Saving water in the garden

The garden is the place where you can actually waste the most amount of water so we've put together a list of money and water-saving tips whilst caring for your greenery.

Ditch the sprinkler

This little device is the biggest culprit of water wastage using up to 540 litres of water every half an hour with the hose using around the same amount. It's actually more beneficial for some plants to get a good soaking every week rather than the 'little-and-often' method that the sprinkler goes for and the average garden can be watered sufficiently using a 10-litre watering can. Plants which have silvery, narrow leaves are good at surviving drought so don't need a lot of watering so plant these species to cut down on your watering bill. You can also use a good mulch that will retain moisture and reduce evaporation making it easier to cut back on watering.

Buckets and hoses

Washing the car with buckets of water rather than hoses can save you 500 litres per wash.

Conserve rain water

An average sized water butt can cater for all the watering needs in your garden over summer and save you 1000s of litres. If you're worried about breeding midges, make sure you get a water butt with a tight cover or get one with a tap at the bottom and cover the surface of the collected water with a layer of oil (vegetable or olive oil) to prevent the biting beasts from incubating.