At the beginning of July, the town of Combrit-Sainte-Marin in Finistère continues to water flowers and shrubs, despite the drought. And for good reason: his gardeners only use water collected over the winter.
Stunted flowers, weak bushes and thirsty plants: the lack of rain, combined with the heat waves of recent weeks, is starting to take its toll in Breton gardens. Finistère and Morbihan are on drought alert, with prefectures in the two departments enacting a series of restrictions to prevent fires, including a ban on watering or harvesting at certain times of the day. But some municipalities have found a solution, as happened in Combri-Sainte-Marin in the province of Bigouden.
On Tuesday, July 7, the thermometer temperature in the south of Finistère is already approaching 30 degrees. In her fluorescent yellow suit, Morgan Leven steps out of her truck and generously waters the vegetation. “The main part of my work now in June-July is flower boxes and flowerpots.“, explains an employee of the landscaping department.
Fifteen cubic meters of rainwater
Forty planters that need to be watered twice a weekthis amounts to more than 1600 liters of water. Before leaving, Morgan went to stock up on a precious resource stored in a huge vat. The reservoir, located under the technical services hangar, collects rainwater all year round. “Fifteen cubes, that is 15,000 liters in total”– explains Christophe Raffin, green space specialist at the municipality.
Two thirds of the tank remains to this day. “It doesn’t cost taxpayers anything and it’s not treated water, it’s water that falls from the sky.”– Gardener Morgan smiled. The municipality also changed the contents of the flower boxes. “We do our best not to water too much, especially when it comes to plant selection.– explains Christophe Raffin. We’ll be focusing on fairly perennial plants like African daisy, gazania, which actually require much less water and are drought-adapted. There are also Agapanthus, which grow quite quickly and require very little water.“
Fully autonomous
Morgan also waters sage, geranium, and kangaroo paws. But he also has to react to passersby who are surprised to see him pouring water in the heat of the day. “I have to explain to them why we always water, because this is not network water. Thanks to this system we are completely autonomous. And that’s what the ancients did“, he adds. It remains to be seen whether the tank will last the whole summer, as in previous years.
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