Don’t waste a precious drop - use less water in the garden

Landscaping is becoming a bigger part of the new home building process. Many councils now require you to submit a landscaping plan as part of your development application, and they’ll often request that this plan includes as many native plans as possible. Native plants create a habitat for the local birds and animals, and, most importantly, are usually much less thirsty then plants naturally grown in the sodden ground of Europe.

Less a green thumb, and more a backyard cricketer? Unfortunately, according to the Australian Government’s Your Home Technical Manual, lawn’s consume 90% of the water used in most gardens.

Your obvious option is to simply install less lawn and garden, and have more hard covered surfaces in the garden. The problem with these, however, is that when rain does come, especially with the ferocity of the storms that lashed Sydney this summer, the water’s got no where to soak into, and you, or your lovely neighbours, are going to end up with localized flooding. For this reason, most councils will have a very strict site coverage rule that means you have to leave a large proportion of your land uncovered, and eager to soak up water.

One way around this rule in some areas is through installing porous paving. Porous paving cover the ground, but also allows water to soak through when needed. Talk to you local council about whether they include these materials as part of their site coverage calculations.

If you can’t imagine life without having to whinge about mowing the lawn, or nag your partner to mow the lawn, then you’re best to speak to your local nursery about the grass species that will thrive in your area with the least amount of water.

Building a new home can often seem like a good opportunity to get everything you’ve ever wanted – including a swimming pool. Before you take the plunge, however, consider where you’re going to get the water from. You cannot use recycled water to fill a swimming pool. You can use rain water from a tank, but a really big tank will have a 5000 litre capacity, so an average suburban pool will require several tanks to fill it.

If you’ve already got a pool in the backyard that you intend to keep during your KDRB project, BASIX may request that you install a pool cover that will limit the amount of water that evaporates from the pool, and as such limits the amount of water you’ll have to use to top it up.

1 | 2 | 3| 4 | 5

1 | 2 | 3| 4 | 5

---

The top guide to building a home in Sydney and New South Wales.
Display homes, designer homes, what you need to know to knockdown and rebuild – it's all here.