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Saving Water
With another summer in the UK
of newspaper headlines screaming about drought alerts, this is
a topical subject. However the situation is broader than simply
ordering a hosepipe ban, and climate change may well make it
a long term issue. So how can the gardener help?
Firstly plants themselves both
hold water and prevent evaporation from the soil, so it goes
without saying that a fully planted area is better than hard
paving. Adding a good layer of mulch also helps in retaining
the moisture content of the soil.
Where you do pave your garden,
permeable materials assist water to percolate into the ground
rather than run-off into the drains -something as simple as pavings
bedded in sand, rather than tarmacadam, makes a substantial difference
in reducing run-off.
Water from roofs can be collected
and stored in rainwater butts for garden irrigation, and if you
use a hosepipe, then evening watering reduces evaporation and
gives the water chance to percolate deeper. Similarly if you
can find a way to divert bathwater with a recycling valve, then
this too can be used for irrigation. If you live in a rural situation
and have a large garden, you might investigate the use of reed
beds for purification of waste water from the house.
Anyone designing a larger garden
could incorporate SUDS -Sustainable Drainage Systems. This is
where landscape features such as rheins are used as temporary
holding ponds in the event of heavy rainfall. This prevents the
drainage system from becoming overloaded and again allows a greater
proportion of rainwater to percolate into the soil.
Finally, if you are lucky enough
to have a stream or river in the garden, consider adding a small
hydro-electric generator to serve your electricity needs -you
will need permission from the river authority and have to take
steps to protect wildlife, but none theless it can be a valuable
way of meeting your energy needs.
Further Information
- Elemental Solutions
-sustainable water and energy consultancy run by Nick Grant in
Hereford. He offers strategic and detailed design to Passivhaus
and AECB energy and water standards, water efficiency advice
and detailed design of low impact wastewater treatment systems.
- Leaky
Pipe -porous, recycled
rubber hoses and irrigation equipment for the watering of horticultural,
landscape, garden, and equine situations.
- Robert Bray Associates -leading consultancy on Sustainable Drainage Systems
used as a means to deal with surface water runoff.
- Suffolk
Barrel -traditional handmade
barrels and water butts, along with cast iron village pumps.
- Water-butt.com -exactly as the name says -just a huge
range of rainwater butts, both above and below ground.
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- Featured
books:
- The Low-water No-water Garden:
Gardening for Drought and Heat the Mediterranean Way - A Practical Guide with 500 Stunning
Colour Photographs
- Pattie Barron
- Paperback -Sep 2008
- Price in UK pounds
- Price in US dollars
- The Dry Gardening Handbook:
Plants and Practices for a Changing Climate
- Olivier Filippi
- Hardcover -Aug 2008
- Price in UK pounds
- Price in US dollars
- Rain Gardens: Managing Water
Sustainably in the Garden and Designed Landscape
- Nigel Dunnett and Andy Clayden
- Hardcover -May 2007
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- Price in UK pounds
- Price in US dollars
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