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What to do during hosepipe ban?

Cyrus

Perhaps a stupid qn but is there anything that can be done to try help a garden when the hosepipe ban is in force and you can’t water ?

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Ultimanemo

Frynge wrote: »

I have an automatic watering system for all the hanging baskets and pots. Does this have to be turned off during the hosepipe ban?

It depends; If they cannot see it you are fine

Purple Mountain

Esmeralda Tasty Soreness wrote: »

I have a private well too. I know all about maintaining it and the costs involved. I'm simply answering the question; not defending it. The stance is that a private well draws on underground water resources and in that they are technically correct even though very little use is made of groundwater sources except for private wells. The ban is currently only in Dublin anyway.

Thanks

threetrees

The grass is completely burnt out but it will recover, we are doing nothing with that. The plants in the ground all seem ok so leaving them be. A couple of pots and baskets get watered nightly with 2 cans of water. We'll continue that.

I suppose it's easy to see the culprits as their grass will be lovely and green.

Oh and Lidl have 7,500 litre pools on special next week.

standardg60

Oh my good god.

As magicbastarder said previously if possible sitting pots and baskets in water for an hour or two is a better method than watering from above.

spatchco

when irish water fix the leak in the footpath outside my neighbours house i will save water,,the leak is ongoing 3-4 years they dont give a dam why should i and yes i have seen the water van a good few times there excuse,, they cant turn off the water to the house till they tell the occupier and and the house is vacent still the local dogs can drink fresh water

fiacha

Cyrus wrote: »

Perhaps a stupid qn but is there anything that can be done to try help a garden when the hosepipe ban is in force and you can’t water ?

You are still allowed to water your garden, just not by hose. Seems mad, but I guess they think people will use less water when they have to carry around a watering can / bucket

.

I normally use a hose pumped from the water butts. I have a water wand / lance which lets me put the water at the base of each plant. Uses less water and also means the weeds generally only pop up in the watered areas and not the entire bed. I'm currently doing the same thing with the watering can.

Large shrubs and lawns are being left to fend for themselves. I'll water shrubs if they start looking distressed. The lawn will recover once the rain comes.

I've also moved a lot of pots and baskets into the shade so they don't dry out so quickly.

Dial Hard

threetrees wrote:

Oh and Lidl have 7,500 litre pools on special next week.

I tweeted them yesterday asking if they're still actually planning to sell them given the crisis. No response.

spatchco wrote:

when irish water fix the leak in the footpath outside my neighbours house i will save water,,the leak is ongoing 3-4 years they dont give a dam why should i and yes i have seen the water van a good few times there excuse,, they cant turn off the water to the house till they tell the occupier and and the house is vacent still the local dogs can drink fresh water

Two wrongs, and all that.

standardg60

Dial Hard wrote: »

I tweeted them yesterday asking if they're still actually planning to sell them given the crisis. No response.

Two wrongs, and all that.

Lol was just about to say that!

standardg60

fiacha wrote: »

You are still allowed to water your garden, just not by hose. Seems mad, but I guess they think people will use less water when they have to carry around a watering can / bucket .

I normally use a hose pumped from the water butts. I have a water wand / lance which lets me put the water at the base of each plant. Uses less water and also means the weeds generally only pop up in the watered areas and not the entire bed. I'm currently doing the same thing with the watering can.

Large shrubs and lawns are being left to fend for themselves. I'll water shrubs if they start looking distressed. The lawn will recover once the rain comes.

I've also moved a lot of pots and baskets into the shade so they don't dry out so quickly.

That's exactly the point, watering by can will use a vastly less amount of water as most people won't be bothered/able/patient/entertained enough to do it.

Apart from that your advice is excellent.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

standardg60

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

He/she was referring to spatchco who rather than sleeping soundly knowing they had done the right thing would rather prefer to follow their neighbour down the drain so to speak.

Teyla Emmagan

We (the tidy towns) have big baskets up in the village on the railings in the crossroads. They are not on a watering system so are taking about 10 litres each a day. Or approximately one flush of a loo. It's not that bad I suppose but still feel kinda guilty. But they were like 100 euro each, if they are not watered we may as well throw the money away.

evolving_doors

Dial Hard wrote: »

Ban or not she was being an irresponsible twat.

The first post by the person saying they'll play with their hose pipe if they want ....was a joke.

'Woooosh' means the joke went over the other person's head who took offence.

And there's no such thing as the tooth fairy.

Dial Hard

evolving_doors wrote:

The first post by the person saying they'll play with their hose pipe if they want ....was a joke.

'Woooosh' means the joke went over the other person's head who took offence.

And there's no such thing as the tooth fairy.

I'm aware of all those things, thanks. No idea why you felt the need to attempt to illuminate me seeing as I never even mentioned the very obvious joke about yer man playing with his pipe??? My twat comment was in relation to the woman who was pressure-washing her footpath for an hour.

Dial Hard

Patww79 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

There has been a drought warning issued nationwide. And just because someone *can* do something doesn't mean they *should*. I have no idea why you're being so obtuse about the topic. The country is experiencing water issues which haven't been seen in decades, I don't see what's so shocking about suggesting that a supermarket selling pools that require 7,500 litres to fill in the middle of that is irresponsible?

If they sell them, people will fill them.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

TomOnBoard

Cyrus wrote: »

Perhaps a stupid qn but is there anything that can be done to try help a garden when the hosepipe ban is in force and you can’t water ?

Mulch

iamtony

All of our garden plants cost a fortune and for the amount of water that is consumed by us gardeners it pales in comparison to people taking long showers and hot baths daily, a million showers per day vrs may by a hundred thousand gardeners? Hose pipe ban is rediculous. I'll still water my flowers and plants with my hose but it turns off by letting go of the handle so ill just be more careful.
The truth is we care and we are taking measures. I've watered my garden from a bath sized paddling pool the kids used last week for a day by dipping the water can in it.
I'm also flushing the loo less and only half filling the sink to wash dishes. And letting the dishes build up before I clean them. I'm normally ocd about dishes so that's a big step for me.
The problem is the people who don't give a crap and still take the long showers and fill the big lidl pools but empty them cause a fly landed in it.
Water your garden people you do more than most people and I bet you also good at composting and recycling like I am. We deserve water because we care about the environment more than most people. P. S I'm not water my grass anymore though!

Dial Hard

Patww79 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

If people need to be told not to use seven and a half thousand litres of treated water to fill a pool in the middle of an effing drought then I honestly despair for this country.

iamtony

standardg60 wrote: »

This isn't a water level issue, cycled by Blessington today and the lake is still as high as ever, it's a treated water supply issue.

Its both. If we keep using at the current rate and don't get massive rainfall it will start to be a problem in a few months time. And it doesn't look like it's going to rain heavy anytime soon. I seen someone say we've only had 660mm of rain in the last year or something in Dublin and the West has had over 3000mm that's a huge difference.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Mulch

Mulch does nothing if put on dry soil.

evolving_doors

Dial Hard wrote: »

I'm aware of all those things, thanks. No idea why you felt the need to attempt to illuminate me seeing as I never even mentioned the very obvious joke about yer man playing with his pipe??? My twat comment was in relation to the woman who was pressure-washing her footpath for an hour.

Ya but she was placed in the same bracket.

standardg60 wrote: »

I'll put you in the same bracket as the woman I saw power hosing the public path outside her house for at least an hour the other day. Some people will never understand the concept of social responsibility no matter what.

iamtony

Dial Hard wrote: »

If people need to be told not to use seven and a half thousand litres of treated water to fill a pool in the middle of an effing drought then I honestly despair for this country.

Oh they will sell out and be filled but to be honest if they sell 1000 of them over a week it's bit over a million litres a day but if we all flushed the toilet one less time per day it would save so much more. We deserve a bit of fun in the sunny let's just not be stupid about it.

LirW

Just had a thought yesterday, there are so many new houses being built, people queue for them and pay crazy money but why aren't they fitting them out with a rainwater harvesting system?

Anyway, I'm living in an area that won't run out of water too fast, people are still being responsible enough. I have a greenhouse full of vegetables and a few potted patio plants, the greenhouse needs to be watered every evening but I can usually do that with around 13 litres. The patio plants need another 10, I also have a 220l rainwater tank but that's starting to run low.
Coming from a country where we'd have long and hot summers I'm quite surprised how bad the water conservation here is and how thick some people are. 10 days into sunny weather in the high twenties and being on the verge of a national crisis? Ridiculous for a country that gets rain 3/4 of the year.

Pawwed Rig

LirW wrote: »

Ridiculous for a country that gets rain 3/4 of the year.

Come on! 3/4 of the year?

LirW

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Come on! 3/4 of the year?

Well there is a lot, an awful lot of rain here, it's so much rain that people go on about the rain all the time. It's at least almost half of the year for the driest parts of the country.

iamtony

LirW wrote: »

Just had a thought yesterday, there are so many new houses being built, people queue for them and pay crazy money but why aren't they fitting them out with a rainwater harvesting system?

Anyway, I'm living in an area that won't run out of water too fast, people are still being responsible enough. I have a greenhouse full of vegetables and a few potted patio plants, the greenhouse needs to be watered every evening but I can usually do that with around 13 litres. The patio plants need another 10, I also have a 220l rainwater tank but that's starting to run low.
Coming from a country where we'd have long and hot summers I'm quite surprised how bad the water conservation here is and how thick some people are. 10 days into sunny weather in the high twenties and being on the verge of a national crisis? Ridiculous for a country that gets rain 3/4 of the year.

that's the problem though all that water is running off because we don't normally need to harvest as much because we know more is on the way soon. If we knew we would have dry summers we would have more reservoirs and people would Conserve more.

LirW

iamtony wrote: »

that's the problem though all that water is running off because we don't normally need to harvest as much because we know more is on the way soon. If we knew we would have dry summers we would have more reservoirs and people would Conserve more.

There have been dry summers every few years, it's not that this is a huge surprise given that the whole continent is experiencing prolonged phases of draught and warmer summers. Why should Ireland be an exception there? It says quite a lot about the state of a country if a few days of warm weather can cause a serious crisis in supply, in a country that has plenty of rain. Maybe, just maybe it would be smart to not bury the heads in the sand and prepare for weather events that might only occur every few years. Yes it sometimes can get colder than 0 degrees and snow, yes there also can be long dry spells with little rain.

I don't wanna make that a political debate though really.
Only advice I could give every hobby gardener is to get a rainwater tank fitted, you'll get by with it for a good while without having to worry about your plants. Also watering with a can might take longer but is a lot more gentle on the supply.

Dial Hard

iamtony wrote:

Oh they will sell out and be filled but to be honest if they sell 1000 of them over a week it's bit over a million litres a day but if we all flushed the toilet one less time per day it would save so much more. We deserve a bit of fun in the sunny let's just not be stupid about it.

Believe me, the people who will buy and fill these pools are also the very last ones who would think to let the yellow mellow for a while.

Unfortunately there is a sizeable cohort of Irish society that cares absolutely nothing for anything other than their own immediate gratification. The kinds of habits you posted about earlier to conserve water are not just alien to them, they'd actively laugh at anyone who does them as a matter of course. There's a "fcuk the system" attitude at play that's quite frankly depressing.