The Met Office is forecasting 2007 to be the warmest year on record worldwide. With the recent downpours, it takes a leap of the imagination to fast forward to an arid summer, but with last year’s sultry temperatures in mind, at least forewarned is forearmed. Rather than panic in July and August, when everything is wilting, gardeners can plan ahead to ensure the high temperatures and any water shortages have minimal impact.

Even if the summer is wet, there is no harm in taking a few steps to make things as low-maintenance as possible — after all, a garden is primarily for enjoyment rather than hard work. As you leaf through the catalogues or plan this year’s display, it’s a question of changing your attitude towards the garden as much as what you put in it.

Collecting water: although gardens account for only 3% of domestic water use, according to the Royal Horticultural Society, in peak times (usually in the evenings, after two rain-free weeks) 70% of water supplied is used in the garden. So, in times of shortage, restrictions are usually applied to gardens first.

Rain has been plentiful this winter, so it makes sense to buy a water butt as soon as possible to take advantage of the free supplies falling from the heavens — before the rest of the population realises this is the clever thing to do and the shelves empty. Many councils sell water butts at discounted rates.

You could also install a secondary butt to collect “grey” water from the bath or shower, dregs from the kettle, the contents of hot-water bottles and so on. DroughtBuster is a simple siphon device that will pump water from a (cold) bath into a hosepipe fed through the bathroom window into a butt or straight on to the garden. It is not particularly elegant, but it does the job and saves you staggering in and out of the house with a bucket.

If you’re collecting grey water, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Keep your soap and shampoos natural and don’t let the water hang around in a butt for too long as it will go rancid. When watering the garden, keep grey water for the nonedible plants, just to be on the safe side, and reserve the rainwater for the veg.

Earth management: soil that has lots of organic matter in it, either dug in or as a mulch on top, will act like a sponge, soaking up any rain or water that comes its way. In flower beds, ground- cover plants and decorative mulches such as composted bark minimise weeds and the soil’s exposure to the sun. In the veg patch, you can get away with less sightly mulches, such as black membranes or even newspapers spread over the surface and covered with grass clippings or compost. Cut holes in the membrane or newspaper, so plants that can grow through.

Whatever you cover the ground with, ensure the soil beneath the mulch is moist when you apply it, or else you’ll just keep the soil cosy and dry. In veg patches and flower beds, keep the soil well-weeded, too, so the plants you want aren’t competing for water with those you don’t.

Right plant, right place: if you don’t want plants to dry out, make sure they are not in exposed sites, where they are in danger of desiccation from the wind. Personally, I can’t see the point of planting up hanging baskets, small pots and window boxes with thirsty annuals if you live in a dry area — it just means more work for you and problems when you go on holiday.

Instead, choose low-maintenance varieties that are happy in dry conditions, such as pelargoniums, calendulas and petunias or, better still, succulents, such as sedums. Plant them in the biggest pots you have, as these will dry out more slowly. If your pots are terracotta, consider putting a plant in a smaller black plastic pot and dropping this into the larger pot for the same reason.

Lawns: in a hot, dry summer, it makes life a lot less stressful to let go of ideas of a perfect apple-green sward — sprinklers use 1,000 gallons of water an hour and are quite rightly one of the first things to be banned during restrictions. Resolve to keep the grass a little longer, so the foliage shades the ground and roots below, or even resist mowing parts of it at all (consider it a “meadow”). If you are thinking of buying a new mower, get a mulching model — one that returns the clippings to the turf. Both John Deere and Hayter make them.

Or, if you have an area that isn’t subjected to heavy traffic and is welldrained, you could consider planting a camomile lawn or path, which you can now buy as ready-grown turf. The camomile will release a sweet smell when walked on and will need little cutting or maintenance.

DroughtBuster hosepipes cost £19.99, 0870 803 1255, www.droughtbuster.co.uk; Mulching mowers: John Deere, visit www.johndeere.com for suppliers; Hayter, 01279 723 444, www.hayter.co.uk. Camomile turf: the Turf Shop, 01652 678 886, www.turfshop.co.uk. For more water-saving advice, visit www.rhs.org.uk/advice or www.environment-agency.gov.uk

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