Waterwise gardening

It has been a very dry spring and summer has started off rather hot for many of us. We certainly have felt the extra watering demands on the nursery and in the garden centres. Getting into good waterwise habits at home is always a benefit not least in times of summer drought. Here are our top waterwise gardening tips for this summer:

Use Grey water

Ok so it may not necessarily be grey but grey water is the term given to water used in households. Whilst we may not want to drink our bath water, plants aren’t so bothered. It is estimated that UK households use 29% of mains water for baths and washing up. You could syphons bath water to fill watering cans and take your washing up bowl outside to water your plants. Just ensure you let the water temperature cool before you use it and don’t store grey water as this will bred germs. Equally we don’t recommend using grey water on crops you will eat raw.

Prioritise plants

Most established plants in borders will cope with a period of drought and green up again after rain comes. Prioritise your watering needs to plants that really need it such as new plantings, plants in containers, seeds and seedlings and crops (fruit and vegetables).

Go automatic

Installing a timer controlled irrigation system t your garden can limit the amount and amount of time you water your garden. Control timers (like those from Hozelock or Flo pro) can be fitted to your tap and then connected to hoses which in turn connect to drip feeders or sprinklers. Drip irrigation reduces water loss through evaporation as drips are feed directly to the roots where plants need the water. Low pressure systems can even be fitted to rainwater butts.

Timing

Always water either first thing in the morning or in the cool of the evening. This minimises the amount of water you will loose to evaporation.

Harvest

You can install a water butt to any rainwater downpipe you have on the outside of your building. It’s simple to install and you can link several water butts together. Collecting rainwater is free and means that you have a ready supply of garden water when the sun comes out to play!

Find everything you need for waterwise gardening at our Exeter based garden centres.