Affinity brings water saving message to Chelsea gardeners

A garden described by its designer as “a love letter to the rare chalk streams of the Chilterns” was on display at last week’s Chelsea Flower Show, thanks to support from Affinity Water.
The Water Saving Garden placed ingenious water efficiency solutions within an attractive contemporary setting for a courtyard/container space. The design directed rainwater from a roof into two attractive blue water butts via copper guttering and rain-chains. This then trickled via a hidden reservoir system underneath containers featuring 4m² of planting, watering plants from below to prevent evaporation. The blue and white flowers and design of the porous paving are nods to the Chiltern chalk streams.
Affinity estimated the garden would need 49 litres of water a week, 30% less than the 70 litres that would be required for an equivalent standard garden.
The space was designed by Sam Proctor from Chiltern Garden Design, who lives and works in Affinity Water’s area. The water company supported the garden as part of its Save our Streams campaign, which was launched in 2021 and now has 260,000 Affinity customers signed up and committed to cut their water usage to reduce the impact on the rare local chalk streams.
Affinity will now donate the garden to a charity.
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