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H2O

josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
in Problem solving
I'm curious to know what everyone's doing about watering in this long spell of dry heat?  What's your attitude?  "I'm an eco-warrior; I use water as sparingly as possible; I collect rainwater and use grey water from the house on my garden.  I only water the plants that really need it."  Or more like: "I have soaker hoses and sprinklers and I spend a couple of hours every evening hosing mains water on everything.  Why wouldn't I?"
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  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Profits from Thames water go to some French company,I believe..If I thought they'd lose out, I'd use less water.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I pay higher council tax and hence water rates based on a large garden. I use the water with soaker hoses. I have spent a lot of money on plants, I am not going to let them die, because the water company couldn't catch enough when it peed it down for two month solid.  I don't water the lawn.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    A favourite crossword clue:

    HIJKLMNO _ _ _ _ _
    Rutland, England
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited June 2020
    The full range of answers above.
    I'm using a hose and siphoning bath / shower water via a hose from bathroom to garden. I do this every summer. It works very well. Thames Water has one of the best functioning and planned reservoir systems in the country. All the nations very 98% full in Feb. I do hope that will be enough.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    "Thames Water has one of the best functioning and planned reservoir systems in the country."
     That shot my argument into the water @Fire😊
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066
    I use soaker hoses on the back garden and water the pots every day.  I do have a water butt and use that water first but only having one it soon runs out.  I have watered the lawn once during  the recent hot spell but only after  forking it all over to a depth of about 6 inches.
    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    I don't have a choice. We don't have mains water, our house is supplied by a spring and we dare not risk it failing.
    After over 2 months with only 1 day giving any significant rainfall, we are rationing domestic water use with as much care as we can.
    My water butts are all but exhausted, the large pond is rapidly depleting and I water only the most desperate cases. I have planted out everything that I can as things will need less watering in the ground, but still I know that I will lose a lot, but there is no more I can do. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, the water butts await, but they've said that before...
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    Our water is metered on the Island so have to pay for every drop.
    I am trying to get the garden to a state where I don't have to water the plants in the ground.I also don't water the lawn.
    I have been going round the garden seeing which plants are standing up to this hot dry weather and making a note which I should have more of!
    Have drastically reduced the number of pots and also have lots of Sedums and Sempervivums which I don't water at all.
    Can now do the pots with 2-3 cans of water every 2 days in this weather.Pots all have saucers underneath and some larger pots have reservoirs.
    Sometimes I will soak a pot in a tray of water.
    Don't have the space for a water butt so water is straight from the tap.
    Our household of 2 adults uses less water than the average for 1 person!
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I've been forced to use the hose a couple of times this year. Partly to water areas I can't reach with cans but also because I just don't have the time to do everything with cans. I've still got 700 litres of rain water stored up and it's galling to have to use the hose. If it was just pots I think I would have been ok but it's been so dry here so early in the year that I've had to water things that are planted in the ground and that are used to spring rain. Summer plants never seem to worry so much.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I have took pretty much everything out of pots (except dahlias) last year for this reason. I mostly grow wild flowers and roses that seem to take drought better than high bred cultivars. Also turned to more drought-tolerant plants like stachys and salvias.
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