If you live in the UK, then chances are that you are currently experiencing drought conditions. This means that the reservoirs and water supplies that serve your household and the surrounding area are somewhat lower than their normal levels. In order to prevent supplies drying up it is essential that everybody in a drought area reduces their water usage. There are a number of steps that you can take both inside the house and outside the house to help reduce your water usage. The steps below discuss what steps you can carry out to reduce the amount of water that you use in your garden. These steps aim to help those who are experiencing the hose pipe ban by offering alternative methods to using your hose pipe.
1. Buy a watering can. This will enable you to carry on watering your garden during times when hose pipe bans are in force and will substantially reduce water consumption in comparison to hose pipes.
2. Purchase a water butt. Attach the water butt to your roof drainage system so that any rain water that lands on your roof is stored. Ensure that an overflow pipe is fitted encase your water butt fills up. Where possible make the overflow pipe feed into soil so that excess water isn't wasted or passed into local sewage/drainage systems.
3.Use water from water butt. Using the watering can and the stored water from the water butt, water your plants and your grow your own produce accordingly.
4.Do not water plants during times of heat. Ensure that you water your garden at the coolest times of the day (i.e. first thing in the morning/in the evening) as this will reduce the amount of water that is evaporated from your lawn and plants.
5. Increase moisture retaining capability of the soil. To increase the moisture retaining capability of your soil purchase some water retention gel and mix with the soil within your tubs and containers. The moisture retaining crystals will absorb water ensuring that water is kept within the soil and not simply passed out of the planting area.
6. Increase stress tolerance of plants. Purchase stress tolerance enhancers and apply them to your plants to further reduce the need for moisture.
7. Have native plants and vegetables. Ensure that your garden includes plants and veg that are native to your region and are therefore more likely to require less water than plants from other countries or continents.
8. Relocate plants. Try moving plants from normal soil into containers and tubs as they will hold water for much longer than normal garden soil/compost. A substantial amount of water passed into normal garden soil will be passed further down into the earth.
Information obtained from my own experiences and from glogrow.com an online garden centre.
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