The Surrey village famous for its flowers, wilting after two months with no rain

Piles of crisp, fallen leaves would normally be a sign that autumn is approaching. But in Wisley, they are falling at the height of summer, alongside dried-up ponds and lawns scorched yellow. The Surrey village – home to one of England’s most popular public gardens – has gone a record-breaking 56 consecutive days without rainfall, according to the Met Office. Wisley’s drought streak, which surpasses the 36 consecutive days it went without rain during the 1976 heatwave, is the longest of any area in the UK this year. Shorts The village is home to RHS Garden Wisley – which welcomes more than one million visits each year and is the charity’s flagship garden. But visitors this week spoke of their concerns over how the prolonged dry and hot conditions are impacting the formerly green village. “You don’t have green grass anywhere,” said Pete, who only wanted to give his first name. The hot and dry weather brings challenges for amateur gardeners and experts alike Another visitor said they had noticed the pond at the Butterfly Lovers Pavilion had “dried up”. Leigh Hunt, principal horticulturalist at RHS Garden Wisley, told The i Paper that each year “brings a lot of different challenges in the garden, and it’s definitely kept us on our toes”. Hydrangeas uprooted for new home Staff at the garden have been adapting by starting work at 4.30am to care for the plants, and not watering certain collections such as arboretums. RHS director of gardens and horticulture, Tim Upson, said while the wider treescape at Wisley remains green and key areas of the garden continue to look good, some parts have been affected by the prolonged summer heat. “Some trees, such as the common birch, betula pendula, around the periphery of the garden are yellowing with early leaf drop,” he said. The RHS is reviewing how and where to allocate water among its five gardens as part of emergency plans to future-proof for droughts. Projects this year include increasing water storage in tanks and lakes and investing in rain garden installations. “It’s about using it [water] very carefully and wisely, either on the plants that need it most or in some of the very high-profile areas that people really enjoy, so that Wisley remains to be a beautiful place,” Hunt added. Taking cuttings of RHS Wisley’s beloved hydrangea collection and finding a new home for them at RHS Garden Bridgewater, in Greater Manchester or RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon, are also being considered. But while Wisley’s dry spell is approaching the UK’s longest on record – 73 days, observed at Mile End in London in 1893 – forecasts suggest the area could see light rain sometime next week. A parched RHS Garden Wisley as England experiences a record-breaking hot and dry summer (Photo: Basher Eyre) Exotic flowers flourish Either way, some more exotic plants that are used to dry conditions are flourishing. Upson said: “Star flowering plants at the moment include the crape myrtles, Persian silk trees and hibiscus, all examples of significant plantings made in the last 10 years of plants able to perform in drought and heat.” Meanwhile, Hunt added that the “traditional long borders are looking stunning at the moment with all the sunlight and the heat have actually really suited the flowers down there, the water goes to those because we know that those are things that people love to see”. Residential gardens are also struggling amid the prolonged dry weather and Surrey’s hosepipe ban. A man who was out with his dog on nearby Ripley Green, who did not want to be named, said: “I can’t water all the shrubs that I’ve paid several hundred pounds for. I’ve lost about four or five.” Locals at Ripley Green said conditions were the worse they had ever experienced Frances Porter, resident of Ockham which shares a large common with Wisley, is also struggling to keep plants in her garden alive. The Ockham and Hatchford Residents Association chair added: “I did have some lilies, but they came and flowered, and then they sort of died in about a week. They normally last like a month and a half or something like that.” In Ripley, the neighbouring village, Jeff Richardson, owner of Richardsons florist, has noticed customers are coming in earlier in the day to avoid the heat. Jeff Richardson, who owns a florist shop in Surrey, has had to keep more flowers in the store’s cold room Richardson is keeping more flowers in the shop’s cold room, a climate-controlled space that keeps cut flowers fresher for longer. “We are becoming more European in terms of our climate and perhaps we’ll be changing, it might affect our pattern of opening,” he said. “It might be something whereby we shut for the middle part of the day.” Wildfire fears In Wisley Common, the Farm Pond has all but dried up. Porter, who regularly walks across the common with her dogs, is concerned about the impact on local wildlife. She said: “The pond is virtually nothing left. I think by the end of the weekend, there will be no water there.” Pond Farm, Wisley Common in July 2025, left, and today (Photo: Surrey Wildlife Trust) The area, managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust, typically relies on conservation grazing herds of sheep and cattle to prevent the overgrowth of scrub. But the extended drought makes providing water and wider welfare for these animals a substantial challenge, James Herd, director of reserves management at Surrey Wildlife Trust, said. Another concern is wildfires, which he said can have a “devastating effect on the complex web of flora and fauna that exists in these rare habitats”. “Without the checks provided by rainfall, these fires can spread rapidly over larger areas, burn for longer and have devastating effects also on rare wildlife including adders, and lizards, nightjars and dartford warblers, not to mention hundreds of plant and invertebrate species.”