HERE ARE SOME SIMPLE SUMMER WATERING TIPS
* Water plants thoroughly once a week, to encourage them to send out deep roots. Plants with shallow roots will wilt and die after only a few days of drought, whereas plants with a strong, deep root system will be happy for weeks.
*Buy a water butt (or two) and if you have planted borders around the house, consider disconnecting your drainpipes so that rainfall will irrigate them directly.
* Don’t use sprinklers – they cause huge amounts of water to be lost by evaporation .
* Never water in the middle of the day – as much as 30 per cent of the water used to irrigate gardens is lost to evaporation.
*Try to water at night, when temperatures are normally cooler and winds calmer.
* Try planting a gravel garden which needs minimum water supply, looks very attractive, is low maintenance and will offer a very wide choice of beautiful plants – Visit the web-site of the doyenne of drought gardening, Beth Chatto, who has a unique nursery in Essex – http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/
* Choose other plants that need less regular watering such as palms, cordylines, oleanders, agapanthas and the fabulous Echinacea which thrives in drought and looks good all summer:
Visit the Plant pages on the Home Page for pictures and descriptions of more inspirational climate change plants.
http://www.myclimatechangegarden.com/blog/plant-collection
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:23 am
Install a rainwater harvester.
95% of all UK homes simply allow all the rain that falls on the roof to flow away through the drains to the sewage treatment works, overloading them with water and causing pollution problems as they can’t cope with the extra flow rates.
If you have a garden then you probably have room for a rainwater harvester as well.
USE the rain, don’t LOSE it.
July 11th, 2010 at 9:08 am
Thanks for the tips. Considering the present water shortage that we are facing in Southern California, these tips are really helpful. Just to add to the list here are some more simple suggestions for a water wise garden: http://www.bewaterwise.com/knowledge01.html
January 7th, 2011 at 3:07 am
Yes i agree with all, we waste such a lot of water in our gardens. A gravel garden is by far the most water efficient garden and is almost entirely maintenance free, i use a permeable weed supressing mat under mine and it is wonderful; no weeding or watering at all. Other simple suggestions ofr a water wise garden:
http://www.themediterraneangardener.co.uk