Waterwise House & Garden: A Guide to Sustainable Living (Landlinks Press)

200 Pages·2003·6.02 MB·English

by  Allan Windust

Waterwise
House&Garden
A Guide for Sustainable Living
Allan Windust
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication:
Windust, Allan.
Waterwise house and garden: a guide for sustainable living.
ISBN 0 643 06800 7
ISBN 0 643 0698 6
1. Landscape gardening – Water conservation – Australia.
2. Water conservation – Australia – Citizen participation.
I. Title.
333.91220994
Copyright © Allan Windust 2003
All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act
1968 and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, duplicating or otherwise, without the prior permission of the
copyright owner. Contact LANDLINKS PRESS for all permission requests.
First published 2003, reprinted 2003
Published by and available from:
Landlinks Press
PO Box 1139
Collingwood Vic. 3066
Australia
Telephone: [phone]
Freecall: 1800 645 051 (Australia only)
Fax: [phone]
Email:
Foreword
There is no doubt that Australia is a dry country where water plays an important role
in growing plants, particularly at present. We use a lot of water in our homes, especially
on our gardens. Most parts of Australia have dry periods that can extend to become
droughts. Right now many cities are experiencing problems maintaining their water
supplies. These problems will continue into the future unless we act now. We can all
use less water in our houses and gardens.
Allan Windust shows many ways we can reduce our water consumption and still
live well. He offers a range of options – some require little effort beyond changing our
everyday habits in small ways that, in the end, add up to significant water savings.
I like the way he explains the science behind gardening and how plants use water.
This gives us insights into how we can become waterwise gardeners.
The book mentions many plants that you could find useful in your area, but
remember to talk with your local nursery about such plants.
Allan has given a lot of thought to the management of a waterwise house and
garden. Well done Allan – I’m sure readers will be rewarded with your many hints.
Always remember: gardening must be relaxing, not something to worry about.
Happy gardening!
Kevin Heinze AM
Kevin and Allan with the eucalypt that Kevin
planted in his garden over 40 years ago.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 The value of water 3
Chapter 3 The importance of plants 5
Work with nature 5
A positive experience 6
Chapter 4 The house and garden system 7
Aim to survive and go on surviving 7
Spin-offs 8
The suburban carbon sink 8
The suburban aviary 9
Salinity 9
Dollars and cents 11
Australian climate 11
Australian droughts 11
Chapter 5 Waterwise strategies 15
Choose your approach 15
Know your climate 15
View the house and garden as a system 16
Rainfall 16
Mains water 17
Garden evapotranspiration and seepage losses 17
Household losses 18
Become water-conscious then a water-saver 18
Chapter 6 Waterwise options 19
Household reticulation options 19
Toilet 19
Shower 19
Washing machine 20
Laundry sink 20
Hand basin 20
Kitchen sink and dishwasher 20
Bath 20
Garden watering methods and appliances 21
Bucket using mains water 21
Hose using mains or tank water 21
Sprinklers using filtered mains water 22
Misters using filtered mains water 24
Porous (sweat) hoses using filtered low-pressure mains or tank supply 25
Dripper hoses using filtered mains or tank water 26
Individual drippers using filtered mains or tank water 27
Filters for mains supply or tank water 27
vi Waterwise House & Garden
Timers 28
Moisture meters 28
Automated systems using mains pressure systems 29
Pot plants 29
On-site catchment and storage in water tanks 30
Regulations 30
Uses 31
Capacity 31
Drinking water 32
Installation 32
Tank construction 33
Inspection and maintenance 33
Elevated water tank 34
On-ground water tank 34
Your swimming pool 35
Underground water tank 35
Tank water for toilet cisterns 36
Ponds 37
Recycling household wastewater 37
Recycling untreated grey water onto the garden 39
Washing machine and washing tub grey water 40
Showers: clear or grey water 40
Baths: grey water 40
Hand-basins: grey water 41
Kitchen sink or dishwasher: grey water 41
Septic tank effluent: black water 41
Treatment and reuse of grey water 41
Use of treated grey water on gardens 48
Grey water reuse conclusions 48
Garden watering methods 49
Moisture testing 49
Frost 50
Heat stress 50
Foliage or root watering 51
Lawns 51
Water budget 52
Watering times 52
Chapter 7 The theory and practice of mulching 53
Insulation 54
Mulch as habitat and food 55
Worms in soil without mulch 56
Worms in soil with mulch 56
Soil protection 56
Weed suppression 57
Weeds as green manure 57
Mulch as cosmetic ground cover 57
Applying mulch 58
Vegetables and flowers 59
Trees and shrubs 62
Non-organic mulches 62
Contents vii
Living mulches 63
Self-mulching plants 64
Mulch materials 65
Garden and household collectables 65
Outside collectables or purchases 66
Mulch as habitat for pests 67
Mulch materials list 68
Chapter 8 Planning your waterwise garden 83
Your aims 83
Resources 84
Finances 84
Time 84
Attitude 85
Labour and equipment 85
Site assessment 85
Site plan 85
Your garden climate 87
Topography: drainage 91
Existing plants 92
Impediments and assets 92
Site assessment plan 93
Design 95
Activity areas and linkages 95
Dry zones and wet zones 95
Fire buffer zones 97
Examples of wet/dry zone fire-retardant designs 97
Model kitchen garden 99
Garden water recycling 101
The master plan 102
Chapter 9 Plants 105
Your prize plants 105
Survival plants 105
Australian plants 106
Plants of the world 107
Chapter 10 Help with plant selection 109
Your local water authority 110
Your local indigenous nursery 110
Your local botanic garden 110
Public parks and specialist gardens 111
Societies for growing Australian plants 111
On-line 112
Chapter 11 What to do during a drought 113
Essentials 113
Develop a routine 114
Start the waterwise design process 114
Select construction projects 114
Determine not to forget 114
Look after the animals 115
viii Waterwise House & Garden
Things to try 115
Using pots to advantage 116
Golden rules for the waterwise gardener 116
Chapter 12 The future 119
Black water perspective 119
Grey water 120
Attitudes 120
Public health 121
Damage to the environment 122
Technology 122
Stormwater 124
Desalinisation 124
Appendix 1 The importance of water to plants 125
The whole plant 125
The healthy plant 125
The stressed plant 125
Soil 126
Roots 127
Stem 128
Leaves 128
Flowers and fruit 129
Plant cells 129
Plant strategies to overcome dry conditions 130
Roots 130
Stem 131
Leaves 132
Overall plant strategies 133
Appendix 2 Australian plants tolerating very dry conditions 135
Appendix 3 Exotic drought-tolerant plants 145
Appendix 4 Fire-retardant species 161
Appendix 5 Drain stranglers and cloggers 163
Appendix 6 Wastewater reuse EPA guidelines 165
Appendix 7 Water audit 167
Indoor usage 167
Outdoor usage 172
Appendix 8 Publications 181
Australian natives 181
Waterwise garden books 181
Herbs 182
Earthworms 182
Water reuse 182
General 183
About the author 185
Acknowledgements
A book such as this could not be written without the help of experts in the field of effi-
cient water use.
My thanks to the following specialists with the various water authorities for giving
me their time, access to information and comments on the text of this book:
• Bruce Rhodes and the staff at Melbourne Water
• Des Horton and his associates at City West Water, Elio Comello of the Habitat
Trust and the staff of Basaltica demonstration garden
• Keith Johnson at South East Water
• Barry Jepperson of Brisbane City Council.
I am grateful to the Urban Water Research Association of Australia for allowing the
publication of information and diagrams on domestic grey water reuse.
Thanks also to Polymaster water-tank manufacturers for information and
photographs of water tanks.
My gratitude goes as well to staff of Australia’s various botanic gardens for help
with waterwise plant information. In particular, the staff of the Royal Melbourne
Botanic Garden for allowing me to photograph the dry and arid garden sections.
I also wish to express my appreciation to Dr Simon Toze and Bradley Patterson at
CSIRO Land and Water for access to their research into water reuse in South Australia
and Western Australia. Finally, I would like to thank Ted Hamilton of CSIRO
Publishing for his help and advice in seeing this work through to completion.
The help of all these experts made my path easier.
Allan Windust