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#1
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I've heard various dire predictions about dry conditions becoming more
prevalent, water shortages, hosepipe bans and even severe water use resrictions. I live in the South-East where we seem to have much more of a problem with this. One person I spoke to said they would only plant drought-resistant plants now. I've been looking at what is available that is said to have greater drought resistance than average. One email from Crocus gave this url for a list of such plants: http://www.crocus.co.uk/findplant/se...yID=0&ValueID= &ValueID=&ValueID=&ValueID=&ValueID=33&ValueID=&Va lueID=&x=23&y=13&affiliate=c u112 which is a very long url! It leads to over four hundred search results. Some of these seem to be wrong where for example the plant is described as liking moist soil and needing watering in dry periods (not just whilst getting established), but I would hope that most are correct. We have a hosepipe ban here commencing in April and some nearby SE counties are considering more severe restrictions on water use. I'm getting a water butt installed and will be pumping any used bathwater intro it and pouring water from washing-up into it too. I wish my water butt was already installed- we seem to have many days of rain commencing today.... You can get quite good weather forecast information from the Metcheck web site- even a week or so ahead, which is much further ahead than the usual weather forecats sites: http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/HOME/ Has anyone got any good ideas for dealing with drier conditions, water restrictions etc? -- VX (remove alcohol for email) |
#2
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One thing you could do is buy 100% biodegradable soap (liquid) and save
the water from dishwashing, laundry, shower/bath - that makes a lot of water and you save some money on clothes because your colours don't fade so quickly. Another thing could be buying plants rezistant to dry periods. I like the plants sold by kokopelli you can find them he www.kokopelli-seed-foundation.com or try a seed exchange forum - that way you won't have to pay for the seeds. |
#3
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Sorry I think I posted the wrong link
http://www.organicseedsonline.com/ - we use the French site and I didn't check the results for English |
#4
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![]() VX wrote: which is a very long url! It leads to over four hundred search results. Some of these seem to be wrong where for example the plant is described as liking moist soil and needing watering in dry periods (not just whilst getting established), but I would hope that most are correct. Well yes, taking an example of these plants, mimosa, grows like a weed in the south of france where it has lots of sunshine but has an abondance of water via night rains. All plant needs water except succulents. So all these plants on Crocus are perhaps tollerent of dry conditions, this doesn't mean that they won't need water at some point. Also thank you for the link - whilst I would love a mimosa, being the scent of my childhood, I can't have one - NW england is not the best place for it, but I once saw the Kolomikta vine and just didn't know how to describe it, nor knew the name. Your link just gave me this and I've just bought a 3l pot. Thanks you so much ![]() |
#5
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In article m, VX
writes I'm getting a water butt installed If you intend to get a water barrel do it soon as harcostar appear to be flat out supplying them! Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
#6
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![]() "VX" wrote in message s.com... Has anyone got any good ideas for dealing with drier conditions, water restrictions etc? Mulch wherever possible. Water evaporating into the atmosphere from the soil surface, isn't doing much good to anything from what I can see. From the garden, to the pots in the greenhouse. Baking foil on the latter can reflects sunlight back up to the plant. Or old CD's if placed around the plant stem at an early stage of developement maybe. Always removeable late if necesary with a tin snips. The only problem is that if the mulch is really effective and acts as a total vapour barrier then this might prevent the soil from getting properly aerated. Also of course, any rain would simply settle on the surface and evaporate away, so you'd be really worse off than before. There are however plenty of permeabale mulching materials around that let rain and air in eventually, but hinder too much evaporation. You'll need to cut holes to plant things and apply water but mulching is probably the way to go. While there's talk of plastic sheet mulches encouraging slugs it also encourages plent of ground beetles IME who appear quite able to see in the dark. Mulching can also be very effective against the depredations of cats - especially one's own. michael adams .... -- VX (remove alcohol for email) |
#7
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On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 12:51:23 +0000, GH wrote
(in message .com): One thing you could do is buy 100% biodegradable soap (liquid) and save the water from dishwashing, laundry, shower/bath - that makes a lot of water and you save some money on clothes because your colours don't fade so quickly. I use the Ecover laundry and dishwashing products, but wonder what would be biodegradable for shower/bath type soap- any suggestions for that? -- VX (remove alcohol for email) |
#8
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![]() "VX" wrote in message s.com... SNIP / Has anyone got any good ideas for dealing with drier conditions, water restrictions etc? How about moving to Wales, it always seems to rain there, mind you the West Midlands takes a fair share of its water from Wales regards Cineman -- VX (remove alcohol for email) |
#9
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Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message m from VX contains these words: I've heard various dire predictions about dry conditions becoming more prevalent, water shortages, hosepipe bans and even severe water use resrictions. I live in the South-East where we seem to have much more of a problem with this. Has anyone got any good ideas for dealing with drier conditions, water restrictions etc? Try two books by Beth Chatto, The Dry Garden and The Gravel Garden. You should be able to order them from any library but I'd recommend buying them as they are such useful references.(She gardens in the S.E) Both contain reliable plantlists as well as useful ways to adapt your gardening to drier conditions If you are in range of her garden, not far from Colchester Essex, its open most of the time (though not usually on Sundays), with an attached garden centre. The garden centre plant selection is arranged in sections of "dry", "wet", "shade", etc., rather than the more traditional pure alphabetical arrangement. The dry "we've done no watering since year one, honest" garden is interesting, giving a decent impression of what can be done. It looks pretty decent even towards the tail end of a dry summer. The garden centre and the dry garden (which forms part of the approach to the house) are free of charge, the main garden charges a modest fee. - Nigel (fairly local to the Chatto garden, no commercial connection other than the odd small purchases). -- Nigel Cliffe, Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/ |
#10
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On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 17:24:24 +0000, Janet Baraclough wrote
(in message ): I use the Ecover laundry and dishwashing products, but wonder what would be biodegradable for shower/bath type soap- any suggestions for that? Ecover shower/bath products. However, don't confuse "biodegradeable" with "harmless to living plants it touches". Not many plants could take a constant diet of diluted soap; no matter how biodegradeable it is. Janet My first thought was (and still is)- how can I bath without using soap? -- VX (remove alcohol for email) |
#11
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On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 19:16:21 +0000, VX wrote
(in message m): My first thought was (and still is)- how can I bath without using soap? Er, what I mean is, I wonder if there is way? This may not be a profitable avenue to explore but it would be great if there was some sort of alternative. I hate the idea of wasting all that water just because I've contaminated it by washing with soap in it.... -- VX (remove alcohol for email) |
#12
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![]() "VX" wrote in message s.com... On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 19:16:21 +0000, VX wrote (in message m): My first thought was (and still is)- how can I bath without using soap? Er, what I mean is, I wonder if there is way? This may not be a profitable avenue to explore but it would be great if there was some sort of alternative. I hate the idea of wasting all that water just because I've contaminated it by washing with soap in it.... -- VX (remove alcohol for email) The chances are that what you refer to as soap is probably a synthetic detergent , however, it does biodegrade. If you can find a way of storing the water for a few weeks prior to use, having first added a few handfuls of soil, then you will probably have something that will not harm most plants. You also have a totally legitimate reason for peeing in the bath. |
#13
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VX writes
On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 19:16:21 +0000, VX wrote (in message m): My first thought was (and still is)- how can I bath without using soap? Er, what I mean is, I wonder if there is way? This may not be a profitable avenue to explore but it would be great if there was some sort of alternative. I hate the idea of wasting all that water just because I've contaminated it by washing with soap in it.... Well, there are those little bars they sell for washing hands which they claim get rid of all the dirt without using soap - look in any of the innovations type catalogues. But the amount of soap you'd use for a basic wash wouldn't hurt - it's adding all the bubble bath or bath oil that's the problem. -- Kay |
#14
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The first thing is to know what a hosepipe restriction actually means.
Although the water companies don't like to make this clear, you can still legitimately use a hosepipe during a "ban". What you can't do is water plants directly with it or wash the car. But for the disabled or infirm who can't carry heavy watering cans, it might be useful to know that they can place empty containers around the garden, strategically close to plants which need water, and fill those containers with a hose - then using a watering can to carry the precious stuff the short distance to their plants. Unusually for the water companies, there's a good/factual Q&A on the Three Valleys Water website at http://www.3valleys.co.uk/home/ah_beatthedrought.shtml which explains what you can still use a hose for -- including, ludicrously, to supply a pressure washer. The law is an ass and I suppose I'm in the minority in that I am furious that gardeners and the £5bn gardening industry are used as scapegoats when their consumption of water is so small. The water compnaies don't have any powers to impose restrictions on the people who use 99% of our abstracted water. They can only prohibit the 1% that goes to an outside tap. That's because an outside tap doesn't come under their statutory domestic supply regulations. So, take as many power showers as you like, leave the bathroom tap running all night, flush the loo 5 times a night and generally waste as much water as you like indoors because it will take an (unlikely) emergency drought order and standpipes to curb you. Meanwhile the gardener carries the full burden of restrictions despite the fact that 96% of all household water use goes unchecked and so does all the industrial, commercial and agricultural use. And so does much of the water industry leakage which alone would supply over one-third of all the nation's domestic needs. But what really makes my blood boil is that all the evidence indicates that hosepipe restrictions don't actually save water. Research by the Environment Agency, the Water Research Centre, Southern Water and others hasn't been able to prove that hosepipe bans save water. Some of the research shows that water consumption actually goes up during a hosepipe ban. Other research shows that industrial users reduced their consumption far more than domestic users despite the fact that the industrial users weren't subject to any restrictions. Anyway, the real reason for the water shortage in the south east isn't the low rainfall because it has been just as low in other areas but the water companies inability and unwillingness to invest in water storage resources - combined with the Government's suicidal house-building programme in the region. And do check whether your water supplier really has imposed a restriction. Research last year by the Environment Agency proved that 14% of customers in a region where water was plentiful and unrestricted wrongly assumed that they were subject to a hosepipe ban. For the record, here (at the time of writing) are all the hosepipe bans which will be in force by April 3: Cholderton & District Water Folkestone & Dover Water Mid Kent Water South East Water Sutton & East Surrey Water Thames Water Three Valleys Water Southern Water has imposed part-area restrictions in its Sussex North, Sussex Coast, Sussex Hasting, Kent Thanet, Kent Medway and Isle of Wight water supply areas (739,000) but not in its Hampshire supply area. That's a total of 6.3m homes, all in the south east. Other areas are not threatened by drought and won't need to impose hosepipe bans. Next week I will come under Thames Water's hosepipe ban. I have sown new areas of lawn and if it doesn't rain, I will connect up my hosepipe to my tripod garden shower, perfectly legally, and tell the family to shower outdoors - moving the tripod around as required. It's all spin and con and we just take it like sheep. |
#15
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On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 21:18:40 +0000, Stan The Man wrote
(in message ): Thaks for that, very interesting! The first thing is to know what a hosepipe restriction actually means. Although the water companies don't like to make this clear, you can still legitimately use a hosepipe during a "ban". What you can't do is water plants directly with it or wash the car. But for the disabled or infirm who can't carry heavy watering cans, it might be useful to know that they can place empty containers around the garden, strategically close to plants which need water, and fill those containers with a hose - then using a watering can to carry the precious stuff the short distance to their plants. Well that's good to know- I do in fact have a degree of disability. It's about time it came in useful! I have a couple of questions: What confuses me is whether the hosepipe ban could ever apply to a hosepipe that is connected only to a water butt that contains water that I put there myself, ie that I recycled, or rainwater that I diverted from the roof rather than allowing it to go straight into the drain. Surely they can't stop me using a hose (or an underground irrigation system connected by a hose) with that? They way they say it on the TV makes it sound like you can't use a hose at all no matter where you obtained the water from, and that can't be quite right, surely. The law is an ass ... Just thought I'd leave that in. The water compnaies don't have any powers to impose restrictions on the people who use 99% of our abstracted water. They can only prohibit the 1% that goes to an outside tap. Just to make sure I got this- does this mean that the fact that when using mains water I always run a hose through the kitchen window and use the kitchen tap- does this mean the hosepipe ban would not apply to me? -- VX (remove alcohol for email) |
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