No, we're not advocating sneaking out in the middle of the night with a sprinkler--just go for a garden that doesn't need a lot of water.

Millions of householders are likely to be hit with hosepipe bans this summer, thanks to lower rainfall in the past two years -- and even relatively wet Worcestershire could be affected.

However, your garden doesn't have to become a desert. You can always create your own dry garden, which will thrive without much water and provide you with colour and texture all summer.

Drought-tolerant plants often come from the Mediterranean, where hot, dry summers are the norm. The plants are often characterised by their leaves, which can be silver or grey, covered in hairs, very small, shiny or with a waxy sheen.

Some have thick, fleshy leaves and stems which hold water, while roots may be long, growing deeply in the soil to seek out moisture further down.

Colourful options include alliums (ornamental onions), the upright bulbs which produce huge balls of purple flowers, lavender, euphorbia, pinks, phormium, plus evergreen herbs like rosemary and thyme, whose aromatic foliage is naturally waterproofed by oils.

Other good candidates include self-sown seedlings including Californian poppies (Eschscholzia californica), hellebores, Verbena bonariensis and wallflowers. If you let seeds grow where they fall, their roots won't be disturbed and they will dig deep to find water.