Responding to your questions about the hose pipe ban

Some people have asked us why we are using hosepipes during a hosepipe ban.

Some people have asked us why we are using hosepipes during a hosepipe ban.

Along with other local authorities we are exempt from the residential hosepipe ban.  However, we have to balance our responsibility to maintain the environment with our responsibility to do our bit to conserve water.

When the hosepipe ban was announced we thought very carefully about whether or not to plant the floral displays this year.  As the plants were ordered last winter it would be a waste of council taxpayer’s money not to use them.

Apart from the initial watering in of plants, we try to carry out all other watering either early in the morning or in the evening to reduce the amount of evaporation.

We have put in place short-term measures to reduce the amount of watering we are doing.  Water retaining crystals have been used in our hanging baskets for several years now, but this year we’ve bought even more so that we can use them in the bedding displays too.

We are also looking at the types of plants that will be used in our roundabout displays.  It is possible that some areas planted with seasonal bedding will be replaced with permanent planting which demand less watering and we’ll use varieties that don’t need so much water.

For more information about our planting schemes telephone 01438 242323, textphone 01438 242555 or email: parksandamenities@stevenage.gov.uk