Hosepipe bans

[Gemini]

Who has a hosepipe ban in their area?
How is it affecting you if you have one?
Ours started today.

[Nanto2girls]

Yes,the ban in Yorkshire started today.

[Grauntie Mag]

Not here yet, but everyone I speak to is using a watering can and being careful.

[Oma]

No hose pipe ban here , our boarders are so small a watering can would suffice anyway .

[Daisy]

I think our water authority lead the way about 3 weeks ago. While it was still very hot and dry it was hard work for us - watering everything with a watering can. Most of our garden has new planting, and really needed the TLC.

But now it's a little cooler and we have had some rain things are easier. We still have to water the new fruit trees and a few thirsty things like hydrangeas. But our water butts are full to overflowing and the grass has magically turned green again.

We're trying to be economical with water though, and are saving grey water, like washing up water, and giving it to anything that looks a bit droopy.

It's slightly irritating that towns and villages to the west of us haven't had a ban yet because they are supplied by a different provider.

[WeeGranny]

We have one here in Bucks. I haven't watered anything for quite some time now. We had heavy rain a couple of nights ago but it doesn't seem to have made much difference. It feels like Autumn with the amount of dead leaves on the paths round the village and the rec is still looking very parched.

[Lizzie48]

Where I am now is really dry, all the hydrangeas etc are so dry, the owner here was a tree grower and he has never seen anything like it. He was (is) a landscape gardener. A lot pump the water for the gardens out of the dykes, DS2 has that system, with this being an island surrounded by the sea the water in the dykes is too salty for the plants.

[Plantaholic]

Apparently I am allowed to use a hose as I am too old to carry watering cans, not sure if that is just in my County. Apart from pots, which are near to the taps, the borders are not looking too bad. I am managing to keep the bird bath full as the birds come every day for a bath and a drink. The grass which is more like a field is brown of course but it will come back when we get some rain. At least we are not having to pay someone to cut the grass as Sil now has a swollen Achilles heel and his wrist is still not very strong yet. Since he retired, he takes off every morning for a walk and has overdone it.

[Gemini]

Plant, if that is the rule our cat-sitter can use the house. She is in her 80s and I don't want her taking the watering can all the way to the greenhouse.
My OH tells me that you can use a hose for vegetables, so in that case she will be able to anyway.

[Daisy]

We have been doing minimum watering since we had some 'good' rain last week, but now everywhere is dry again and we'll be using up the water butts to try and keep everything alive. It's hard work and takes two of us nearly 2 hours to water everything.