Saltash’s hanging baskets left thirsty under hosepipe ban

Walk along Fore Street this summer and you’ll have spotted them: baskets of trailing petunias and lobelia swinging over the pavement, some still glowing with colour, others starting to droop and brown at the edges. Fifty of them hang across the town, and for the first time in a long while, nobody is topping them up with a hose.

Why the watering has had to stop

Saltash Town Council says it can no longer keep all of the town’s hanging baskets and planters watered because of the ongoing South West Water hosepipe ban. With more than 50 baskets to cover and the council’s water bowser no longer able to be filled under the restrictions, the council says keeping every display topped up simply isn’t practical any more.

A call the council didn’t want to make

Saltash Town Council says the decision is an unfortunate one given the time and effort that goes into creating the displays each year. But it points out that protecting the environment and using resources responsibly is written into its own Business Plan, and that conserving water while the ban is in force is part of playing its role.

Fore Street’s volunteer basket sponsors

The council says it is “incredibly grateful” to the businesses along Fore Street who have already stepped in, volunteering to sponsor individual baskets and flower beds and helping care for them through the dry spell. Anyone passing by with a little spare water to hand is being asked to give the flowers a helping hand too.

What’s still being looked after

Not everything has been left to fend for itself. The council says it will keep caring for key planted areas where it can within the current restrictions, including the Peace Garden, the Brunel Bust, and the beds along the England-bound slipway of the Tamar Bridge.

Rethinking the displays for the future

Looking ahead, the council says it will be reviewing its planting and maintenance approach, with an eye on more environmentally conscious and drought-tolerant options for future years, so the town’s displays are less exposed the next time restrictions bite.

For now, the baskets that are still blooming owe it to a patchwork of volunteer sponsors and passers-by with a spare bottle to hand, rather than the council’s bowser.

📷Credit: Saltash Town Council