What I do behind the scenes

Sustainable Water Use in My Garden

Hannah Phillips • 19 July 2024

family gardens, family garden design, gardening with kids

Walking the Walk...

Given my propensity to bang on about how important sustainable rain water management is (it really is!) I thought it was time I share what goes on in my own garden.

Granted, it's not an average garden - part is classed as agricultural land and is part of a flood plain for the River Nene but, as such, we get to see both sides of the rain water management coin: Capture and handling of run off near the house and some of where it (and lots of other people's run off) ends up...

I recently calculated there's about 200m2 of less than permeable surface created by our house and associated patios, hardstanding and the like. In an average year of rainfall for our area, this creates over 155,000 litres of rainwater run off that might otherwise flow into the local drain network.

Here's what happens:

We have a gravel drive sloping down to the courtyard parking and a soakaway pit. This takes not only the water from a drive shared with our neighbours, but quite a lot of the roof run off from one of their houses (not ideal but it's always been like that and the alternative is it joining the highways drain).

From here it is piped underground, collecting run off from our own house downpipes and discharges into a bio-swale (basically a channel lined with vegetation) along the side of the garden that carries water along its length, towards the river. In reality, water from here never really reaches the river. The swale allows most of the water to infiltrate the ground below although, in times of heavy or persistent rain it can hold water until the ground becomes less saturated, with no ill effects.

Into the same swale goes the clean water run off from our bio-digester that deals with all the grey and black water from the house (for which we have a certificate from the Environment Agency).

As part of the flood plain we do usually get persistent standing water at the end of the garden during the wetter, Winter months. Depending on the seasonal rainfall, this can rise up during periods of intense rain (and the fact that it tends to reach peak level some 24-48 hours after the main rain event would suggest this comes from rising river levels created by run off from the wider, surrounding area.

This year we had standing water in places as late as the start of June (pictured above).

Around the house and greenhouse we have a series of dipping tanks (repurposed agricultural watering troughs) and water butts to keep a convenient supply of water nearby for pots and planters. We have standard diverter kits on the butts so, when they're full, the downpipes divert back to the drain-to-swale set up.

Butt (see what I did there?!) I know there's more we can do around our home and garden to conserve the water that falls .

Where there's one water butt, there could be 2, allowing overflow to fill the second up.

If we blow aesthetics out the window (or, you have a good sized roof to an outbuilding or barn) how about an IBC (one of those big water cubes farmers often use) to capture run off?

Even better, you could install an underground water storage system to really get some meaningful volume involved. This could also be used for non-potable things like washing clothes and flushing loos as well as watering plants. This would be something I'd love to do but it's not one of the cheaper options!

There could be more rain planters integrated into the dipping tanks to increase plant biodiversity (we already have a lot of water on site so I have decided not to do this so far!)

I'm in the process of* putting a new rain planter in a tiny, outdoor courtyard space. Partly because is gets really dry there and I don't want to have to water it and partly because I want to see (and hear) the water fall from the house gutter, down a rain chain and into a rain planter full of lovely plants!

I could do something more fancy with the greenhouse run off collection (a galvanised trough and a couple of less pretty receptacles around the back!) but, it currently does what I need it to do pretty well.

The point is, there's *always* something more you can do whether you currently consciously think about saving water or not but, if everyone just does a little something, every little helps.

***

If you have any questions about the sustainable water features mentioned above or, would like to know more about how sustainable rain management could work in your own garden, feel free to drop me an email: studio@hpgardendesign@outlook.com

< Older Post Newer Post >

Are Traditional Gardens Dead? Part 1: Trees

by Hannah Phillips • 13 August 2026

Part 1: Trees. Climate change means we all need to start thinking differently about what it means to and, how, we garden. A fair share of Clients I speak to are looking for a garden that is somewhere between Chelsea ready and low maintenance’, however, the new normal (ostensibly meaning ‘anything could happen but there’s probably going to be a hosepipe ban at some point’) means achieving any garden at all is going to need some forward planning. Trees, in particular will require careful consideration. Especially the trees we choose for our gardens from now on. With most hoping to live at least 50 years, the right ones in the right place, 100’s, they will bear witness to everything Climate Change brings over the decades to come. They are also some of the most important flora in terms of supporting both people (think shade, cooling, maybe, oxygen?!) and wildlife. I went to Ely earlier this week for Barcham Trees ‘Our Urban Forest Future’ event. As a primarily residential designer based in rural Northamptonshire I do get to design a few urban gardens (and I do love the challenge of designing a small space and they are some of my favourites to work on!) but, they’re not something I do everyday. So, why go to an urban tree focused event? Well, consider the conditions your average urban tree has to contend with: Often limited soil and planting space, soil compaction, erosion. Warmer temperatures and microclimates due to the urban heat island effect and limited water and nutrients. (As well as pollution, potential vandalism etc). As Climate Change bites, these sound remarkably similar to the stresses that a lot of planting will experience in one form or another. Certainly the trees in your average garden might be in for a shock as temperatures rise and the convenience of watering gardens with drinking water is seen for insanity that it really is and the feast or famine effects of extreme weather affects soil structure and stability. The insights provided came from a wide range of schemes - large scale tree planting in the Middle East, tree audits from across the American North West parks to the current challenges facing the Royal Parks Treescape teams. Perhaps the biggest face-palm moment of the day for me was that in the USA, Native American Tribes Partners are being consulted to help in the management of areas of national woodland (presumably, that their ancestors had acted as custodians of for millennia, prior before being removed to create 'National Parks'?) as the approaches typically used in modern forestry management are not working to mitigate the now, increased, risk of wildfires. (Finally. Waking up to the idea that working with nature instead of against it is a good idea)... Another take away that can be applied to planting at any scale was resilience in diversity. The example of one of the Royal Parks which has had a heavy historical reliance on London Plane trees (Platanus hispanica - as does much of London) and the emergence of a hitherto, unknown, pathogen attacking it. This is another by-product of a changing climate and in this instance, has led to the removal of a large number of mature trees, fundamentally changing the character, canopy cover and associated ecosystem of the space. There are other species that have been and will be impacted by the influx of previously unseen pests and diseases brought about by the changing conditions with their effects rendering trees even more susceptible to less hospitable climate conditions. There are many other impacts that will be seen and felt amongst our trees. Phenological adjustments (how plants adjust the timing of their seasonal lifecycle in response to changing climate patterns (such as longer growing seasons) will mean that species will survive based on their ability to adapt. So, as we observe how some of our own garden favourites over the next few years and, when some of them inevitably fail, choosing their replacements from a range of trees better suited will be critical in helping to maintain ecosystems and all the other benefits they provide that we tend to take for granted.