Don't waste a drop.

Byline: BY MERCURY REPORTER

SINGING in the rain may not be the first thing we gardeners feel like doing every time there is a downpour.

But water is such a precious resource that we really should be grateful for every drop we get.

Many of us are up to our middle in puddles right now.

Yet it is possible that come the summer there may be periods when precipitation is scant and we will be looking to the skies for the next shower, to keep our crops swelling and stop our plants from flopping.

I know last year was different but I think we have to approach the situation taking the view that lightning doesn't strike twice.

Now is the time to put every possible measure in place to catch and store as much rainwater as possible for the season ahead.

The easiest way is to install a preformed water butt, the likes of which can be found at any garden centre or DIY store.

They fit below any standard drainpipe, harvesting vast amounts of water from any roof, and they store water cleanly and safely - look for ones with childproof lids - and dispense it easily from integral taps.

They don't need to be confined to use near a house. In my own garden, I have two 37-gallon butts rigged up to the greenhouse which, at 12ft x 8ft, has a significant roof area - and a neighbour has done something similar to crop water from his shed.

Other options include reusing old dolly tubs, which are a good height for dipping a watering can into without having to bend down.

All other kinds of galvanised tubs, buckets and baths are perfect for catching rain wherever they are left, and provide the ideal place for keeping plants' roots moist whenever stuff is being dug, divided and transplanted.

Recycling such containers can be cost-effective and is more environment-friendly than buying new, making your rainwater collection process doubly sustainable.

Not having lids, though, you do have to think about the safety issue, if there are children around.

It is also helpful to put a thick stick, stones or tiles into any deep, straight-sided container, to give a foothold to any bird or creature who may tumble in.

Environment minister Phil Woolas has said he wants to see a water butt in every garden by 2010.

The Government wants to encourage a more sustainable use of water nationwide and has produced a strategy, Future Water, setting out its suggestions.

It can be dowloaded from www.defra.gov.uk

WHAT'S ON

CHATSWORTH, near Bakewell, Derbyshire, will be hosting a specialist plant sale involving around 40 nurseries, on Sunday, April 20, from 11am to 5pm.

Entry to the sale is free but there is a charge for car parking and normal charges apply for admission to the house and grounds.

For more information visit www.chatsworth.org

PLANT folklore will be the subject of a talk by Stuart Phillips to members of the Cottage Garden Society East Midlands Group at Holy Trinity Church Hall in Hinckley, Leicestershire, on April 20 at 2.30pm.

Admission costs pounds 2 for members and pounds 3 for non-members.

For more information contact either Margaret Pickering on 01455 843007 or Jean Campton on 01455 238683.

BIRMINGHAM Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston will be hosting a bonsai demonstration on April 20 from 11am to 3pm.

For more information visit www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.Uk

GARDEN organic is calling on people to wear their wellies to raise money for the charity during its annual Welly Week, which runs from April 21 to April 27.

People are asked to get sponsored for wearing their gumboots - or to hold welly-wanging contests or any other welly-based money-spinner - to help raise money for the organisation, which promotes organic gardening worldwide and runs a range of educational and community gardening programmes.

To find out more about the charity's work, visit www.gardenorganic.org.uk