Future Proofing Our Gardens - Part 1 - Utilising and Storing Water

Water

As summer fades and we move into autumn, now is a good time to reflect on spring and summer and think about what changes (if any) to make to your garden over the next few months.

Gardens are fundamentally natural spaces that we have a hand in shaping and caring for. Like any natural space, they are constantly changing. No two months are the same and I love seeing how the gardens I design and care for develop and grow over time.

Each year in my own garden, as we move through the seasons, I note which plants are working well, which are outgrowing their space and encroaching on other plants and which are struggling.

If a plant isn’t doing well for any reason there a few things you can try:

1. Move it (this can sound scary, but most plants, particularly smaller plants, can be moved);

2. Cut it back;

3. Remove it completely;

4. Dig it up, divide it and replant it. Some of the divided sections can be added to other parts of the garden.

In addition to this, there may sometimes be gaps in your garden borders that need filling.

The biggest challenge in English gardens over the last two years has been the hot and dry weather. This has created challenges for us gardeners, particularly with regards to watering.

In previous years in Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds (and other parts of the UK) we haven’t had to water our garden borders, except for very occasionally. A few days of summer sunshine will usually be interrupted by rain which keeps the borders ticking over.

But over the last couple of summers we’ve had almost no rain, or very little.

So what can we do to future proof our gardens and create more

resilient green spaces that continue to support wildlife and provide all those amazing environmental services that we rely on (food, shade, clean air, cut flowers to name a few!).

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be delving into what us gardeners can do, starting with water.

Utilising and Storing Water in the Garden

In my garden I've kept watering to a minimum which has been a real test for a lot of the plants. It's been interesting to see which plants struggled with the dry and the heat and which plants, despite dying right back due to lack of water, are putting on new growth now that we've had some rain.

I’ve also noted which plants don’t seem too worried about the lack of water while also coping with excessive wet weather. For example both Viburnum tinus and Privet (Ligustrum) are two evergreen shrubs which appear to fair well.

But what about pollen and nectar sources for insects over the summer months? By not watering, plants that would usually flower over July, August and September are not putting on their usual floral display. This could negatively impact insects that rely on that particular plant flowering at that time of year.

One of the easiest things to do is improve your garden’s water storage capacity.

The likelihood is that we’ll still have wet winters, so it’s important to utilise and capture this valuable resource for use during dry weather.

Do you have guttering and down-pipes on your house or garden shed that you can utilise?

If not, can you add any?

How can you then link these down-pipes to water butts?

What is the maximum size water butt you could install?

Could you install more than one water butt?

If you already have a water butt, could you add an extra one? Or up-size?

In my own garden I currently have 2 water butts. I’m making plans to add more.

I have an outdoor office which has a down-pipe and a water butt. I want to either increase the size of the existing water butt, or add a second which I can link to the first.

Taking it one step further – I’m looking at linking these water butts to a rain garden which I can position in an existing border.

But what is a rain garden?

Raingardens.info describes a Rain Garden as ‘a shallow depression, with absorbent, yet free draining soil and planted with vegetation that can withstand occasional temporary flooding’.

This means any run-off from the water butt will be absorbed into my garden rather than going down the drain and disappearing from site.

The second water butt in my garden sits at the back of the house. I’m going to link another water butt to this one too, doubling the capacity of water collection here. Meaning more water for plants that need it during dry weather.

And finally I’m going to add 2 water butts to my new greenhouse to allow me to collect water from the greenhouse roof. This will provide water for tomatoes, peppers, new seedlings and any other vegetables I grow.

Utilising and storing water collected from our own gardens is an excellent start to gardening in a more nature friendly way. The more water you can collect from rainfall means less water used from the tap.

What steps can you take in your own garden to collect and store water?

If you want to talk about your own garden and how to better collect and store water within your outdoor space get in touch with Emma at Wild Edge Garden Design to book in your complimentary garden chat.

Look out for Part 2 of this blog where I'll be talking about the green element of our gardens - plants!