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Plants for Your Low Water Backyard Garden

by Ri Industries

Garden plants help to define spaces and provide shade, screening and privacy. While you want the plants to be attractive, here in South Australia it is important to choose plants that have low water needs.

To help you get started, Hunter Water has compiled a list of such plants which we share here:

  • Small Trees: Crepe Myrtle, Medlar, Quince, Swamp Mallet, Willow Bottlebrush
Crepe Myrtle

Crepe Myrtle

  • Screening Shrubs: Feijoa, Escallonia, Common Myrtle, Hillock Bush
Common Myrtle

Common Myrtle

  • Small Shrubs: Gold Dust Wattle, Sage-Leaf Rock Rose, Native Fuchsia
Gold Dust Wattle

Gold Dust Wattle

  • Ornamental Grasses: Feather Reed Grass, Turf Lily, Spiny-headed mat Rush, New Zealand Flax
Feather Reed Grass

Feather Reed Grass

  • Lawn Grasses: Common Couch, Buffalo Grass, Weeping Grass
Weeping Grass

Weeping Grass

Ri Industries has additional tips to help reduce water use in the garden. Please read our blogs, “Design Your Garden to Use Less Water” and “Reduce Water Use in the Garden.”

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Garden Design Requiring Low Water Maintenance

by Ri Industries

Tending a garden in South Australia can be a challenge due to our dry climate, but it is possible to design a garden to use less water. The following tips come via Hunter Water and can be useful to help you design a dream garden for your home.

  • Construct draining ditches so that they finish in garden beds.
  • Paths and courtyards can be pitched to drain to garden beds
  • Decks, gravel paths and gravel edges to paving can allow water to
    soak into the ground.
  • Minimise lawn areas with paving, paths, decking and garden beds.
  • Minimise the number of pot plants as they dry out quickly and use more water than the same plant in the ground.
  • Minimise evaporation by using trees, fences, garden walls and shade cloth.
  • Mulch is magic for water saving. It reduces moisture loss but also suppresses weeds, maintains soil temperatures and generally improves the soil.
  •  Group similar plants according to their water needs and you will reduce your overall
    watering need.

Learn how the Ri –Treat Waste Water System can recycle your waste water for use in your garden and find even more helpful tips in Ri Industries blog “Tips to Save Water in the Garden.”

 

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Reduce Water Use in the Garden

by Ri Industries

Did you know that an average Australian household will use 40% of its water in the garden? This makes the garden a prime location for water saving techniques. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Install a dripper system and only water during the permitted hours.
  • Use mulch to prevent water loss through evaporation and prevent soil erosion.
  • Plant your garden in watering zones. Group plants that require large amounts of water together to reduce your water use.
  • Choose a drought-resistant lawn.
  • Don’t over water your lawn – train it to use less water by encouraging the roots to grow deeper. Let grass grow longer in the summer months which will shade the soil surface and reduce evaporation loss.
  • Don’t water during windy weather – water will blow away from where it’s needed most.
  • Instead of hosing, use a broom or rake to clean paths, paved areas and patios.

Our Ri-Treat Waste Water Treatment System is another tool that will help with water use. By using this system, the waste water from your home will be treated and made usable for the garden. Call us to learn about all of our products on 08 8444 8100 and start saving water!

3 Ways to Use Your Rainwater Tank

3 Ways to Use Your Rainwater Tank

by Ri Industries

3 Ways to Use Your Rainwater Tank

Do you ever think about the ways that you could use your Ri-Industries rainwater tank? We certainly do. The possibilities are seemingly endless, as rainwater tanks could serve every purpose from water recycling to storage. Hopefully Ri-Industries can help spark some new ideas for how our products can suit your needs. Now let us help you utilise your rainwater tank to the best of its potential; here are just three of the countless ways you can creatively repurpose this product.

  1. Water your plants-Keeping your plants well cared for can be a challenge, especially in this dry Southern Australian climate, but you can overcome the ways of nature by taking advantage of a Ri-Industries rainwater tank. Collect water in our concrete tanks and then use it to water your garden the smart way.
  2. Store your things-Did you know that you can convert your below-ground rainwater tank into a cellar? In the past, customers have installed rainwater tanks beneath an outdoor shed for use as extra storage space. Ri-Industries guarantees our rainwater tanks as bullet-proof, vandal proof, and fire proof, so you can have peace of mind knowing that your belongings are safe and sound.
  3. Record an album- Who knew that you could use your rainwater tank to make music? Plenty of people know that rainwater tanks are a way to collect and recycle water in your home. But Sydney music trio RUFUS used a rainwater tank in an entirely new way when they wrote, produced and recorded part of their debut album “Atlas” in a hollowed out water tank under one of their parents’ houses. Thanks to Ri-Industries’ high frequency reinforced concrete, you can rock out as much as you like in one of our rainwater tanks (after draining the water out, of course).

Have you thought of other ways to use your rainwater tank? Let us know! We always appreciate feedback from our customers.

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The Smart Way to Water Your Garden

by Ri Industries

You may have heard the saying, “The grass is always greener over the septic tank.” The moisture and nutrients in the drainage field of your septic tank help to fertilise your garden the natural way.

By taking interest in a Ri-Industries septic tank or aerobic waste water treatment system, you are already well on your way to conserving water and energy for your home. What you may not know is that the benefits of a septic tank or waste water treatment system do not stop with installation. Ri-Industries can help you water your garden the smart way, even after all of the wear and tear of daily use.

How to water your garden, the smart way:

#1: Use Ri-Treat to Irrigate Your Garden

The Ri-Treat Waste Water System works to clean and reuse your waste water from the toilet, kitchen, and laundry to irrigate your garden. Ri-Treat features a high quality irrigation kit for more effective irrigation. This system is certainly a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly way to keep your garden looking green and healthy.

#2: Water your garden only when it needs it

While the Ri-Treat system can efficiently recycle your waste water for your home, it’s up to you to decide when your garden needs watering. To find out if your lawn needs water, use this rule of thumb: stick your finger about 4 cm into the soil, and if the soil is not moist, it is time for a shower!

#3: Put your garden on a schedule

For those of us who do not have time to stick our fingers in the soil every day, it is recommended to water your garden deeply and infrequently (about 2.5 cm a week). But how do you measure how much water your lawn is soaking in? For this, you can use a rain gauge or a cup of water placed in your garden and a ruler. Run your irrigation system for about 15 minutes, check the amount of water left in the cup or rain gauge, and you can do some quick calculations to find out how much water per hour is coming from the sprinkler.

#4: Water early

When you use your irrigation system, some of the water will evaporate before it even hits your garden. To make sure that your garden drinks up the highest amount of water possible, try watering very early in the morning, sometime between 4 am and 9 am.

As always, the most important tip for using your irrigation system the smart way is: location, location, location! Make sure that you are watering your garden, and not the pavement or the letterbox. To discover more sustainable living options from Ri-Industries, don’t hesitate to contact us.