COLUMNIST: KATRINA FLAD
Katrina Flad runs her sustainable garden design and landscaping business frock n wellies from her home in Aberdeenshire. Passionate about the planet and all things that live on it, she wanted to make a real difference to her environment ever since she can remember. After academic training in agricultural engineering and animal sciences, the drive to have real impact made her start her own sustainable gardening business in 2014.
Passionate about sustainable design and landscaping choices she creates beautiful green spaces that benefit wildlife, promote biodiversity and improve wellbeing - one garden at a time.
This year has been dry and the summer has been hot. In Scotland, shortage of water is not too often a topic of concern but the reality is that the climate is changing and long periods of low water tables will mean hosepipe bans right when we need to water our garden most of all.
We need to be more mindful about the water we use in our gardens and solutions have to suit our seasons of wet and cold periods, followed by possible long periods of drought.
Water usually runs to certain areas of your garden. Firstly downhill, and secondly to areas with free draining soil before venturing into more compacted soil. You can use these principles to channel water and retain it in certain places.
The easiest example is when your garden is on a slope. You can then plant swales perpendicular to the water run off, or have little ponds to hold water until it overflows. Swales retain the water and slowly release it again, very much like a sponge, which is perfect for heavy rainfall alternated with periods of drought.
For a flat garden, channelling water is a bit more challenging. Digging sloping trenches and filling with free draining substrate such as gravel, or installing drainage to move water to a reservoir, is all possible. It does have to be worth the effort however, so observe your garden well. If water runs off at a certain spot, planting upstream from that spot in the unchanged soil might be enough to slow down water run off.
Water harvesting can be done easily in a lot of gardens by installing a water butt connected to any drainpipe, or one that is simply filled up by rain. They come in different styles and with a range of price tags. Alternatively, whisky barrels, empty bins and more can be recycled into elegant and sustainable water-collecting features in your garden.
As a word of caution, when attaching a hose to a water butt, do think about legionnaires’ disease. A hosepipe can cause aerosols, fine spray that we do not see but which we can inhale. Inhaling legionnaires’ disease bacteria can cause life threatening illness. Switching the hose off at the tap and letting the last water run out, then storing the hose in a cool, shaded place will help to prevent this.
A better option is to use a watering can which can be filled from the tap or dunked straight into the water butt. Something with a wide opening is ideal to save time standing around filling the watercan from the hose and greatly reduces the risk for harmful bacteria to spread.
If you are unable to harvest rainwater and have to use tap water, irrigation is a lot more efficient when using a drip pipe system. This is basically a slightly leaky hose that releases water right at the root of the plant, reducing evaporation. It also saves a lot of time. Mulching will make it even more effective as it keeps the moisture locked in and ensures that you cannot see the hosepipe.
Tightly clipped lawns start looking dull quickly if not watered regularly so try to limit the number of lawn cuts unless you do not mind brown patches in summer. Alternatives for lawns are meadows, cut once or twice a year, that support biodiversity in many ways and also act as a water reservoir as the rainwater clings to the foliage and slowly drips down into the soil. Or look at no mow lawns, species of grass that grow relatively short and thrive in dry conditions.
Here are my top 6 of plants that do well in Scotland and can cope with wet feet in winter as well as periods of summer drought. Ideal for swales or herbaceous perennial beds that act as bioswales.
A low spreader with star-like flowers in white or blue. This one not only tolerates a variety of conditions, it is also a fantastic living mulch, suppressing weeds, keeping moisture in the soil and providing habitat for wildlife.
A medium sized shrub with yellow to red winter stems if coppiced regularly. The foliage in autumn before it falls is a bonus, together with the white berries. This hardy shrub is ideal for improving water cycles in gardens and can go for long periods without watering.
A tall herbaceous perennial with white tufts as flowers that is truly unfussy yet not invasive. It looks good in informal gardens, next to ponds or mixed in with wild grasses.
Some love the smell of the pink dropping flowers, others are not so keen, but it is a great early spring flower when pollinators have little to choose from. Typically an understory plant that does not mind dappled shade, it is also extremely tolerant to fluctuating water tables. The dark berries in summer might resemble small currants but will give you an upset tummy so better leave them to add interest to your border.
Small ovate leaves of this unassuming upright shrub give little away until the tiny flowers that are dusty pink and white appear, followed by plump ornate white berries. It can sucker so it needs attention in a small garden but is great in gardens where water is precious.
This fragrant, herbaceous perennial is loved by bees. The small silver foliage and purple flowers are stunning in highly ornamental and naturalistic borders alike.
For more sustainable garden and design inspiration, follow Katrina on Instagram and Facebook.