Reimagining rainwater in gardeners’ new world Conversations at RHS Hampton Court

Angus Crichton, Marketing Manager for ACO House&Garden, reflects on seven days of conversation on the ACO Stand at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Festival 2023, where ACO sponsored the RHS Resilient Garden.

‘Engaged Interest’ summarises the response of Festival goers on the ACO Stand at RHS Hampton Court. The stand took visitors on a journey, starting with Gardeners’ New World of Flood and Drought, before moving to rainwater habits from Gardeners’ Old World – put the rain down the drain and the drinking water on the garden (see table). For most Festival goers, Flood and Drought are accepted realities and Old-World habits had to go. Therefore attendees came to the stand seeking solutions to manage rainwater in a world of Flood and Drought. Most had already reimagined their roofs into catchment areas to channel rainwater for reuse. Some were interested in modular belowground rainwater harvesting systems. Others, cautious of extensive excavation to already landscaped gardens (plus cost), wanted to maximise above-ground rainwater storage, wrestling with trade-offs between storage volume, tank footprint and aesthetics. While storage for reuse predominated, conversation flowed in other directions. The adjoining RHS Resilient Garden demonstrated how “water is an interesting and textual element to add to a garden, bringing light, reflection and sound,” to quote the garden’s designer Tom Massey. A masterstroke by Tom was to feed the garden’s wildlife pond with rainwater from the house roof, showing that rainwater management solutions can be both responsible and enjoyable.

This was echoed in a conversation with Jeremy Hastings, whose company creates impressive Cornish state water features on display at the Festival. Jeremy observed that larger features required a 200-litres of reservoir beneath, which within a three-week period over summer, would evaporate and need repeated topping up. We discussed how, with a larger reservoir to allow for rain-free periods, these reservoirs could operate on rainwater alone.

Martyn Milner from Kingston Beekeepers (also attending the Festival) shared that bees actually prefer rain to drinkingquality water. These comments suggest reimagining rainwater in landscaping can be taken in many directions: enjoyment; wise use of } precious water; reduction in water bills and benefit to pollinators.

Once we have channelled and stored rainwater, it must continue its flow through the property. The section of an ACO StormBrixx with geotextile-covered side panel provoked questions from ‘what is that?’ through ‘isn’t that a soakaway?’ to ‘how and where can I install one?’ The prototype raingarden attachment to an ACO RainDrain B125 channel was more in the ‘what’s that?’ line of questioning. As per current legislation, rainwater from a new or renovated front drive must be dispersed on-site. The RainDrain collects water off the drive (silt is removed with a sump unit) before dispersing it through an end cap via a perforated land drain pipe (covered with geotextile sock) into a hollowed out depression, with planting that is tolerant of sudden flood and drying out. These on-site dispersal solutions, alongside a permeable edge to rainwater ponds, were explored with Festival goers. Some Festival goers shared that their garden is on heavy clay or was or that the water table beneath is high. Consequently, there was interest in solutions that slowed rainwater’s movement through the property before its release into drains. We profiled how ACO RoofBloxx could create holding tanks for green roofs and rainwater planters, providing a generous storage space that also supports the planting above. The cutaway model of a rainwater or SuDS planter generated particular interest from up-and-coming garden designer Sarah Stiell, who brought fellow designers of the Festival’s Sensory Pocket Gardens to explore this option. There was strong recognition that these slow-and-disperse rainwater solutions enable each of us to combat the sewerage overflows that dominate our headlines.

The ACO Stand at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Festival was a place of rich learning with many conversation partners. ACO House&Garden has much to reflect on as we consider new products that deliver solutions for garden designers, landscapers and their clients. To explore these ideas more, download a copy of the booklet Reimagining Rainwater in Gardeners’ New World from https:// www.aco.co.uk/water-talk and email me at acrichton@aco.co.uk with the new ACO products you want to use as you reimagine rainwater in your landscaping practice. n Angus Crichton is Marketing Manager for ACO Home and Garden. Having designed and installed a rainwater harvesting and infiltration system in his own property, he is convinced we need to reimagine rainwater use in domestic properties in the face of climate change.