Which Vegetables Cope Best with Drought?

A dry summer does not have to mean a bare vegetable patch. The first thing to do is change how you water: use a watering can rather than a hosepipe, water in the evening or early morning, and put a water butt on a downpipe to catch rain¹. The second is to keep moisture where it is: mulch the soil, group thirsty crops together, and choose varieties that mature quickly.

Some crops do better than others when water is short. Deep-rooted plants such as carrots and parsnips reach water below the surface and open up the soil for shallower crops the following year⁴. Brassicas such as kale, cabbage, turnips and broccoli grow over the winter months, and some varieties of spinach beet will survive frosts⁵. Quick, small varieties crop well at close spacing, which suits a plot where every drop counts⁵.

Then there is the legal side. If a hosepipe ban is in place where you live, you cannot use a hosepipe connected to your mains water supply for things like watering your garden, filling a paddling pool or washing your car¹. There are exemptions, and several water companies exempt food crops grown at home or on a private allotment where a watering can is not feasible⁶. Check your supplier's own list before you assume anything.

Vegetables that cope best with dry weather

The most reliable approach is to match the crop to the conditions rather than fight the weather. Garden Organic's planning advice is built on rotation and root depth: deep-rooted plants such as carrots and parsnips open up the soil for more shallow-rooted plants such as salads the following year⁴. That single fact does a lot of work in a dry garden, because the crop that copes with dry soil also improves the bed for the crop that does not.

Winter cropping spreads the risk. Brassicas, including kale, cabbage, turnips and broccoli, will all grow over the winter months, and some varieties of spinach beet will survive frosts⁵. These are not drought specialists in the way a Mediterranean herb is, but they give you a harvest from a season when watering is less of an issue.

For the summer gap, choose small and fast. Mini-veg varieties are ready to harvest sooner than large size varieties, which Garden Organic notes is particularly helpful if you have a short growing season further north, and they crop well at close spacing⁵. A small plant needs less water to reach harvest than a large one, and close spacing shades the soil surface between plants.

If you want colour and structure in the dry parts of the plot, the RHS suggests Mediterranean plants such as lavenders, cistus and oleander, or oriental grasses and succulents, for naturally dry soil, with drought-resistant perennials including artemisia, brachyglottis, dianthus, echinacea purpurea, iris and papaver orientale¹⁰. South West Water's gardening tips name lavender, hebe, salvia, olive trees, chaste tree, euphorbia, cosmos, verbena, Californian poppy, globe thistle and sedum¹¹. These are ornamental and herb plantings rather than staples, but they fill the dry corners so the vegetables get the water.

Deep-rooted crops that find water below the surface

Root depth is the quiet advantage in a dry year. A carrot or parsnip sends a taproot down while the surface bakes, reaching moisture that a lettuce root never will. Garden Organic's rotation advice treats this as a structural benefit: the deep roots open up the soil, so the shallow-rooted salads that follow have an easier time⁴. In a dry year that is worth planning for a season ahead.

The same principle applies to perennial plantings. The RHS notes that a perennial wildflower meadow is more drought tolerant than a traditional all-grass lawn¹². If part of your plot is given over to grass or a rough edge, letting it grow longer without regular clipping lets it establish more strongly and become more resilient to drought, and you can include meadow flowers and bulbs¹².

There is a fire dimension to dry vegetation that matters in a hot spell. Prolonged periods of dry weather or drought conditions make vegetation highly flammable, according to Essex Prepared¹³. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service advises that during hot, dry spells you can consider using grey waste water for watering plants and lawns, so that even if there are limits on hosepipes the ground can be kept damp¹⁴. Keeping the ground around the plot damp is therefore both a gardening measure and a safety one.

Watering in a drought: when and how much

Timing matters as much as quantity. Cambridge Water is blunt: never water in the heat of the day, because most will evaporate and, if it is sunny, you run the risk of scorching your plants, and it is better to water in the evening or early morning². Cornwall Council gives the same instruction for gardens, watering in the early morning or late evening to reduce evaporation³.

How much depends on the plant. The RHS says established plants do not generally need watering in Britain, but their growth is usually improved by watering when they are under drought stress¹⁵. Newly planted fruit is different: water developing fruit plants, especially those near walls or on dwarfing rootstocks and any trees or bushes planted in the last 12 months, if the weather is dry for more than two weeks, and soak each area thoroughly¹⁶.

For containers, the rule is simpler. Water the container when the compost is dry, particularly during hot or dry weather, and stop watering when the potatoes are ready to harvest¹⁷. Pots made from plastic, glazed terracotta or wood hold moisture better than porous alternatives, and burying a pipe in a pot lets you water straight to the roots, according to NI Water's water-saving advice¹⁸.

A practical order of work for a dry week:

1. Check the soil under the surface before watering anything; if it is damp below, leave it¹⁵.
2. Water the newest and thirstiest plants first: recent fruit plantings, containers and seedlings¹⁶.
3. Water in the evening or early morning, and soak thoroughly rather than sprinkling².
4. Leave established plants and grass alone unless they are clearly struggling¹².

Keeping moisture in the soil with mulch and shade

Mulch is a practical water-saving measure on the plot. The RHS describes its purposes plainly: it provides frost protection, improves plant growth by adding nutrients or increasing organic matter content, reduces water loss from the soil, serves decorative purposes and suppresses weeds⁹. For a dry vegetable bed, the water-loss and weed-suppression roles are the ones that matter, because weeds compete for the same moisture. Water the plants well before applying mulch if it has not recently rained and the soil seems dry⁹.

Apply it properly. The RHS advises watering the plants well if it has not recently rained and the soil seems dry, then mulching⁹. Mulching over dry soil locks in the dryness, so the watering comes first.

Shade is the other lever. Garden Organic advises planting tall crops on an east to west orientation to prevent lower growing crops from being shaded out²⁰. That sounds like the opposite of shade, but the point is controlled shade: the tall crop casts a band of shade that moves across the bed rather than sitting over the low crops all day. The soil beneath stays cooler and loses less water.

Raised beds need a word of caution. The RHS says the higher the raised bed, the more soil you will need to fill it and the more watering it requires during hot weather²¹. A tall bed warms faster and drains faster. If you are building new beds for a dry site, a lower profile loses less. For more on constructing them, see raised beds.

Where a hosepipe ban limits what you can do

A hosepipe ban, formally a temporary use ban, means you cannot use a hosepipe connected to your mains water supply for things like watering your garden, filling a paddling pool or washing your car¹. The restriction is on the hosepipe and the mains supply, not on watering as such, which is why a watering can remains the default tool.

The exemptions are where it gets practical for a vegetable grower, and they vary by company. Wessex Water lists food crops grown at home or at a private allotment, where using a watering can is not feasible, among its garden exemptions⁶. Bristol Water lists the same, alongside trees, hedges and saplings planted within the last planting season where a watering can is not feasible, turf laid within the last 28 days, and newly bought plants for the first 14 days after purchase⁷. South East Water allows a hosepipe for trees, whips, saplings and hedging planted before the ban, in the last planting year, where a watering can cannot reasonably do it²².

Other exemptions are about the household rather than the crop. Bristol Water lists a hosepipe allowed where needed for health or safety reasons, for Blue Badge holders, for an approved drip or trickle irrigation system with a pressure-reducing valve and timer, for people with reduced mobility who cannot use a watering can without a Blue Badge, and for watering newly laid turf during its first 28 days²³. Affinity Water notes that limited hosepipe use may be allowed in wildlife-friendly gardens to protect the welfare of aquatic animals or wildlife, using the minimum water needed and stored rainwater or a watering can where possible⁸.

Saving and reusing water for the vegetable patch

The RHS's top five water-saving tips are: choose the right plant for the right place, improve soil with organic matter, mulch beds and borders annually, store rainwater from hard surfaces in water butts, and use mains water only as a last resort²⁴. That order is worth following, because the first three cost nothing and reduce demand before you get to storage.

Rainwater is the best source for the plot. The RHS advises using rainwater stored in water butts on established plants, but avoiding it on seedlings because it may contain damping-off diseases²⁴. For more on collecting and storing it, see water butts and rainwater harvesting.

Grey water is the other option in a dry spell. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service suggests using grey waste water for watering plants and lawns during hot, dry spells, so the ground can be kept damp even when hosepipes are restricted¹⁴. The RHS says grey water from washing up can be used to water ornamental plants in containers²⁴. Cambridge Water notes that grey water can be used for flushing the toilet, watering gardens and washing cars, helping to cut down water consumption by more than a third². Keep grey water for established plants rather than seedlings, and do not store it.

NI Water's list of household measures is a useful checklist for a dry summer: use a watering can instead of a hose to water plants, avoid watering lawns, buy water efficient plants, use pots made from plastic, glazed terracotta or wood, bury a pipe in pots to water roots, mulch to retain moisture, avoid washing cars frequently and use a bucket and sponge, take showers instead of baths, take shorter showers, wait until the washing machine is full, turn off the tap when brushing teeth, do not fill swimming or paddling pools and hot tubs, and consider whether pressure washer tasks are essential¹⁸.

Lawn or vegetables: where the water should go

If you have to choose, choose the vegetables. The RHS says grass can survive for long periods without water and will quickly recover from drought, and that unless you totally drench the lawn, watering encourages the roots to come to the surface, making it less tolerant to dry conditions². NI Water's advice is to avoid watering lawns altogether¹⁸.

There are exceptions. The RHS says only water a lawn if absolutely necessary, for example if you laid or sowed a new lawn in spring, and use grey water or stored rainwater rather than mains water where possible¹². Westminster City Council goes further and suggests replacing thirsty grass lawns with wildflower or clover meadows or drought-resilient gardens that require significantly less watering²⁵.

If you keep some lawn, let the clippings fall back into the grass to act as a mulch and hold in moisture¹². Weeds and moss in a drought-affected lawn may help it stay green and may be more resistant to adverse conditions, and are not always a bad thing¹². For the wider picture on dry spells, see heatwaves and drought.

Signs of drought stress and what to do about them

At garden scale, the signs are simple: soil that is dry below the surface, plants that stop growing, and leaves that wilt in the middle of the day. The RHS's guidance that established plants do not generally need watering in Britain, but benefit when under drought stress, is the practical test¹⁵. If a plant is clearly struggling, water it thoroughly rather than little and often.

At national scale, Defra's drought stages give the context. In a severe drought, defined by exceptionally low indicators over a long period of time, the possible impacts include widespread long term environmental damage, widespread wildfires, failure of crops or plants and shortage of fodder and drinking water for livestock, and failure of public and private water supplies¹⁹. South Staffs Water says its reservoir levels are the main indicator of drought conditions²⁶.

If you keep livestock or have a private water supply, the advice is more urgent. Farmers should monitor water levels and water quality closely during drought conditions, reduce non-essential water use where possible, and have plans in place for alternative water supplies for both livestock and essential farm operations before supplies become critical³. For households on a private supply, see when a private water supply runs low or dry.

One safety point that catches gardeners out after heavy rain follows drought. Do not eat any garden or allotment vegetables that have been covered by flood water, and leave undamaged vegetables in the ground for at least another 2 weeks and then only use them after thorough washing and cooking²⁷. A dry summer can end in a downpour, and the rules change with it.