As the hot weather here in London starts to dry out the soil, it has turned my mind to matters of H20. In an ideal world, I'd have a reed bed water treatment system in my garden, like Kim Wilde (I think). Seeing as I don't have the money or the space, I make do with pouring the contents of my washing up bowl (cooled down, of course) on my parched lawn. People worry that the washing up liquid will damage the plants, but unless you use a hell of a lot of detergent, it'll be fine.
Other top water saving tips include applying a mulch to borders and veg patches, collecting rainwater from your via a rain butt and growing stuff that is drought resistant: more of which, later.
When I was growing up, my parents had a grapefruit tree growing out back that had more fruit than any other tree in the neighborhood. They rigged the washing machine so that it would drain out along the side yard where the tree was. As long as my mom didnt use bleach, the plants that grew in that areawere fine, and they were all very lush and healthy. If she used bleach, she'd have to reroute the washing machine tubes. but the soap never did hurt the plants and it's very good for soil aeration as well.
Posted by: Laura | May 25, 2004 at 10:09 PM