Many gardens are assaulted day in, day out, by prowling cats, children careering around, plant pests (from deer to aphids), harsh weather, and more. Thankfully, there is a wide range of stoic plants that cope with the onslaught.
Which plants survive drought?
For low-rainfall regions (such as Essex) and no-water gardens (including rubble beds or gravel borders), drought-tolerant plants are essential, but they're also a godsend in regular gardens during heat waves and periods of drought. Hailing from warm, dry climates (California, South Africa, and the Mediterranean, for instance), they often have silver leaves (which reflect sunlight) and hairy or fleshy foliage (that helps to retain moisture). Felty lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina), architectural sea holly (Eryngium planum 'Blaukappe'), aromatic lavender (Lavandula angustifolia 'Rosea'), colourful opium poppies (Papaver somniferum), and leathery stonecrops (Hylotelephium × mottramianum 'Herbstfreude') are summer-flowering safe bets that laugh at drought and also provide food for bees.
Which plants do slugs hate?
After a mild, wet spring, the population of slugs and snails can soar, causing havoc in gardens that provide the leaves they like to nibble. Thankfully, there are lots of plants they will slide past. These include grasses and other plants with very tough foliage, such as Crocosmia 'Hellfire', as well as toxic perennials: euphorbia, monkshood, foxgloves, and Japanese anemones, for example. Unsurprisingly, they don't go anywhere near the thorns of roses or the woolly leaves of Lychnis coronaria. The slow, slimy army also ignores aromatics (such as lavender and nepeta) and avoids ferns, cranesbills, pinks, and cinquefoils. Luring hedgehogs (which eat slugs) and song thrushes (which smash and eat snails) by providing them with food, water, and shelter will help to reduce an overpopulation of gastropods.
Which plants are dog-proof?
Some plants are robust enough to cope with the occasional spray of dog urine and being charged into. They include lush sword fern, exotic-looking Japanese aralia, deliciously scented Osmanthus x burkwoodii, aromatic lavender, and box-alternative Euonymus japonicus. However, a male dog who pees on 'his' favourite bush day in, day out, will probably kill it in time. In which case, the only way to protect it is to blast the shrub with the hose or pour a watering can over it after he's cocked his leg.
Most dogs will not eat poisonous plants (because of their bitter taste and smell), but, if you have a puppy who chews everything, avoid toxic plants, such as yew and foxgloves.
What are the sturdiest football-proof plants?
As long they are not used as goals, a lot of shrubs will survive footballs being kicked into them every now and then. Hebes, skimmias, and cotoneasters, for example. Bamboos (such as Fargesia nitida 'Black Pearl') are also very robust. Smaller resilient shrubs include box alternative Rhododendron Bloombux, aromatic rosemary, and bee-friendly Ribes sanguineum 'King Edward VII', all of which make excellent low hedging. In pots or borders, the grass Carex testacea 'Prairie Fire', dwarf buddlejas, and violet-flowered Campanula portenschlagiana will bounce back from footballs, water guns, croquet, and cats using them as trampolines.
Which plants are low maintenance?
For people too busy to potter in the garden fiddling with sensitive plants, there are plenty of perennials that thrive without any attention. For example, the daisies of Mexican fleabane, architectural Achillea 'Paprika', pink and white Japanese anemones, caramel-scented nepeta, hot-pink Geranium macrorrhizum, and the lime sprays of lady's mantle. There is also a wide range of good-looking shrubs, which provide food or shelter for wildlife and need minimal or no TLC. For instance, the evergreens mahonia, sweet box, and Choisya ternata, which all carry beautifully scented flowers, and deciduous butterfly bush and dogwood 'Midwinter Fire', which glows pink orange in the winter sun.
Which plants resist pests and diseases well?
Although some garden favourites can be plagued by health issues or pests, there is a wide range of reliable plants that tend to thrive unscathed. Robust perennials include montbretia (such as golden 'Columbus'), salvias (including blackcurrant 'Nachtvlinder'), and bistorts (such as magenta 'Firetail'), whilst rugosa roses (for instance, baby-pink 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup') and many David Austin cultivars (such as apricot-pink Eustacia Vye) rarely fall prey to rose sickness.
Rabbits dislike plants that have tough leaves, toxic leaves, or thorns, and usually hop past red-hot pokers, sunflowers, day lilies, stonecrops (such as 'Matrona'), asters, and dahlias (such as 'Totally Tangerine').
Which plants survive frost?
In cold regions and frost pockets, where winter's bite is cruel, only the hardiest plants will do. Look for species and varieties listed with a hardiness rating of H6 or H7 on the RHS Plantfinder. For the flower border, foxgloves (such as Digitalis purpurea f. albiflora), cranesbills (including Rozanne), cinquefoils (for instance, 'Gibson's Scarlet'), Japanese anemones (such as 'Honorine Jobert'), and geums (for instance, 'Mrs J. Bradshaw') are tougher than the rest. More sensitive plants can be shielded with hessian, bracken, or straw, blanketed with mulch, or wheeled under cover until the temperatures lift again come spring.
Which plants are good for windy gardens?
Strong winds are not only capable of causing structural damage, they also hurl cold air at plants during winter. Pine trees offer incredible structure and scent, as well as the ability to grow in exposed sites. Cotoneaster and firethorn are wind-tolerant shrubs that boast evergreen leaves, blossom for bees, and berries for birds. 'Scabrosa' is a sizeable bee-friendly rose that can be grown as a flowering hedge; like all rugosa roses, it laughs at gales and salt spray. Low-growing plants are preferrable in borders to avoid the worst of the gusts: for instance, nectar-rich heathers (such as 'Myretoun Ruby') and vivid-orange California poppies. The low grass Stipa tenuissima looks gorgeous billowing on the breeze.
What are the best plants for coastal gardens?
On the coast, the candescent sun and salt winds are extremely desiccating, so drought-tolerant plants are top of the list, particularly those with silver and downy leaves that reflect light and catch moisture: Phlomis italica and Silene coronaria 'Alba', for instance. Growing a deciduous hedge (such as a native mix) as a windbreak is the best way to slow sea winds down by filtering them and creates a microclimate. This can be seen in iconic seaside gardens, such as Tresco Abbey, where 20,000 plants from 80 countries are happily cosseted by the arms of a dense windbreak, consisting of granite walls, trees, and shrubs.
Which plants cope with high rainfall, flooding, and wet soil?
In areas subjected to high rainfall or flooding, soil with good drainage is excellent, as it allows the water to filter away, so a rubble garden or a sand or gravel garden is a great idea. Alternatively, or as a complement to this, there are many plants that don't have a panic attack if the ground is sometimes saturated. They include dogwoods (such as 'Sibirica'), tussock grass (such as 'Goldtau'), hydrangeas (including Sundae Fraise), and geums (for example, 'Totally Tangerine'); fabulous trees include downy birch, red maple, and bird cherry.
Growing annuals, biennials, and short-lived perennials is great way to avoid the heartache of plant loss after flooding: try Angelica gigas and Verbena bonariensis.
Where the soil is naturally waterlogged – for instance, beside a stream – bog-garden plants are the stars of the show. Arum lilies inject elegance, while Asiatic primulas (such as Miller's crimson) and cardinal flowers provide a riot of colour.
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