The Water Saving Garden

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 - Affinity Water & Sam Proctor

Did you know gardens can be beautiful and conserve water too?

We partnered with Sam Proctor from Chiltern Garden Design to create The Water Saving Garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024.

Our inspiration? The beautiful chalk streams of the Chilterns. Garden designer Sam Proctor has lived in the Chilterns for 20 years and fell in love with its rare chalk streams. In collaboration with Sam, we've created a garden that celebrates them and gives you water-saving ideas to protect them.

The Water Saving Garden is now open at Iver Environment Centre. The centre won this stunning garden through a competition we ran as part of our Save Our Streams initiative.

About Sam Proctor

Sam trained at the London College of Garden Design. She runs her own design studio, Chiltern Garden Design, based in Amersham, in the heart of the Chilterns, in South East England. She is an accredited Member of the Society of Garden Designers and the Association of Professional Landscapers.

Download the full plant list for The Water Saving Garden below.

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Get started at home

Discover how you can save water at home, save money and help Save Our Streams.

Take the My Water Footprint quiz to uncover your water footprint and find out how much water you could save at home.

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How does our garden work?

This garden uses water butts and a clever water flow system to reuse rainwater in the garden.

1. Rainwater collects in the copper guttering, then flows into stylish water butts via rain chains.

2. Timers then direct the water flow via pipes into the reservoirs at the base of the planters, where plants can take up water through their roots.

3. Because the plants aren’t being watered from above, there’s less evaporation from the soil surface, saving 30% of the water typically required.

4. Rainwater sensors switch off the automated flow of water into the reservoirs when it rains, preventing overflow.

Feeling
inspired?

Discover our top tips for saving water in the garden, from using water butts to planting drought-tolerant plants.

Save water in your garden

Why
save water

Our water comes from the same groundwater aquifers (an underground water supply) that flow through our local chalk streams. So, the less water we use, the more that can stay in our local environment.

Learn more

Become a Stream Saver

Help us on our mission to save water, save money and help Save Our Streams.

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Water-saving tips & devices

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