Here’s the first of a few tips on how to save water in your rental property, adapted from a Yarra
Water leaflet, but picking out the highlights relating to renters…
- If you have grass in your garden then run hosing from the water outlet pipe on your washing machine on to it to maintain a lovely slab of green turf. If you don’t have grass, then collect some of the water into a bucket which can easily be used on non-edible plants.
- Collect rainwater in buckets or tanks for future use.
- Group plants on their watering needs to make the most efficient use of water.
- Check the soil before watering, if it’s damp already then save that water!
- Most plants will not need watering as much as you think, try cutting back and keeping an eye on the plant.
- Pot plants and house plants need a lot of water, do you really need then?
- Remove weeds from beds, they’ll only use up water plants you actually want need.
- Water plant roots, not onto foliage.
- Larger plants and long grass can shield smaller plants from the sun.
- Use water crystals and wetting agents to keep the soil from drying out.
- Consider laying compost or mulch to keep soil damper.
- Plant native or drought resistant plants instead of water greedy European varities.
There is a $30 rebate from your water supplier for products with a value of $100 or more from hardware stores or garden centres.
