Anne Swithinbank
A keen fruit, vegetable and house-plant grower, Anne was formerly the glasshouse supervisor at RHS Garden Wisley.
Matthew Pottage
Matthew is the curator of RHS Garden Wisley, the flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society in Surrey.
Pippa Greenwood
Pippa is one of the foremost experts on pests and diseases. She gardens using organic methods.
Q I mulch my sandy, sunny, plot but it dries out. Help!
Pat Bedford, Ceredigion
A ANNE SAYS Water, organic matter and nutrients disappear fast from sandy soils so success is all down to choosing the right plants for your site and soil. On your well-drained sand, Mediterranean plants should survive cold winters but if there is any waterlogging, it’s best to mound or raise beds slightly.
As moisture always collects under stones, your best mulch will be a hard material – probably slate in your part of the world.
Cercis siliquastrum, the Judas tree, should thrive on your site and if you have shelter from wind, try unusual yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea).
For a small evergreen shrub, Portuguese hairy canary clover (Lotus hirsutus) is hard to beat and cistus and lavenders should thrive, too. Salvia forsskaolii is also brilliant: hardy, drought-tolerant and seeds about well.
Visit the boulder garden at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire for more ideas.
Q&A TEAM ANSWER Dry, sunny gardens
A I cannot deny that the climatic extremes we are seeing are
