The water wise plant battle – Native vs Exotic

Every time we hear about gardening, you hear water wise. While this in itself is a good thing, the other word that is usually associated with water wise gardens is native. Personally I am a little over the whole idea that the only way to have a water wise garden is to use Australian Native plants, because this is simply not the case.

 

There are many exotic plants that are just as water efficient (if not more so) than Australian natives. The secret to success is to plant to your environment, which varies greatly in Australia. For example in far North Queensland you can plant tropical plants without any worry, but in the South West of WA it is unwise as they require far more water than is readily available.

 

I have put together my top 10 water wise exotic plants:

1. Proteas (any plant from the Proteaceae family as these developed in Africa’s dry environments)

 

2. Cactus and Succulents (they store their own water for dry times)

3. Pigface (a type of annual or perennial succulent that has masses of beautiful flowers, great as a groundcover)

4. Agave

 

5. Grasses (Mondo, blue grass etc)

 

6. Echium (beautiful silver foliage, with large flower spikes from later winter)

 

7. Alstroemeria (Princess Lilies are a great cut flower as they last for over a week in a vase)

 

8. Day Lilies (huge range of flower colours)

 

9. Frangipani (flowering shrub/tree)

10. Jacaranda (flowering tree)

 

These are just some of the beautiful exotic plants that are water wise and grow in most areas of Australia. In order to find the right plants for an area it is always useful to go for a walk around the neighbourhood to see what is growing well in other people’s gardens. In addition to this most states in Australia now have websites that list suitable water wise plants for each area.

Soap Nuts – Natures Eco Cleaner

When I first heard about Soap Nuts, I must admit that I was sceptical, to say the least. Could the shell of a berry really be used to clean my clothes? The answer is yes!

I have just started using soap nuts for my clothing and I was very pleasantly surprised at how good they are. Not only are they eco-friendly and super cheap compared to other laundry detergents, but they work really, really well!

Soap Nuts are a berry (not a nut) which is produced by the Sapindus Mukorossi tree. The shell of the ‘fruit’ is dried to produce soap nuts. They are totally natural and unprocessed which means that they are great for allergy sufferers and people with sensitive skin.

After using soap nuts in my laundry, and seeing the great results, I decided to try some of the other cleaning products that soap nuts can be used to make…

Soap Nut Liquid Concentrate

Place 10-12 whole nuts (or equivalent in pieces) into a saucepan with 6 cups of water. Boil for approximately 30 minutes. This should result in approx. 4 cups of liquid soap.  Strain the liquid through a cloth and then discard the nuts (they are great in the compost). Because there are no preservatives, it is best to only make in these small batches otherwise it may spoil.

The concentrate can be used as is or diluted for a range of cleaning:

All Purpose Cleaner – simply place soap liquid in a spray bottle and use around the house. You can add a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil (or another essential oil) to act as a disinfectant and leave a lovely smell.

Window Cleaner – place 1 cups of water, 1 Tbsp vinegar and 1 Tbsp soap nut liquid into a spray bottle.

Pet shampoo – leaves hair soft and silky, will also repel fleas, mites, ticks and mosquitos, but make sure you keep it out of their eyes!

Carpet cleaner – spray or sponge onto stain and blot clean

Bug spray – use a spray bottle to spray bugs on plants (great organic and eco-friendly way to get rid of unwanted bugs in the garden).

I have also read about some people using soap nut liquid to clean rust off prams!

To find a stockist near you visit: www.kussen.com.au  (Kussen sell and distribute Nutcases Soap Nuts which are organic and Fair Trade).

Eco Shopping

When you go to your local supermarket to do your shopping you are bound to see people using reusable shopping bags (and you may choose to use them yourself). By taking your own bags to the supermarket you can prevent hundreds of plastic bags from ending up in landfill.

While taking your own shopping bags to the checkout is a great way to help the environment, there are several other things that you may like to consider.

Produce Bags

Produce bags are a great alternative to the small plastic bags that are found in the fruit and vegetable section. These bags are sold in a set of 4 (1 large mesh, 1 small mesh, 1 large calico, 1 small calico). The large bag is big enough to fit an Iceberg lettuce or cauliflower. The bags are breathable which means that produce has a longer shelf life.

Available at www.ecoeffect.com.au

 

Menu

When planning your shopping trip you can not only reduce waste but you can also save money by taking some time out to create an effective menu. By planning the week’s meals you can make sure that you use certain ingredients in more than one meal, thus reducing waste.

For example you may decide to make pumpkin gnocchi for an evening meal; this would not use an entire piece of pumpkin. You could choose to make pumpkin scones or have roast pumpkin with a meal to use the remaining pumpkin.

Planning your weeks menus is extremely important when choosing fruit, vegetables, dairy and some meat products as these all have short shelf lives. If you still have waste from these types of products why not put them into compost for the garden?

Buying in Bulk

Buying in bulk will save you money on most grocery items. Bulk items are usually have less packaging meaning that buying in bulk is better for the environment. While not all supermarkets offer the option of buying things such as lentils, rice and nuts in bulk, most health food shops do or you could try your local farmers market or co-op.

Eco Cleaning

You can save money and help to save the environment by selecting you cleaning products carefully. Rather than buy cupboards full of expensive cleaning products why not get a few basics that will not only last longer and save you money, the are also safer for the environment. https://ecoeffect.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/eco-cleaning/

Water Wise Living

As the summer progresses in Australia there is the ever increasing need to protect our most valuable resource – water. There is a huge range of water-wise products available on the market today, from shower timers through to flow restriction valves, however there are also a lot of ways to save water without having to purchase or install a range of products.

 

Washing the car

Why not try washing your car with a bucket of water and a sponge on a patch of lawn rather than heading down to the local car wash. Not only will you be saving water (and money) but it is also good exercise.

 

Using grey water

By capturing water from you washing machine and using it to water your lawn or garden you are not only recycling water, but the detergent in the wash acts as a soil wetting agent (especially good in WA’s sandy, water resistant soils).

There are several simple ways of setting up a system to reuse your washing machine water.

• Attach a hose extension to the outlet, run it outside and place on the lawn or garden bed. This is a simple and cheap method and allows you to move the hose to different patches; however you are required to have a door or window open to allow the hose outside.
• Placing a bucket under the outlet to catch the water is a simple method, however it will need to be checked and emptied regularly to prevent it from overflowing.
• A more complicated method is to integrate it into your existing water system, which may require some research depending on your set up.

 

Shower /bath water

Rather than wasting shower or bath water why not use this for your garden. Simply place a bucket in the bottom of your shower and then empty it once you have finished. Alternatively if you use a bath simply bucket the water out of the bath rather than letting it flow down the drain.

 

Water tank

Every house should have a rainwater tank, they are cheap (from under $1000) and easy to install and are available in a range of designs that allow them to blend with almost any house design. If you are able to get a large tank then is it worth having it professionally installed so that it can be used for the majority of your water needs (hooked into your existing plumbing). However even if you only get a small tank they come with a simple tap outlet that means you can fill water bottles, jugs etc to use the water for drinking and cooking.

In many places in Australia water supplies are treated with chemicals or have fluoride, chlorine etc added. While this may have some health benefits it can also lead to discolouration and an unpleasant taste. If you have unpleasant tasting water it is even more reason to install a rainwater tank.  

 

Gardens

By planting water wise plants and using dripper watering systems instead of traditional overhead sprinklers you can save huge amounts of water. Other simple actions, like using mulch, reducing the amount of lawn and planting water efficient lawns are also great ways of ensuring a water wise garden.

 

Every drop of water matters and we should do everything possible to reduce our use and wastage of this precious resource.