River Chess Association

With this hot weather our water use goes up. In Chesham almost all the water supplied to our taps by Affinity Water comes from the aquifer; the aquifer also supplies the water to the River Chess, so sad to say that every drop of water we use is less for the river. Whatever we can do to save water will help the river and the environment. Try not to water your lawn. Yes, it will turn brown but with the first significant rain it will be green and verdant again. The plus point of not watering is it does not need cutting. Our plants and vegetables are important and we spend a great deal of time and effort growing them. Try recycling bath water or collecting water from your shower. A method we use is to stand with one foot in a builders grab bucket when showering. This will collect most of the water and can be used on your plants. Soap will not harm them. Do not stand in the bucket with both feet.....this leads to a balance issue.

Above left: we saved this much water after a 2-minute shower with a bucket. Above right: And we used the water on our tomatoes

Remember every drop of water we save is more water for the rivers and the environment. It is at times of hot, dry weather that we see the highest use of water. Last weekend water companies experienced the highest demand on record. Some areas of water use are essential, others not so. Here are some top tips to save water:

• Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth
• Take a two minute shower and collect the water in a bucket to use for watering your plants and vegetables.
• Reusing the paddling pool to water the garden rather than pouring it away.
• Water your garden at night, when it has most benefit, with a watering can rather than using a hose.
• Don't water your lawn let it go brown – it will recover.
• Wash your car after the heatwave.

Above: Don't worry, your lawn will recover if it goes brown!

Lawns

One of the biggest uses of water is for watering our gardens. Vegetables and less established plants need our attention, but established lawns can survive without watering. Here is some advice from the Turf Growers Association. Coral Russell, Chief Executive said: “Going brown is the natural survival mechanism of grass."

“When water is in short supply, grass responds by shutting down and turning a brown colour showing that it has stopped growing until more favourable conditions return.

“Grass is remarkably resilient, and as long as you follow a few basic rules, most lawns will recover completely when the rain finally arrives.”

The Turfgrowers Association’s top tips to keep a luscious lawn over the heatwave!

• Avoid using weed killer as it will kill the grass.
• Move garden furniture around (garden tables, BBQ) so they don’t stay stationary and kill sections of grass
• Blunt blades ruin lawns.
• Put a light dressing of compost across the grass as it will soak up its moisture.
• Don’t spread fertiliser during dry weather as it can dry it out.

Extra: