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Embracing Sustainable Gardening Innovation: Top Tips For Business

Depending on the nature of your business, landscaping and garden design can prove pivotal to your success. For example, if you’re a restaurant with an option for al fresco dining, maintaining a beautiful garden area is sure to impress your customers.

Equally, if you have a corporate site that you want to be as impressive as possible, maintaining well-manicured lawns and other outdoor spaces will certainly wow your clients, as well as giving your employees somewhere to escape to for some much-needed fresh air.

However, as the impacts of climate change continue to unfold and as the UK population grows, it’s expected that we’ll start to see demand for freshwater supplies start to outstrip supply… which means it will become increasingly important for us all to start operating more sustainably where water is concerned, especially in our gardens.

The Committee on Climate Change expects that water demand in England will exceed supply by anything between 1.1 and 3.1 billion litres of water each day come the 2050s.

By 2045, it’s expected that total water supply will decrease by seven per cent because of climate change and the growing need to prevent environmental damage to surface and groundwater sources alike.

The majority of public water supply is obtained through abstraction, but if this is overdone it can lead to physical changes that in turn put local biodiversity at risk.

As such, it is essential that public consumption of water is reduced, with figures suggesting that a reduction of 480 million litres of water per day is needed at a national level within the next 20 years or so in order to ensure that abstraction is maintained at sustainable levels.

Exacerbating the situation is an expected increase in drier weather in line with climate change, which is now forecast to reduce water supplies by a further 600 million litres per day.

This means that daily water sourced through abstraction around England is predicted to fall by more than one billion litres over the next few decades. Unless urgent action is taken, some parts of the country – such as the south-east – will run out of water.

The good news is that it’s not all doom and gloom, and there is a lot that can be achieved where water conservation is concerned… particularly in relation to both domestic and commercial gardening habits.

Gardening innovation

Finding innovative ways in which water can be saved and reused will become increasingly important as time goes on – especially during the summer months, when water usage reaches its peak and there is less of it to go around in any case.

If you’re looking for inspiration and ideas right now, you might find Affinity Water’s Water Saving Garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show of particular interest, highlighting the importance of being more sustainable with gardening in order to drive down demand for precious water resources.

The garden itself was created alongside local garden designer Sam Procter of Chiltern Garden Design, who was inspired by the chalk streams in the water supplier’s operating region.

The design features a domestic courtyard, combining sustainable features such as bamboo decking, fibreglass planters and rainwater harvesting systems that collect rain from rooftops and deposit it in dedicated water butts. Excess rainwater is stored in hidden pipes contained within the planters, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that makes the most of natural resources.

The water flow system sees rainwater collected in copper guttering, which then flows into water butts via rain chains (which can be used as an alternative to downpipes, diverting water into other containers). Timers then direct the water flow via pipes into reservoirs at the base of the planters, which allows plants to take the water up through their roots.

This helps to prevent evaporation from the surface of the soil, saving around 30 per cent of the water that would typically be required. Rainwater sensors also switch off the automated water flow into the reservoirs during rainy weather, preventing overflow.

During periods of dry weather, grey water – that taken from showers, sinks and washing machines – can be used to fill the water butts back up, improving water efficiency, supporting environmental protection and reducing the use of potable water.

Ms Procter said: “I wanted the design to offer practical solutions for preserving water, even in smaller spaces, while creating a visually stunning landscape reminiscent of the iconic chalk streams of the Chilterns.”

Rebecca Froud, director of customer experience at Affinity Water, made further comments, saying: “We are working hard every day to keep the water flowing for our customers, but we also need to find ways to inspire more considered use to reduce demand for water to the levels needed to prevent a shortfall of water in the coming years.Population growth, combined with climate change means that water availability is going to become more challenging.

“Gardening is one of the biggest uses of water, so through our water-saving behaviour change programme and this partnership with Sam, we want to inspire and help our customers and communities who are passionate about their gardens while finding simple solutions to save water, save money and help protect the local environment.”

What else can businesses do?

One of the best first steps that businesses can take in order to reduce their water footprint is to have an audit carried out of their entire site to find out how they’re using water and where.

Once you’re armed with this knowledge, you can identify which water-saving measures would be most appropriate for you. These can also be adjusted over time as the needs of your business change, allowing you to make even more savings as the years go on. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with the H2o Building Services team today.