If the proposed blanket hosepipe bans come into place on the 5 April as planned there will be some serious problems for landscapers and gardeners in the south east of England.
Seven water suppliers said they will bring in bans which means the use of hosepipes (that includes sprinklers by definition) will be prohibited.
An active weekend, as well as today, of targeted emails and contact via social media has resulted in the seven water companies being contacted directly via email centrally via Landscape Juice as well as by individual members.
A blanket hosepipe ban will not only be potentially bad for thousands of small to medium garden enterprises but it may also result in damage to the environment and sensitive ecology.
We don't understand how car washes and other non-essential services can potentially escape a ban but gardeners are the very first who seem to suffer.
The majority of gardeners are sensitive by nature so wasting water is the furthest from their minds.
I've reproduced one of our letters below and I'm pleased to say that we've had direct responded from United Utilities (reservoirs full no ban needed), Anglian Water (are considering concessions for gardeners including new turf and planting), South East Water have already conceded (retracted) that new turf can be watered for the first 28 days.
Edit: 2 April 2012 - Sutton and East Surrey Water will allow watering-in of freshly laid turf for the first 28 days.
To be honest I'm astounded at the speed this is all happened: the power of social media and a large member base I guess?
Thanks to Jenny Bloom and Pip Howard for their sterling hard work as well as LJN members who've reacted and acted passionately to this looming crisis.
To: Public Consultations Team
2nd East
Thames Water
Clearwater Court
Reading
RG1 8DB
cc. Anglian Water
South East Water
Southern Water
Veolia Water Central
Veolia Water South East
Sutton and East Surrey Water
Temporary Use Ban - Exemption for newly installed gardens
Landscape Juice Network is an open association representing over 2500 individual members and small businesses, including landscape contractors, garden designers and garden maintenance providers throughout the UK - with over 50% of the membership based in the south east.
We are writing to appeal on behalf of our members whose businesses will be severely affected by the Temporary Use Ban notices issued by the seven water companies in the south east.
We are calling for an exemption - a discretionary period of 28 days to be applied for all new garden installations that include new planting, turfing and seeded areas to allow the use of hosepipes by us and our clients.
Without such a ‘watering in’ period to help plants and lawns become established, new plantings may fail, garden projects will have to be postponed and longer term, many small businesses working in the landscape industry will suffer a loss of income as clients may decide not to go ahead with garden projects this year.
Restricting water will also have a detrimental effect on insect and wildlife habitat meaning parts of the natural ecology may be damaged.
Watering new plantings and lawns adequately with a watering can would simply not be feasible in most cases. Drip irrigation systems, whilst permitted, have limited application and efficacy in reality. Whilst we all appreciate the severity of the drought conditions we are now under, we appeal for an exemption to allow hosepipe use for newly installed gardens to be granted for us and our clients.
Without a discretionary period to allow newly installed gardens to be watered adequately, we cannot go about our normal business. Other industry sectors e.g. manufacturing, have no such restrictions on water use in the normal operation of their businesses - and it is unfair that the landscape industry should be penalised in this way.
The Temporary Use Ban enforced this early in the year without exemptions for newly installed gardens will have a devastating impact on small businesses in the landscape industry, many of which are already suffering in the recession.
We appeal for an exemption to allow us to continue in business. We look forward to your response.
Your sincerely
Phil Voice, Landscape Juice Network
www.landscapejuicenetwork.com
Once the prospect of drought looms, most of the buying public and some contractors immediately assume the worst and close their wallets.I have 40 years experience of this from both sides of the fence, but I think the water companies and those that control them should understand a few simple facts. Give turf one really good soaking from a hosepipe initially and it can last a long time on this reservoir of water. Leave seed to the effects of nature, but make sure it receives water at the critical time immediately after germination and it too will have good chance of survival. If this was allowed (rather than so-called professional car washing)then with a few judicious watering-can-fulls of water, landscaping could continue and we could all be employed. It is grossly unfair to continuously stop most of the horticultural earning a living. Every time there is a drought we get it in the neck
Posted by: Hugh Soden | Mar 22, 2012 at 05:21 PM