After considering her own use of tap water in the garden, designer Sam Proctor took steps to reduce this and wants to help others do the same. With sponsor Affinity Water – her own local water company – she brought The Water Saving Garden to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last week.

Here are her top tips for designing and building a garden where reliance on tap water is reduced and rainwater takes centre stage.

1 Avoid over reliance on irrigation – especially tap-fed irrigation

“Our first instinct is to put in an irrigation system and, because it’s off the tap, we know it’s clean and plentiful with plenty of pressure and that this can water all the plants in the garden without a problem. It’s a timed system, so it will automatically come on and nobody has to worry about it. But we end up wasting perfectly good drinking water on plants that are better off with rainwater.”

Where these systems are “hands off”, they can also lead to overwatering plants if left running, warns Proctor, who recommends hand watering where possible as people are more likely to notice when the plants are suffering.

The Water Saving Garden. Credit: Kat Weatherill

2 Capture rainwater – the more water butts, the better

Garden designers and landscapers might want to consider other “useful and viable systems which allow you to bring water to the roots of the plants just where they need it, without a reliance on tap fed systems.” In The Water Saving Garden, water butts collect rainwater, which is guided into interconnected reservoirs to the planters for the plants to take up water as and when they need it. This avoids over moistening the soil as there’s less evapotranspiration, and so saves 30% over typical irrigation methods.

Consider all roofs from which rainwater could be collected too – the house, a shed, a garage or a garden building. “Try to capture rainwater as a first port of call; have a water butt tucked around the corner or make it a decorative one.”

3 Go large with planters – they’re less likely to dry out

It was containers that first prompted Proctor to consider her water usage in the first place and to bring the idea to Chelsea. “Plants that are in the ground have more possibilities to send out roots and find water where it’s still available, but pots are always the first things to dry out.” Having larger pots helps, as does grouping plants together as they are less likely to dry out from the sides, creating a moister micro-climate.

4 Place watering tanks in the planters – it’s far simpler

Rather than laying pipework under paving to irrigate potted plants, Proctor suggests using a tank underneath the plants as you plant them, which would require the client to simply top up the tank with water once a month or so. “It’s a low-tech solution to what could be a complex problem. They’re easy to put together and can be used on various projects such as roof terraces where access might be difficult. They allow you to minimise the care that these plants need.”

The Water Saving Garden. Credit: Kat Weatherill

5 Choose plants carefully – and they don’t have to be Mediterranean

One of the messages behind Proctor’s Chelsea garden was that you can still have the plants that you’d want in a normal garden setting and ensure they get enough water without wasting a precious resource. “It’s not about having plants that adapt to hot, dry settings, because some of those plants might not do so well in UK gardens – especially in winter, when it gets very cold and wet. As the effects of climate change are becoming more apparent, our planting palette might be more limited; but in certain situations, if we’re able and prepared to give plants the resources that they need, then we might not be as limited as we thought we would be.”

6 Limit the hard landscaping – and make it permeable

Don’t pave every square inch of a garden, says Proctor. Where you can, make the hardscape permeable so that rainfall can seep through. “If we’re not directing it into our gardens, then it gets directed into storm drains and mixes with sewers, which means it’s no longer usable. So, as much as possible, think about permeable landscapes and directing rainwater into planting beds.”