Make every drop of water count in the garden

In actual fact the UK has had some of the driest summers ever in the last 20 years – but the micro-coastal climate we enjoy in Hartlepool keeps the big bad wolf away from the door.

However, planning a water-saving garden will greatly cut down your workload during the summer months, and we should always cut down on water use – particularly if you are metered.

 A water-saving garden uses an estimated 25 per cent less metered water on containers and herbaceous plants, needed less weeding and less pest control.

So how do you go about planning your own water-saving garden?

• Firstly, you need to work out where the cool spots are, along with the sunny places, windy or sheltered spots and areas where the moisture in the soil varies from mostly dry to constantly damp.
• Trees may act as a natural shade but they also take a lot of moisture from the soil and can shelter it from rain.
• Test the soil in a number of areas of the garden, as the soil quality can differ from one spot to another.

This will give you clues as to the type of plants suitable for a particular place along with what additions you should be making to the soil to enrich it.

For instance, you should add a barrowload of organic matter to every 4 sq metres of free-draining soil, while for shallow soils you should dig out planting pits with a pickaxe and fill these with improved soil.

For watering, your best bet is to go for seep or soaker hoses, which leak water over their whole length and can be snaked between plants in a bed, and drip systems which supply water to individual plants or containers via a network of trickling micro-tubing. Sprinklers are wasteful of water.

Try to choose drought-resistant plants suitable for your particular soil. Drought-tolerant shrubs include Ceanothus, Choisya, Cistus (sun rose), Jasminum nudiflorum (winter jasmine) and lavender.

Climbers which are happy in dry conditions include Clematis montana, Rosa ‘Sanders White Rambler’ and Russian vine. But there are many more – just ask in your garden centre if you are not sure.

Group vegetables by their water needs. Leafy crops with cauliflower, salad onions, potatoes, runner beans and tomatoes need the most water.

Marrows and courgettes need a soaking only once the fruit starts to swell, while broad beans, onions and sweetcorn will tolerate drier conditions although your yields will decrease.

10 suggestions for a water-saving garden

• Choose plants that suit your local conditions
• Group plants in different parts of the garden according to their watering need
• Improve the soil in the hottest and driest areas
• Keep lawn areas to a minimum
• Introduce new hardy plants or move existing ones during the autumn

• Use bark and gravel mulches on dry areas
• On patios, create raised beds for plants and plant between paving rather than relying on containers
• Use large plants and garden structures to create areas of light shade in sunny spaces
• Grow vegetables in raised beds as this makes it easier to improve the soil and install irrigation systems such as seep-hoses and drippers
• Store rainwater and clean recycled water (from showers, for example) in large tanks.