Climate-Resilient Garden Design Strategies for Extreme Heat and Drought

In the summer of 2020, a prolonged and punishing heatwave swept through British Columbia. Crops failed across neighboring farms. An organic farm nearby lost nearly its entire season, along with their farmers’ market income. Raspberry patches burned—not from fire, but from sustained extreme temperatures that quite literally cooked the plants where they stood.

Our Growing To Give community farm was different.

On our shared acre of land, crops didn’t just survive — they thrived. Leaves stayed green. Roots stayed cool. Tomatoes continued producing. While fields around us showed unmistakable signs of heat stress and loss, our plot looked almost untouched.

The difference wasn’t luck. It wasn’t constant watering. It was design. Preparation. And an approach that treated extreme heat as a certainty — not an anomaly.

Resilient to Drought and Extreme Heat: Where to Begin

Climate-resilient garden design starts underground. Extreme heat kills from the ground up. Protecting the root zone is the first and most important strategy.

1. Protect the Roots First

Bare soil is the enemy during extreme heat. Exposed soil temperatures can rise dramatically, stressing roots and reducing microbial life.

• Eliminate bare soil. High-density planting allows foliage to naturally shade the ground.

• Create living ground cover. As plants mature, their leaves form a protective canopy over the soil.

• Use agricultural ground cover mulch. Manufactured or organic mulches stabilize soil temperature and reduce evaporation.

When roots stay cool, plants can continue nutrient uptake even under extreme conditions.

2. Water Smarter, Not Harder

Drought isn’t just about lack of water — it’s about water loss. How irrigation is delivered matters more than how much is applied.

• Deliver water directly to the root zone. Avoid overhead watering during heatwaves.

• Water early morning or after sunset. Minimize evaporation.

• Avoid runoff. Encourage deep, resilient root systems by slow, targeted irrigation.

Efficient irrigation systems reduce waste and build long-term drought resilience.

3. Design for Airflow and Shade

Plants under heat stress need protection — but not suffocation.

In our open-ground systems, shade cloth wasn’t necessary even during extreme temperatures because the design itself created cooler microclimates.

• Avoid fully exposed vertical trellises in extreme heat. They can expose fruit to sunburn.

• Use ground-based or spiral growing systems. These promote airflow while maintaining canopy shade.

• In container systems (like Arizona), position crops beneath orchard trees. Natural shade is often more effective than synthetic cloth.

Good airflow reduces disease pressure while maintaining cooler leaf temperatures.

4. Choose Heat-Resilient Varieties

Not all crops are built for extreme conditions.

• Select heat-tolerant cultivars.

• Prioritize perennials and native-adapted plants.

• Avoid planting cool-season crops too late.

Climate resilience means working with your environment — not fighting it.

Designing for the Climate We Have Now

That season made something very clear: extreme heat is no longer rare. Gardens and food systems must be designed for present-day conditions — not nostalgic ones.

With proper root protection, smart irrigation, airflow planning, and plant selection, even intense heat and drought don’t have to mean crop failure.

In our case, they didn’t.

And when food security is at stake, resilience isn’t just a gardening strategy — it’s a responsibility.

About Siobhan Shaw

Siobhan Shaw is a community agriculture advocate, gardening writer, food security nonprofit founder, and contributor to Homes & Gardens. She is the creator of Cancer Bites Podcast and Community, an initiative focused on bringing comfort and joy to those experiencing cancer.

Through her work with community farms and collective growing projects, Siobhan has helped design agricultural systems built to withstand extreme heat and drought. She works closely with Crop Circle Farms, whose innovative growing systems have informed many of the resilience strategies she uses in the field.

Her nonprofit work centers on growing food where it’s needed most, with a focus on climate-adapted design and community impact. She is currently living with metastatic breast cancer, and her legacy is to leave people and communities with the knowledge to grow better, eat better, and pass on that experience to the next generations.

Learn more at growingtogive.org.