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Environment

How to water your garden in a more environmentally friendly way

By Clare Wilson

6 October 2021

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Peter Cade/Getty Images

LAST month, a campaign by the gardeners to be more environmentally friendly. One piece of advice was to get a water butt and use .

You might think there is plenty of water to go around in a rainy country like the UK, but it is a waste of energy to give plants tap water, which has been intensively treated so it is fit to drink. Rainwater is perfectly good enough for most plants and may even be better, as tap water contains dissolved magnesium and calcium, which…

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