Saving water in the garden There are lots of ways of being a water friendly gardener and being kind to the environment. Here are a list of handy hints to help make the most of rainwater, which plants prefer, and reduce use of tap water.

Don't waste your household water - use it in the garden. You can recycle your used washing up and bath water to water your plants and lawn. A small amount of mild detergent or bubble bath will not harm your garden. Use a watering can instead of a hose and water around the base of plants and trees - not on leaves. Make a slight depression in the soil around plants that need regular watering to prevent run-off. Watering between plants can encourage weeds and increase your work. Set up an irrigation system or hose timer. Use a hose trigger gun so you can switch off your hose when you don't need it, rather than having to walk back to your tap to switch it off every time. If you water more thoroughly and less frequently, the roots of your plants will be encouraged to extend deeper and become hardier.   Think twice before watering the lawn with a sprinkler as too much watering encourages shallow root growth and makes it less able to resist droughts. Reset your lawn mover blades to 4cm. This will encourage dense bushy growth to trap morning dew, reduce evaporation and keep weeds away. This will result in a healthier lawn that needs less frequent cutting and watering. Lawns are very resilient and can survive long periods of dry weather. During dry weather, cut your lawn less frequently as this helps it trap dew and reduces evaporation from the soil. Remember an established lawn will not die just because of a dry spell. Use grass cuttings as mulch elsewhere in the garden, or leave them on the lawn to hold moisture and return nutrients to the soil. For more advice on looking after your turf please refer to the Turf Growers Association leaflet. Help your garden benefit from your efforts by only watering in the evening or early morning when the sun is lower and less evaporation occurs.    Buy a water butt to collect rainwater for use on the garden - they can be easily installed in a garden to collect rainwater, which can then be used to water plants or wash cars. They can help to save around 5-10% of your total water use. Put patio plants in larger containers, as they need less frequent watering. Group small pots together in a tray of water to help them survive hot days.   Try bio-degradeable gel crystals in your planters. They’re simple to use and can reduce the need for watering from several times a day at peak temperatures to just once or twice a week, when used with mulches and drought-tolerant plants. Use mulches or groundcover to lower the soil temperature, keep weeds down and help hold moisture in the soil.   Give your garden an exotic look and buy drought tolerant plants - look for the ones with the full sun diagram which can cope with the hot weather and direct sunlight. A full list of drought tolerant plants can be found on the Royal Horticultural Society web site.   Provide shelter for your garden with tough trees and shrubs around areas where plants tend to suffer in dry weather - move your pots into shady areas. Improve your soil's ability to hold moisture by digging in plenty of organic matter such as compost. If you have clay soils you might like to add some sharp grit to the mixture. Group vegetables according to their water needs and then water accordingly as this will save you over watering vegetables you don't need to. Check the watering and planting instructions on the seed packets before you plant them out. There's no need to water fruit trees and bushes after the fruit starts to swell. With soft fruit, harvest the crop as early as possible and carry on pruning at the same time to reduce water stress for the rest of the summer. Well established trees and shrubs need less watering as their roots are well established. Provide shade for ponds by covering half to two thirds of the water surface with floating plants. This provides shade for fish and cuts down on evaporation.

By following just a few of these tips you will save water, and save your garden from thirst.