How Redruth plans to keep its flowers alive in the hosepipe ban

The baskets spilling over the granite in Redruth town centre are one of the better things about a summer walk through town. Keeping them looking like that during a hosepipe ban is harder than it sounds. So the town council has set out how it will look after the town’s flowers while the drought rules stay in place, and some of the plants may end up on the move.

What the ban means for the town’s flowers

The watering rules are not only about back gardens. South West Water’s guidance for councils is clear that the restrictions reach into the town centre too.

“Hosepipes and sprinklers cannot be used to water hanging baskets, floral displays, flower beds or other ornamental planting in public areas such as town centres and parks.”

That covers most of what makes a town look cared for in August. Redruth Town Council says it is cutting its own water use in response to the drought and the ban, rather than carrying on as before.

Where the town-centre baskets get their water

Here is the part that keeps the hanging baskets going. Those baskets are not watered from the mains at all. A contractor looks after them using water drawn from a private borehole, and that source sits outside the ban.

Being exempt does not mean business as usual. The council says the contractor will still follow a reduced watering programme, using as little as possible while the dry weather holds. The flowers stay, the watering eases off.

Watering cans, and a trip to the yard

For the rest of the town’s planting, the approach changes. Other planters and beds will be watered by hand with watering cans instead of hosepipes, which the ban still allows.

Some displays may not stay put. Where it helps, the council says a few could be moved to its Facilities Yard, where stored rainwater from water butts can be used to keep them alive.

For now the baskets stay where they are and the borehole keeps them going. Whether any of the other displays end up making the trip to the yard depends on how long the taps have to stay off.

📷Credit: Redruth Town Council