How to Care for Your Allotment During a Hosepipe Ban

With hosepipe bans and long stretches of dry weather becoming more common, it’s important to adjust how we care for our allotments during the summer months. From smarter watering techniques to sustainable water collection, there’s plenty you can do to keep your plot productive without wasting water.

2. Water Smart, Not More

Don’t just sprinkle water across your plants—make it count. Always water directly at the roots and avoid wetting the leaves. Plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers (especially under cover) need deep watering once a day, not a light spray. Use a watering can or bucket instead of a hose during bans, and focus your effort on plants that need it most, such as young veg, lettuces, peas, and beans

4. Build Plant Resilience

Allowing certain plants to go a few days without water encourages deeper root growth. Carrots, parsnips, and beetroot can find moisture several inches below the surface and often need little help once established. This deeper rooting makes them more drought-tolerant—and tastier too.

6. Prioritise What You Water

In a dry spell, it’s okay to let lawns go brown—they'll bounce back with rain. Focus your watering on seedlings, potted plants, and young crops that are still establishing. Established perennials and shrubs are usually tough enough to withstand short droughts.

Current Hosepipe Bans:

A hosepipe ban for Kent was announced by South East Water on the 25th June 2026. The ban is in effect from the 3rd July. Allotments have fallen within the classification of gardens and so watering with a hosepipe is banned. There are three exceptions that may be relevant to some allotment holders:
 
Using a hosepipe to water an area of grass or outdoor artificial surfaces used for sport or recreation (on the active strip/ playing area – not the whole grounds) when undertaken outside of daily peak hours that occur 8am to 10am and 5pm to 9pm.

Drip or trickle irrigation watering systems, fitted with a pressure reducing valve and a timer, that are not handheld, that place water drip by drip directly onto the soil surface or beneath the soil surface, without any surface run off or dispersion of water through the air using a jet or mist; a fixed watering system; use of watering cans and not hoses.

If you are exempt from the restrictions at home and would also like to apply for an exemption to use a hosepipe at your allotment, then you can contact South East Water. They will review exemptions on a case by case basis.