RHS advises on eco-friendly water harvesting

Water-butts are an excellent way of managing rainwater, but the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has advised gardeners to pay attention to their water-butts as a rainy autumn and winter approaches.

Butts should be cleaned to stop them smelling and becoming clogged with algae and debris.

The RHS recommends gardeners empty their butts and pipes and remove any debris from the bottom of the pipes.

Adding a water-butt filter will reduce the chances of plant materials clogging the butt and using a treatment solution should help clean out algae and avoid odour.

Butts can be used to help the environment by using rain water to feed the garden, which saves using expensively treated drinking-quality water from the taps.

Harvesting rainwater can be a fantastic environmentally-friendly way of obtaining water for use in the greenhouse.

Eliminating weeds will also help plants and save water as weeds tend to soak up moisture from the ground.