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Dying of thirst

Photo courtesy of gervo

New statistics from the WWF today should surely shake gardeners. The average Briton uses an average of 150 litres of water per day for washing, cooking and drinking. Still more shocking is the amount of ‘virtual water’ consumed daily - 4,645 per day. ‘Virtual water’ takes into account the amount of water used in producing food, clothing and other goods used in and around the home.

Squirming? You should be. Because the average British gardener probably uses far more water. Think of all those seedlings, those vegetables, those thirsty new trees, all of which soak up water like a sponge.

Before you click onto another blog, or head outside to give your August beds a quick drink, stop. Because it’s getting too late. We’re consuming over 3,000 litres more than a member of the developing world. And our planet is beginning to die of thirst as a result.

We can’t change everything ourselves, but we can change the way we garden. Fennel and Fern isn’t just about making your garden look gorgeous. We want to keep the earth looking gorgeous. We’re beginning to wake up and realise that we can’t keep being selfish. Hosepipes won’t keep us going forever.

And here, as a more-than-token-gesture, are some starting points. You might shrug them off and wonder if they’ll make any difference. When I’m tempted to despair, I always remember a saying that my mother taught me. Take care of the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. We’re not all government leaders, but we have little plots, little pennies, which will slowly add up to a global change in attitudes towards gardening.

  1. Only water in the cool of the evening - otherwise you might as well just pour the water straight down the drain. Water evaporates much quicker in bright sunlight. And watering in the evening is a lovely end to a long day.
  2. Cover your soil with a mulch such as bark chippings or gravel. This reduces surface evaporation, and therefore means the ground doesn’t dry out so quickly. Or you can plant ground cover plants such as Bugles (Ajuga Reptans), Muehlenbeckia axillaris, dwarf varieties of phlox, Epimediums and Tiarella Cordifolia.
  3. Some plants are very obliging. They don’t ask for more water than you can give them. Use these drought-tolerant plants in your border: Lavenders, Rosemary, Sage, Sedums, Echinachea, Eucalyptus, Prunus Lusitanica, Ligustrum lucidum, Gingko biloba, Hypericum (Buttercup bush), Vinca, Yucca, Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo), Buddleias, Mexican Orange Blossom (Choisya Ternata), Rosa Rugosa, Passiflora, Achillea, Alchemilla Mollis (Lady’s Mantle), Catmint (Nepeta). The list is pretty lengthy. Visit the RHS website for a better picture.
  4. Install a water butt. You can save around 24,000 litres of water from the average roof. Even the leakiest of hosepipes doesn’t use that much.
  5. Raise the cutting level on your lawnmower so your grass doesn’t need watering so often. Watering a lawn too frequently prevents the grass roots from growing deep, thus creating a very thirsty lawn.
  6. Dig a far bigger hole than necessary for your plants and fill it with compost, which has far better water-retentive qualities than ordinary topsoil.
  7. Annuals require a lot of water. Perennials have deeper root systems and can be more self-sufficient.
  8. Use a watering can rather than a hosepipe.
  9. Create areas of shade to prevent excess soil evaporation.
  10. Keep reading this blog. Over the next few months we’re going to publish tips from expert gardeners about loving your garden and the environment.

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