If you are on a hosepipe ban, are you complying?

[FindingMeno]

Just curious really - if you are, will you continue to, whatever, even if it decimates everything? Is your garden small or big?

For transparency, I am ( grumpily) complying, but don't know what state the garden will be in before long, which makes me very sad. My garden is mid sized I would say.

Our hosepipe ban only started yesterday, but yes we are and will continue to comply. We have 3 water butts and several watering cans and will just water the things that would definitely die (and not come back) without it.

No. South East Water can whistle. But only pond (newts) tomatoes, courgettes and raspberries every 2nd or 3rd day. Using more grey water for pots and hopefully the rest will look after itself.

We have one of those automatic irrigation systems and its meant to use 50 to 70% less than a hose, so its still on for pur vegetables mainly. Its for 2 mins at 10pm.

I dont know if its more water than we'd use with a watering can but google seems to thi k less as its targeted.

Everything you do, @HoppityBun we're doing, all very sensible. Can't understand what that "wind-up" comment was all about!

Definitely using grey water for the hydrangeas which are not drought tolerant. They have big leaves and flowers that need moisture at the roots to survive . I do spend two months in the autumn mulching every metre of our borders which pays off hugely by retaining the moisture from several months of constant rain. I put my dahlia in the ground from some tubs the other week and the soil was lovely and moist, after heat spike 4.

we aren't in a hosepipe ban area but we only need to water our annuals in tubs, so no big deal there. I haven't done any hanging baskets this year, given the challenging conditions.

We're complying. DH is even topping up the small pond by hand (vital for local wildlife - birds and foxes drink there, newts live there). I pointed out it is the same amount of water but he just said he wants to stick to the rules.

No.

I couldn't work out if I'm exempt but I'm on crutches and 90% of our plants are food and edibles which in the cost of living crisis are essential for us to be able to eat.

We are mostly using the water butts though and only rarely the tap.

The cannabis farm near us is definitely still being watered by the hose pipes and I am really hoping it's their downfall. 😀

We put water out for the birds daily, in 4 separate bird baths dotted round the garden - they really need fresh water.

its awful how people have paved over their gardens or turned them into parking spaces.

Im using my hose and I dont give a fuck.
My water bill isnt being reduced so why should i comply ? Not building enough reservoirs for our forever growing population isn't my problem.
I'll continue to use it everyday too without guilt

This is my thinking too. I remember reading that we have enough rain in this country for us never to need hosepipe bans, but the water companies fail to manage it properly.

Asking this in MN is similar to asking if you pick up dog poo or allow your primary aged child unlimited access to internet. Not one person is going to admit it

No im not complying. I have several potted acers and I'm not letting them die. I had a knee replacement a little while ago and lugging a watering can up the garden is too difficult at the moment so I'm using the hose to reach them. My little concession is that I have a shut off valve on the hose attachment, so it's only on when watering each plant, not spraying freely in between. I also don't water every day. I'm in the South East where we've had not a sniff of rain for months. The amount of big leaks in the area is a joke though, so partly this ban is due to Thames Water's inefficiency and bad management.

I am, although I am grumpy about it too. I have a beautiful garden. Thankfully we have got water butts so are managing the pots at the moment but it won’t last long.

I do not begrudge someone very old watering their flowers if that gives them pleasure.
But there is not enough water to go round if we all went about watering the garden using as much as with a hosepipe. Missing the point of the hosepipe ban there really.

We are complying.

Large (1/4 acre) allotment. We arent allowed to water plants by hose anyway but are allowed to refill water butts by hose. Over the years we have created a network of hoses and water butts so that we dont have far to walk between bed and butt.

Watering is a lot of work. We can easily put down 500 litres on the beds. Every couple of days.

Then the trees in the orchard are also needing to be watered so that is the same again every 10 days.

I’m on the priority services register but still using cans when I can , especially when the kids are around to help. But it takes nearly an hour, and the tap is constantly on for that time because we leave a pot to fill while we’re pouring. Using the hose takes the same amount of time: I use it when it’s just me

Yes, but begrudgingly. The ridiculous thing is I'm actually ending up wasting water whilst using watering cans from spills and splashes.

Our hose if only turned on at the tap when used, has a trigger to release water so no wasting between plants or areas, and when I've turned the tap off I set the hose to open and place it on the pond or on a flower bed to drain... Much less wastage.

I'm keeping the pool (that sounds fancy, it's just a glorified oversized paddling pool) going with chlorine tabs and using a net, but I think pretty soon we will have to empty it which is upsetting as it's been great for ds8 and used regularly - was filled on 10th july

I’m complying. I’ve a large much loved and cared for lawn and it’s really brown and dead looking. There are only a few small areas under the trees where there is any slight green colouring left. I’ve a fairly new flower bed that would cost over a £1000 to replant so that’s getting watering using drip irrigation. I’ve also a couple of hydrangeas that I’m water by hand but only enough to keep them alive. They aren’t happy.
Ive spent hours and hours and hours maintaining my lawn and must have spent loads of money over the years. I’m thinking I might rotavate the whole thing at the end of summer and reseed with drought resistant grass.
People that say that grass always comes back and that it’s just dormant etc are wrong. It doesn’t always.

I'm going to post first and then RTT. I'm abiding by the current hosepipe ban. My neighbour isn't and seems to think the rules don't apply to him.
I used to quite like him but now I just think he's an entitled twat.

Not every property can be metered, ours can’t unless the water board spend £££ restructuring pipework which would involve digging up roads and everyone’s gardens.

I agree with you but it’s not going to stop parts of the UK from having severe water shortages right now. If it doesn’t rain soon in some areas, what do you think is going to happen? Water companies can’t make it rain!!

So the people that work there can just lose their jobs then?

IMO they need to make bonfires illegal in a heatwave. I want to keep plants alive and some idiot wants to have a BBQ or wild camp and heat noodles over a badly made fire to impress his socials and results in using 200 swimming pools of water to stop miles of his fire spreading. I also think the sum total of leaks in an area over each year should be calculated and reimbursed to homeowners who have been banned from using water they have paid for.

The thing is, if you had to fill the paddling pool with buckets you’d probably not bother as it would get boring/tiring very quickly.
I am now watering my pots with watering cans and am definitely doing watering less than I was before the hose pipe ban for the above reason.

So true!! Their selfishness will affect others who are obeying the rules.