A hosepipe ban expected to affect 20 million people has been put in place across the southern and eastern parts of the country, sparking fears of a long hard summer for gardeners.
How can you make your garden look good, without worrying about getting the hosepipe out and risking a £1,000 fine?
Here are ten tips from leading garden designer Andrew Fisher Tomlin to help you make sure your plants continue to thrive:
1. Water correctly – get the water to the plant at the base near to the roots rather than just spraying over the foliage.
2. Water at the right time – evening and very early morning before the sun is up are ideal.
3. Recycle washing up water, a bowl of warm water for a tree can work wonders.
4. Store water – get a water butt to store excess water when it does rain.
5. Plant the right plants – those with silver and pale grey narrow foliage like Lavender, Rosemary and Perovskia are excellent, as are conifers and grasses.
6. Plant in a waterwise way – close together to get a good root system going.
7. Mulch with bark mulch to conserve water in the ground.
8. Install a water butt – even a short shower can fill up a water butt quite quickly and give you water.
9. Don’t forget you can put a water butt on a shed as well as a house, doubling the storage you can have.
10. Start composting now for future droughts because a good coverage of composted house waste will help conserve water in the ground in the future.
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