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How big is your butt? 😉

Garden noobGarden noob Posts: 240
in Tools and techniques
Personal question: How big is your butt? Water butt, of course  ;)

My garden is about 15 metres long and 6 metres wide. Mainly grass, with about a 1 metre deep border on each side and at the rear. 

I like the idea of a water butt, but it would be frustrating if it's too small to be useful.

So, how big is your butt, and how big is your garden? Do you find your butt is big enough?

How big do you think my butt should be? I'm on the edge of London so we don't get as much rainfall as most places. Here's a picture of my garden, in case this helps:

 
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Posts

  • FireFire LondonPosts: 5,276
    I have two butts (as it were) of about 180 ltrs and they are nowhere near big enough to be useful. They are full in the winter (when I don't need them) and empty in the summer when I do. There is a small window in May and September or so when they come in handy.
  • raisingirlraisingirl East Devon, on the Edge of Exmoor.Posts: 3,451
    As we've been discussing on other threads, actually storing any rainwater is a Good Idea in terms of reducing over use of tap water, especially in areas like the south east where rainfall is sporadic. 
    I have a 90 litre butt in my veg garden and it is entirely inadequate - I only use it to water the plants that grow inside the teeny polytunnel and I'll empty it in a week if it doesn't rain. I've just acquired a 240 litre one to go alongside it, which hopefully will improve matters. 3 weeks without rain is a rarity here.
    Overall though we have another 700 litres of storage elsewhere in the garden, which gets used mostly at the moment for making concrete and washing cars, rather than watering the garden, but I can put a pump in one of those big barrels and pump water to my veg garden to refil the little one when I need to.

    I would try to store as much as you can. Use it to water newly planted plants and anything in pots, but established plants in the ground you should not water as a rule, as it makes them more vulnerable to drought. Try to limit the number of pots you have to match the amount of water you can store, so you don't have to water with tap water.
    It's hard to love, there's so much to hate
    Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 16,472
    We have several 350litre butts dotted about the place.  The one down on the veggie plot is practically empty after being used to water seedling trays and dahlia pots.   Its pal is still full cos OH fitted the tap in the wrong place so I can't get a can under it.  He's talking of a seep hose for it.......

    The one by the terrace where I grow acers and hostas and mints in pots is half full now they've started needing watering.

    Answer - get the biggest you can afford and preferably tall and slim so it can be discreet.  
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • ShepsSheps Posts: 828
    I have five 210L butts, two collecting water from the garage roof and the other three collecting water from the greenhouse roof, plus a 100L butt in the greenhouse that I keep topped up and that is used just for the toms.
  • GardenGrower11GardenGrower11 NottinghamPosts: 291
    I like Big Butts and I cannot lie :)

    I have one 200L and another 100L.
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 3,365
    I've got a big butt which I can't use because it has a crack in it.  I think a severe attack of wind sent it flying and damaged it.  All double entendres are entirely intentional. :)
  • FireFire LondonPosts: 5,276
    edited May 2018
    My water saving plan has been to transfer pretty much everything from pots into the ground, or use the largest pots I can find. I water newly planted roses, apples and clems for the first six months and that's pretty much it. I don't have room in my little garden for more butts. In London they are about to start obligatory charges for metered water. It will be another reason gardens will be paved over, IMO. They have scraped free garden waste collection in my area also.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Billericay, EssexPosts: 4,558
    Snap with @Sheps -  2 x 210L from the garage/shed (for the back garden) and 3 x 210L on the g/house  (for g/h toms and veg) - and still they all run dry in the summer..
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • wild edgeswild edges The north west of south east WalesPosts: 2,924
    I've got a 1000L IBC tank at the back of the house, a slimline 100L at the side, a 180L by the garage, another 180L by the greenhouse, 2 150L barrels that I fill from the others and use as dip tanks as they have open tops and there's a small 50L barrel around somewhere that I want to fit in the greenhouse at some point. We've only ever run out of water twice but we've come very close a few times.

    I saw the photo below recently though and now I'm really fancying a water butt bench to park my butt on.


  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Bath, SomersetPosts: 3,289
    Just counted up and we've got 9! Mostly the 100lt ones because they are slimline and don't take up so much room on the paths. Two are much bigger. Our garden is about one-fifth of an acre, clay soil, south-facing and on a slope but I have lots of clematis, roses and herbaceous plants, as well as fruit and veg beds which need watering well. I can nearly empty all the butts in a day in very hot weather.
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