The beat-the-ban garden

The meticulously manicured lawn, a defining feature of our gardens for centuries, is about to be mown down by the latest trend. Exotic gardens, featuring a wealth of ways to beat Britain's pervasive drought, are set to dominate this year's Chelsea Flower Show.

Only one out of the 19 show gardens being unveiled next month will have any semblance of the traditional English lawn. And, in a departure from previous years' shows, where variations on European gardens have reigned supreme, 2006's show gardens include those from or inspired by Australia, Africa, New Zealand, the USA, a prehistoric landscape and even a gorilla enclosure.

The average British trowel-wielder, devoted in their own backyards to traditional cottage-type planting, is in for a bit of a shock. Drought-resistant plants and water conservation will dominate at Chelsea - and an awful lot of concrete. There is the 100 per cent New Zealand Garden, featuring a black sand beach fringed with forest, an Australian garden with slow-growing native grass trees, and an African garden showing how you can harvest and recycle water, plus a garden celebrating plants from around the world, as well as the "Walking Barefoot with Bradstone" display, with water collection channels in the walls of the garden.

Bob Sweet, organiser of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, said: "We are delighted with the ingenuity shown by some of the designers who have included water conservation within their designs. Olives, palms, grasses and even cacti are in abundance in the gardens at this year's show."

Graham Pockett, designer of the Gorilla's Jungle Garden, said: "We are moving away from the traditional English garden and I think it is a good thing that the old idea of a sprinkler to keep the English lawn going is becoming less and less acceptable." For Alan Capper, one of the creators of GardenAfrica, it is all about making every drop of water count: "Water harvesting is crucial, collecting as much as possible that we can then use to irrigate the garden."

But for some, water-efficient gardening is nothing new. Southern Water's Bewl Water Reservoir in Kent has established a garden designed to deal with a globally warmed Britain - and it has not been watered in six years. Award-winning landscape designer Rod Chism, who created it, said: "I do think the days of the English lawn are numbered; it is just not an economical use of water. Exotic gardens are the direction that we are going in." But garden designer Chris Beardshaw disagrees: "I cannot see lawns becoming a thing of the past. They are an integral part of any English garden and can be sustained in a green state through the summer by deep watering in the spring, easing off during the summer, and raising the cutting height on your lawnmower."

Britain is set to suffer its worst drought this summer for more than 100 years. Southern Water announced this week that its reservoir levels are down by 20 per cent on their normal capacity and water pumped from aquifers is nearing all-time-low levels in some cases. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has now joined calls for gardeners to help conserve water and is supporting the promotion of a dry garden, complete with artificial lawn, which will be launched at the Hampton Court Flower Show in June.

The Chelsea Flower Show is not immune from the shortages. Last week organisers began to sink a 100m borehole, using an oil-style drilling rig, to provide more than 100,000 gallons of water for the show's thirsty flowers, ponds, and water features. And, for the first time in the show's history, exhibitors will be subject to a voluntary hose-pipe ban.

DRY GARDEN TIPS

If you don't like exotic-looking plants, yet want ones that are drought-tolerant, use less-thirsty natives such as viper's bugloss and mullein, that thrive in sandy coastal districts.

Use a mulch, such as gravel shingle or bark on the soil to suppress weeds and retain moisture. This will help keep the soil cool and reduce water evaporation.

Don't weed obsessively. Allow drought-resistant natives and accidental seedlings to flourish.

Buy shrubs and large perennials,not lots of thirsty little bedding plants. If you must, choose petunias and pelargoniums.

Collect and reuse rainwater and waste-water to irrigate your garden.

Limit hanging baskets and small containers.

Vegetables that need little water include French beans, beetroot, carrot, rhubarb and berry fruits.

Lawns guzzle water; accept that they will develop dry patches during a drought, and don't mow them so often.

FIVE HOT DESIGNS

Walking Barefoot with Bradstone

Designers: Sarah Eberle with Andrew Herring.

Features domestic sustainable drainage system, with water collection channels in the walls of the garden.

Fleming's Nurseries Australian Garden

Designer: Dean Herald.

The barbecue space is developed with a working outdoor kitchen, a lounge and a kids' play area - all surrounded by drought-resistant planting.

Garden Africa

Designers: Alan Capper and Ross Allen.

Features reclaimed materials and intermediate water-harvesting technologies, which have drainage channels leading to a central mandala.

The Saga Insurance Garden

Designer: Cleve West.

Plants are surrounded by gravel to reduce moisture loss. Three sculpted concrete vessels will collect rainwater.

The 100% Pure New Zealand Garden

Designer: Xanthe White.

Leptinella dioica 'Seal Island', a fast-growing perennial and alternative to the traditional lawn, will be seen in the UK for the first time.