Why London gardens need a watering plan
London is drier than most of the UK — the Thames basin sees some of the country's lowest summer rainfall, and the clay subsoil common across West London can bake hard and crack in a dry spell. A watering plan keeps lawns green and borders alive without wasting mains water, and it helps you stay on the right side of hosepipe bans when they arrive.
How much water does a garden actually need?
Most established lawns and borders want roughly 20-25mm of water a week in a dry spell — about a full watering can per square metre. Light daily sprinkling encourages shallow roots; a thorough soak two or three times a week drives roots deeper and makes the garden more drought-resilient.
When to water
- •Early morning (5am-9am) — lowest evaporation and leaves dry fast, reducing disease.
- •Avoid the middle of the day in summer — up to half the water can evaporate before it reaches the roots.
- •Evening watering is acceptable for lawns and borders, but avoid soaking foliage late where mildew is a problem.
- •Newly laid turf and freshly sown seed need watering daily, sometimes twice a day, until established.
Watering lawns, borders and containers
Lawns benefit from a weekly deep soak — letting the soil dry slightly between waterings hardens the grass for drought. Borders want water at the roots, not over the leaves; a drip line laid under mulch is ideal. Containers dry out fastest of all and often need daily watering in July and August, even after rain.
Cut your water use without losing the garden
- •Mulch beds in spring with 5cm of bark or compost to lock moisture in and cool the soil.
- •Install a drip irrigation system with a timer — it puts water at the roots and uses far less than a sprinkler.
- •Add a water butt or rainwater tank; harvested rainwater is exempt from most hosepipe-ban restrictions.
- •Group thirsty plants together so you only water heavily in one zone.
- •Mow lawns a little higher in dry weather — longer grass shades its own roots and survives longer.
Watering through a hosepipe ban
When Thames Water declares a hosepipe ban, sprinklers and hosepipes are restricted, but drip irrigation, watering cans and harvested rainwater are generally still permitted. A drip system on a timer is one of the most ban-resilient ways to keep a garden alive — and because it waters at the roots, it wastes very little. We can design and install drip systems to run from a tap or from a rainwater tank with a pump.