A saving of over £15,000 in your lifetime? By employing some of these Top Ten Tips you save money, time and the World’s water.
It is said that Britons spend up to £30,000 on their gardens, in their lifetime.1 As well as spending a substantial amount of money, this takes a huge investment of time and water. The tips below have been collected to help you know how to cut down on time, money and water.
- Cut your grass less! Lawns can survive long periods of dry weather if the grass is not cut too short. (Even if your grass turns brown, it will recover quickly after a few days of rain.)
- Water your garden in the cool of the morning (or evening.) Water thoroughly and infrequently. This will reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation, and little and often encourages roots to stay near the surface.
- Fit a trigger nozzle to help control the flow, if you must use a hosepipe. This could halve the amount of water wasted.
- Use a Water Butt to collect rain water. This water can then be used to water the garden. By ignoring the hose, you can save up to 15 litres of water per minute.
- Plant flowers and shrubs that survive in hot climates, thereby needing less watering. Some examples are thyme, evening primrose, rock rose, Californian poppy, pinks, lavender, buddleia and hebes.
- Leave plants alone until they show signs of wilting. Watering too often wastes water and the roots remain shallow which ultimately weakens the plant.
- Use mulches such as wood chips, barks and gravel help to prevent water evaporation. They also suppress weed growth, saving you water and time!
- Weed and hoe your garden regularly. This ensures that watering helps plants, not those nasty weeds!
- Fit a water metre if you use a sprinkler. Water companies recommend this to cut down on water usage: sprinklers can use as much in an hour as a family of four uses in a day.
- Try to plant ground cover plants. This prevents evaporation from the soil.
Sources:www.independent.co.uk Nov 2015