What can I actually do in the garden during a hosepipe ban?

Temporary use bans generate more misinformation than almost any other garden subject. The legislation gives water companies a list of uses they may restrict and a set of exemptions they may apply, and each company publishes exactly what it has chosen. That published notice is the only authority worth reading.

Step by step

1. Read your own water company's notice.Find it on their website rather than relying on news coverage. It will list the restricted uses and any exemptions, and it is the document that actually applies to you. Neighbouring companies frequently have different terms in the same summer.
2. Note what a ban is actually about.It restricts hosepipes and similar devices connected to the mains for particular purposes — typically watering gardens and plants, cleaning vehicles and paths, filling pools and ponds, and running ornamental fountains. It is about the delivery method as much as the water.
3. Confirm that watering cans are unaffected.In practice, hand-watering with a can or bucket filled from a tap is not restricted by a temporary use ban. That is the basis of every workaround below, and it is why a ban is a serious inconvenience rather than a total stop.
4. Use your stored water freely.Rainwater from your own butts is yours and is outside the scope of a mains-supply ban, including through a hose or pump connected to the butt. So is water from a private well or borehole, subject to its own rules.
5. Check the exemptions that might apply to you.Common ones cover newly laid turf and newly planted areas within a defined period, food crops in some notices, blue badge holders, registered businesses whose trade depends on it, and national plant collections. They vary between companies and they are stated in the notice.
6. Prioritise ruthlessly.Containers and new plantings first, then anything cropping, then anything expensive to replace. Established trees, shrubs and lawns can be left — lawns brown off and recover, and established woody plants have deep roots.
7. Reduce demand rather than fighting it.Mulch everything, move pots into shade and group them together, shade the most vulnerable plants during peak sun, remove weeds that are competing for water, and stop feeding, since feeding pushes growth that then needs more water.

Tips

• Get your butts full before a ban, not during one. A dry summer is usually well forecast, and every butt you fill in spring is water you can use freely later.
• A can with the rose removed puts water at the base where it is useful, and delivers a measurable volume per trip. During a ban that precision is worth a great deal.
• Washing-up water and bath water are usable on most established garden plants with sensible precautions, and using them is unaffected by a ban.
• Watering in the early morning during a ban means less of your limited water evaporates and more reaches the roots.
• Penalties for breaching a ban are a matter for the water company and are set out in their notice; if you are relying on an exemption it is worth having the notice to hand.

Common mistakes

• Assuming a ban means no garden watering at all — It restricts hosepipes, not water. Hand-watering with cans is generally permitted and a well-prioritised can regime keeps a garden going through a long dry spell.
• Reading a general news article and assuming it describes your restriction — Each water company sets its own list of restricted uses and exemptions, and coverage of one company's ban is routinely applied to another's. Read your own supplier's notice.
• Continuing to water the lawn on cans during a ban — It is the highest-volume, lowest-value target in the garden. Grass goes dormant and recovers when rain returns, and the water is far better spent on containers and new plantings.

Questions people ask