RHS Waterwise Garden

How to design and create a water-saving garden

Is your garden struggling to cope with winter floods and summer drought? Find out how to transform it into a water-saving and water-absorbing haven that's fit to thrive as the climate changes.

Successful and sustainable gardens depend on one thing - water. Whether you have too much (or not enough), water is at the root of your garden, bringing life to plants, the soil and to biodiversity.

But with our changing climate, extreme weather events and limited resources, how do you make a beautiful, useful and long-term waterwise garden? Discover how to design a garden that will use water efficiently, work out the water flow in your garden, the key plants to grow for a changing climate, and how planting can be used to soak up excess water.

Whether dealing with flash flooding or ongoing summer droughts, creating sustainable drainage solutions or designing an ephemeral pond, now is the time to make your garden waterwise.