http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/225.aspxAn area for questions, queries and conversation on general gardening topicsCommunityServer 2007.1 SP1 (Debug Build: 30415.43)http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/thread/2329.aspxSun, 03 Apr 2005 12:04:09 GMT067b4958-8d6e-4ae0-88b5-4af491fdf8f2:2329freckledfrog660http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/thread/2329.aspxhttp://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=225&PostID=2329Hi We have moved into a house with a very large garden, and there are five of us here, and we have a water meter. what size water butt is best as I will be having a veg plot up the top of the garden which hopefully will be quite big later on ( will be so fit carrying water up the garden which is slightly uphill too)! Are there any other ways to conserve water apart from mulching too? Thankshttp://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/thread/2330.aspxSat, 05 Mar 2005 11:21:10 GMT067b4958-8d6e-4ae0-88b5-4af491fdf8f2:2330miranda0http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/thread/2330.aspxhttp://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=225&PostID=2330One thing you could do is to put up a structure of some sort - a shed and greenhouse, perhaps - near to your veg plot and put the water butts there instead so you don't have to carry it so far. Guttering around the edges, and a down pipe, would be simple enough to attach. We have four butts here, each holding about 35 gallons. We've only recently put them in, so I'm not sure how far they'll go in providing our needs. It'll be interesting to see. For some crops, such as potatoes, you could plant through plastic sheeting to stop the soil drying out. That would save you having to earth up, as well.