conditions. Once you’ve determined the direction the wind is coming from, you can redirect it with a wall or hedge, creating a buffer.
Walls have two sides: the windward side, which faces the wind, and the leeward side, which is fully protected. The wall’s leeward face is its most protected spot. If you put in a solid wall, you create a protected pocket of space where sensitive plants can be planted. A wall with a south face and a north face will have very different microclimates on either side. Also, be mindful of the color of the wall, because color affects how the wall will reflect or absorb heat and will impact the immediate surroundings.
Hedges are like a living wall that buffers from the wind. Both hedges and walls can define spaces in the garden. Think of them as parts of a framework for creating outdoor living spaces.
Rethink Your Slope
You can terrace a steep slope if it is making water drain too quickly from your hot, sunny spot. The image here shows terraced pockets in a variety of configurations that create layered raised planting beds for flowering plants. Terraces add a lushness and spatial dimension to even small sloping garden spaces.
You can terrace a steep slope if it is making water drain too quickly from your hot, sunny spot. The image here shows terraced pockets in a variety of configurations that create layered raised planting beds for flowering plants. Terraces add a lushness and spatial dimension to even small sloping garden spaces.
Maintain
Best practices for a sustainable garden are important in dry, sunny areas. Mulch around your plants to retain moisture and to protect plant roots from temperature fluctuation extremes. Also, add compost and organic matter to improve the moisture-retention capacity of the soil.
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Best practices for a sustainable garden are important in dry, sunny areas. Mulch around your plants to retain moisture and to protect plant roots from temperature fluctuation extremes. Also, add compost and organic matter to improve the moisture-retention capacity of the soil.
More on Houzz
Read other stories about landscape design
Browse landscape photos for inspiration
Find a home pro for your project
Shop for outdoor products
Your specific conditions should inform your landscape design. First, take in what’s going on in your dry and sunny spot. What is making this area in particular drier and hotter than other areas of the garden? It is probably a combination of things. Some factors could include:
- Facing south. Is the garden area facing south — that is, does it have a southern exposure and full sun most of the year? Use the southern sun to your advantage and grow plants that thrive in the full daylight.
- Exposed to wind. Is wind whipping through the area and creating dry conditions? Locate the predominant direction of the winds — which may change depending on the season — and use this as an opportunity to screen the wind. Hedges and walls are great design opportunities to define a space.
- Free-draining soil. Is the soil particularly sandy or on a steep slope? The soil may not be holding moisture well because it lacks organic matter, or the ground may be sloped so that water is draining off the surface and not percolating into the soil.
One or more of the above? A very dry site will have one or more of these conditions. See how these can be used as design opportunities.Work with a landscape designer in your area