Make the most of water

Ruth shows you ways of avoiding water wastage

- Ruth Hayes

THE cost of living is soaring and bills for household utilities are rising at a frightening rate, including tariffs for water.

We use a lot of water on our gardens and although we can usually rely on rain during the spring and summer (often more than we would ideally like) there are still dry spells to contend with.

On this page I suggest ways of harvesting and making the most of what water is available and look at practical ways of optimising water in the garden.

It's also important to highlight how and when we should water as this makes a huge difference to the amount we use during periods of no rain.

Early mornings and evenings are the optimum times for watering as the air is cooler so water evaporates more slowly. Direct the water at the roots and don't waste it by splashing the leaves.