How to keep your garden healthy during hotter summers

Sophie Evans-Young, Customer Demand Lead at Severn Trent said: “We’ve seen some pretty wild weather over the last couple of years, from record-setting summers to really wet and windy winters. While we’ve seen quite a damp start to the year, we may yet see a hot and dry summer.

“The government is asking everyone to think about how they can use less water, and there are a few brilliant and really simple things that we can all do around the garden which can help to use less water and if you’re on a water meter, save you money too.”

Sophie’s top tips for getting your garden summer ready:

Harvest rainwater – catching rainwater and storing it for when it’s needed is a top tip. Water butts are cheap and come in a variety of capacities, so there’s one to fit every type of garden. It’s also great if you’ve got a lot of hard surfaces – like tarmac or paving – around your house, as a water butt can ease pressure on drainage and help avoid surface flooding.If you live in a flat or don’t have access to a garden, you can make a mini water butt from a milk carton, perfect for those indoor plants! It’s also a great activity to do with the kids on a wet afternoon.

Brown lawns bounce back – we all prefer a lovely green lawn, but sprinklers can use 1,000 litres of water every hour, some of which will be lost to the air before it even gets near the grass! Don’t worry if your lawn looks a bit brown during hotter weather; a healthy, well-maintained lawn can easily withstand drier periods and springs back to life and as a bonus, leaving the mower in the shed for a couple of weeks to let grass grown can help it to develop longer roots, making it easier to find water.

Keep your soil healthy – the healthier the soil, the better it is at holding water.

Cover the paddling pool – there’s no better way to beat the heat and help keep the kids (and adults) cool than with a paddling pool. But filling a paddling pool even half way can use loads of water. Instead of emptying it out every night, reuse the water for a few days and pop a cover over it when it’s not being used to keep insects out.

Anything newly-planted will need additional help while its roots get established as it will find it harder to find water. Larger plants in particular need more help throughout the summer.

Water butts are available at most garden centres from the internet, and are available at a discount via Get Water Fit.

For water saving tips and advice, click here or visit stwater.co.uk and search for Saving Water Made Simple.