droughtTips and tricks for draught-resistant gardens | The Compleat Home Gardener

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, July 15, 2026

The third week of July is when rain may not be enough to keep your perennials and shrubs in good health.

Designing a landscape that can survive on rainfall alone is a practical way to cut back on your monthly water bill. In Western Washington we have a flood of interesting trees, shrubs and perennials that do not have drinking problems.

Here is some inspiration for an Unthirsty Garden.

Best Trees that will survive on rainfall in Western Washington

Japanese maples, vine maples, smoke tree and any tree sold at local nurseries that is placed in the right location.

The first few summers newly planted trees might need additional water but after that the root system of a healthy tree should provide all the moisture the tree needs. Just remember the secret of a good mulch but don’t pile mulch up around the bark of a tree. Two to three inches of wood chips or bark dust on top of the root system of a tree is the easy answer to drought stress.

Best Shrubs for Western Washington that adapt to drought

Shrubs for the shade: Aucuba japonica, Sambucus, native huckleberry, salal and mahonia plus well planted hydrangeas, yews and viburnums.

Tip: To add year long color to a dark entry way consider the shiny green leaves with spotted foliage of Aucuba ‘Gold Dust’ as this evergreen thrives even in dry shade. You can start growing Aucuba as a gallon plant in a container garden near the front door then transplant it to a garden bed when it grows too large for the pot. Not only is this colorful shrub fast growing and easy to propagate from a stem cutting but it will survive growing in the shade of cedar trees.

Shrubs for the sun: smoke tree, potentilla, spiraea, barberry, Sambucus, hypericum, junipers, mugho pine and so many more! Just notice what shrubs survive around abandoned homes or in parking lot islands without irrigation.

Go on vacation! Best Perennials for Western Washington that are drought resistant

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ or ‘Madrone’ are both upright perennials with flat, late summer flower panicles that the pollinators love. Russian sage, lavender, yucca, cordyline, black mondo grass, lady’s mantle and most any perennial with gray or felted foliage can survive most summers on rain fall alone.

Tip: Deep roots are the secret to less water so dig a deep hole and loosen up the surrounding soil when adding any new plant. Form a basin around the stem of the plant with a mulch to capture rainfall after planting. Newly planted perennials will always need more water as they have not yet established a root system.

Groundcovers that block weeds and don’t guzzle water:

Creeping Jenny gets a bum rap because she is a bed hopper but in dry soil this low-growing perennial will behave with more decorum and spread beneath trees, shrubs and other perennials to discourage weeds while she shades the soil.

Creeping Jenny is also called Moneywart and has the Latin name of Lysimachia. The yellow form is brilliant and striking especially in the shade but this adaptive groundcover also thrives in sun. Creeping Jenny can also be used in drought resistant container gardens as spiller . It may disappear in the winter but wakes up with fresh foliage in the spring.

Warning: Do not plant Creeping Jenny or any other aggressive groundcover is rich soil or where it will be regularly watered. It becomes invasive – you have been warned.

Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of “Easy Answers for Great Gardens” and several other books. For answers to gardening questions, visit plantersplace.com and click “As The Expert”. Copyright for this column owned by Marianne Binetti. For more gardening information, she can be reached at her website, www.binettigarden.com.