Watering Exhaustion - a change is needed!

We've got two large water butts, nearly empty now.

I didn't plant hanging baskets this year and am relieved I didn't now.
The lavender has flopped but may survive, other herbaceous plants and shrubs have had to take their chances.

The annuals we bought this year are mainly geraniums which don't mind being dryish but our beans seem rather stringy despite some watering although the courgettes are fine.

? for a good downpour soon.

I empathise with the gourd passion. I'm very proud of my one and only butternut squash! - first time I've tried to grow these.

I was wondering about growing them vertically next year so that they provide some shade - and also moving them nearer to the water butt/ outdoor tap.

Chestnut

Fabulous article about a man in Dorset who stores his water underground and has a gloriously lush garden!
Man stores water underground

Sounds similarly to what we have.

It’s a water harvesting tank 3,500 litres, it collects rain water and any excess water from watering. We had it sunk under the lawn approximately 13 years ago, we also have the option to use the water for toilet flushing (just have to switch over the pipe in the bathrooms)

lixy

^You’re probably over watering your lavender lixy, it’s a Mediterranean plant so it’s heat and drought resistant, as are lots of herbs. I don’t water mine, and they look fine.^

Thank you, maybe so, but I don't think so. The pots are made of stone and get hot to the touch, hence my thesis that the roots just got too hot.

I'm planning on moving the lavenders into the garden border to see how they do there, but they'll need a lot of grit as we have clay soil here!

Don't you love gardening - always a logistical challenge! So, to go back to the OP, yes, lots of work with pencil and paper over the next few months.

Love the Dorset jungle!

You’re so right, it’s a logistical challenge, I keep wandering outside thinking of plans to change everything round, replant, increase butts and where to put them for maximum ease of use, etc., it’s just too hot to actually do anything.
I just took a picture of one of my gourds, and on reflection I don’t think I can give them up even though they do take a can of water each every day - I think we all have favourites, and they are my babies, I love them!

Karmalady you have what I'm aiming for. Sounds great!
In our last house i had 4 water butts joined together, which filled from the greenhouse gutter. Not achieved that here yet.
I used the hose ( no ban) to refill my two stand alone butts as i can then dip watering cans in for my pots and tomatoes. Everything else has not been watered.
Some perennials have acted like it’s autumn but I’m trusting they will come back next year.
I have a quite exposed bed which i have mulched with manure soil improver and i intend to add more bark mulch around the shrubs and roses.
The poor old lawn is crisp and yellow, but experience tells me that it will come back. Grass is a primitive, indestructible plant .
My front lawn is horrible. Im thinking of digging it up and replacing it with ground cover plants. It’s on a dry sunny slope.
Any suggestions anyone?

You’re probably over watering your lavender lixy, it’s a Mediterranean plant so it’s heat and drought resistant, as are lots of herbs. I don’t water mine, and they look fine.

Thank you, maybe so, but I don't think so. The pots are made of stone and get hot to the touch, hence my thesis that the roots just got too hot.

I'm planning on moving the lavenders into the garden border to see how they do there, but they'll need a lot of grit as we have clay soil here!

Don't you love gardening - always a logistical challenge! So, to go back to the OP, yes, lots of work with pencil and paper over the next few months.

Love the Dorset jungle!

Chestnut

Fabulous article about a man in Dorset who stores his water underground and has a gloriously lush garden!
Man stores water underground

That intrigues me Chestnut. - I read the article to see how he collects the water, it says he has underground butts, but zooming in on the picture I can’t see where he’s harvesting the water from to fill the butts. Maybe he’s re-routed his drains? Sounds like a good scheme though.

Fabulous article about a man in Dorset who stores his water underground and has a gloriously lush garden!
Man stores water underground

You’re probably over watering your lavender lixy, it’s a Mediterranean plant so it’s heat and drought resistant, as are lots of herbs. I don’t water mine, and they look fine.
My roses are struggling, the ones in pots aren’t happy at all, so I’m clearing space to put them in the ground in the autumn now (well not actually now as it’s 32 degrees, but in the early morning as I can only garden until 10am, before the heat beats me).

Is anyone taking bets that next summer will be the wettest in decades? Although we know our climate is changing it is impossible to guess how or when, making forward planning hard.

My new-to-me garden is mostly shrubs around the edges of a large gravel area in one half and a large plastic lawn (I know, don't shoot me) in the other.

I planted beetroot, Brussels and cabbage along with the sunflowers and a few other flowering plants this year. I water these from the water butts - down to the last dribble.

Pots are watered using 4 pint milk bottles filled up during the day with washing up/ shower water. I tried really hard to avoid using grey water in pots but am doing so now.

Ironically I've never owned a hosepipe before, but one came with the house!

Next year - looking to put a pergola over the pebbles to keep the sun off them. maybe with a vine over it.
Lavender in pots has not been happy - think the roots are too hot - so bigger pots grouped together so they shade each other. Looking at Mediterranean plants too.

On the upside, tomatoes are doing brilliantly!

one of my aunts is very particular about her garden so she bought the cheapest bottled water and had it delivered with her supermarket shop, one of her much younger friends collects all the bottles once a month and takes them to a sainsburys bottle bank, she gets 5p back per bottle and it gives you a voucher for the amount to use in store, her friend gets her some extra shopping, my son also does this with drinks cans at a lidl store, he gets 10p per can and the bottles at sainsburys, it helps with the shopping for there family.

I have got a bit of lawn where the north facing house wall falls.
It in the shade all year and nothing much else will grow. It’s gone brown but I don’t care.

I’ve got for forty gallon water butts connected to the house roof but they ran out in May.

It’s my veg and fruit -pretty much the rest of the garden- that’s making me so sad. But the farmers round here are in the same straits so I shouldn’t grumble.

How nice it is to talk gardening?

I have 3 kilmarnock willows in 3 large pots, one pot is salt glazed ceramic. I am not sure about those, they like damp. I may change my mind when the catkins appear but I do think I will be getting rid

maybee, I have 3 rosemary plants in my front garden, behind a row of 6 hebe. They have not had a drop of water from me and look fine. Hidden in there are several hellebores, also fine

lathyrus, my water buts are tall and look like columns, they hold around 620 litres of water. I put nets of ceramic hoops in to keep the water nice and fresh. 3 years so far and not a whiff. I am considering getting another one, the biggest that they have, quite pricey and fitting to the downpipe is daunting. I did the ones I have myself and no-one can tell but I cut the downpipe really wonky. I joined the two butts together and one fills first then the other. No room in my garden but I do have space on my drive and could connect to my house downpipe. I am not sure though. I am with wessex water in sw and we haven`t had rain for ages but wessex said that our water comes from aquifers and supply is safe. I really don`t think it would be cost effective for me

Key for me is to enable my garden to be as drought-proof and easy as possible. I have all the plants I need so now it will be down to worms pulling the composted bark and compost down to the depths

I do know that I am going to be very selective about what veg I grow next year. No greenhouse and not much space so no cucs or courgettes on the ground. Begonias in big troughs on legs are doing fine but I will be plopping large deep growbags on those troughs next year. Tomatoes are in those on my vegtrugs and they are very easy to keep watered enough

I don`t have lawn and borders

I'm watering my own and my neighbours garden at the moment and it is really difficult now with just watering cans. Hopefully the promised rain really will happen next week, for all of us everywhere.

We’re only watering tomatoes - using aqua globes. The lawns are coir mats and the fig looks very sorry for itself.
If I have any plastic bottles, I’ll cut off the bases and invert them next to plants to precisely direct water to the roots.

Absolutely green with envy, Georgesgran

No hose pipe ban here in the North East and we have a 70% chance of rain several days next week, which should refill the water butt.

I wish terracotta plant pots came with separate plastic liners as the water doesn’t evaporate as quickly. I don’t really like to see plastic pots in the garden. I’m going to buy lots of sedum ( which I love anyway) and rosemary etc the sort of plants I usually see on holiday. I do have those gel things that hold water but when I used them a few years ago it didn’t stop raining. I bought some of those spikes that you attach a pop bottle to that drip water into the pot but the ones I bought don’t work: the water just gushes out.

I have a hanging basket with a reservoir base. I top it up about once a week rather than having to water every day. I believe you can now get self watering plant containers with a reservoir base.

Also you can use capillary mating on a shelf in the greenhouse - all you need is a wick down into a bucket of water or you can buy a purpose designed container and the matting will be moist to stand pots and seed boxes on. Pebbles round the base of pots also helps stop water evaporation.

You can help keep the greenhouse tomatoes cool by soaking the concrete/paving slab path if you have one.

I’ve now got a large garden trug in the downstairs shower to collect the water and a bowl in the kitchen sink to collect the washing-up water.

Thanks everybody, I’ve picked up some extra tips, which helps. Let’s hope it rains heavily next week, even one day off from watering would be a blessing at the moment.

Have refilled the water buts with the hose in anticipation of a hosepipe ban as I only water with watering cans as this is precise and not extravagant. Several shrubs are looking very stressed but I can’t do any more.