Bob explains some on the ground solutions for healthy plants and planet
If we’re not standing sheltering in the shed listening to a deluge, we’re probably wishing it would rain about now. As this is the month when our plants are growing fast and in rather desperate need of water, yet it is often also a time of drought with peak sunshine and bone dry soil. The weather is so changeable we have to be prepared for almost anything right now.
There’s little we can do when faced with constant rain, but we can cope with droughts by watering, if we have enough water that is. Unfortunately (but understandably) during periods of severe drought the water companies issue hosepipe bans to stop folk using tap water on their lawns. Unfortunately this also stops us using it on our homegrown vegetables.
So what can we do if a hosepipe ban hits?
Firstly, check what restrictions your local water company is implementing – you can usually find this on their website. Some may have a complete ban while others, as happened in 2023, may still permit the use of hosepipes to water food crops.
Some of the regulations may seem extreme – but water shortages are very real, so we have to find ways to adapt and work around whatever is happening with the water at the time. This is why saving rainwater throughout the year and recycling bath or shower water is so important in our increasingly unpredictable climate.
Using a syphon to fill multiple butts
A syphon is incredibly effective at moving water around and really useful for reducing the effort of watering by moving water from, for example, a butt on the patio to another water vessel that’s closer to where you want to use the water, such as on the veg bed.
You simply connect rainwater butts with a hose that goes over the rim and hangs down to near the bottom of both. Once this is filled it automatically maintains the level the same in both butts, so that rain filling the butt on the patio simultaneously refills the butt on the veg bed.
On level ground this works fine, but on a slope you need to raise or lower one butt to adjust so the lower one stands higher. Incidentally this is an accurate way to get a true level for ground works.
A ‘treasure hunt’ for wells!
Now you can connect more than two butts with syphons. The butt that’s receiving rain on the patio can top up a half dozen hidden in a shady corner which in turn feeds one on the veg. patch, and another in your greenhouse. This increases your storage capacity immensely and rainwater is usually nicer for plants than tap water anyway. So get more butts and some hose straight away around the garden space you have to hand.
It may be also worth investigating whether there’s an old well in your garden, but be sure to consult a qualified engineer and your solicitor and, if there’s an old well that can be restored, do take steps to ensure it’s 100% safe for children and animals if so.
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