David Domoney controversially warns gardeners not to water brown lawns for this important reason

It's less effort, eco-friendly, and might just save you money on your water bill

Celebrity gardener David Domoney has shared a controversial lawn tip to reduce the nation's outdoor water usage. Appearing on This Morning on ITV, he said that our lawns don't really need watering at all.

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According to David, it's fine to let your lawn go a bit brown because grass recovers quickly from dry spells.

david domoney's brown lawn tip

(Image credit: Alamy)

David Domoney's brown lawn tip

'Reducing the use of water this year is a really positive thing for the environment,' David begins. 'The moment we start getting back in drought again, one of the easiest things to recover is in fact your lawn.'

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David makes the point that we don't water green spaces in our local area, like parks and gardens. They're left alone and always manage to get their green colour back after a period with little rainfall.

If you're currently looking for the best lawnmower for your garden, our guide will narrow down your options. Plus, the best strimmer will keep the edges looking extra neat.

garden area pipe and flower

(Image credit: Getty / Richard Ross)

'The sun comes out, the grass dries and turns brown,' David says. 'But the energy is beneath the soil, and when it starts to rain again, the grass comes back up.'

'Let your grass go brown a little bit, and save the water,' he says. 'Because one of these jets can use in one hour what we use inside for a whole week.'

It's true that garden sprinklers get through a lot of water, upping our water bills and using valuable water resources. David also mentioned the Royal Horticultural Society's Mains 2 Rains campaign.

The RHS has teamed up with Cranfield University in a bid to save water and show gardeners how to calculate their water usage.

garden area with house exterior

(Image credit: Future Publishing Ltd)

To show just how much difference we can make as individuals, he reveals that if one in ten people across the UK adopt water-saving techniques from the Mains 2 Rains website, we could save 383 million bath-fuls of water.

Related: Sustainable gardens – eco friendly ideas for your outdoor space

If you simply don't have the time to look after a lawn, don't worry. There are lots of grassless garden ideas out there to make a relaxing outdoor space that requires no mowing.

Will you be embracing the brown patches this summer?

Millie Hurst
Senior Content Editor

Millie Hurst was Senior Content Editor at Ideal Home from 2020-2022, and is now Section Editor at Homes & Gardens. Before stepping into the world of interiors, she worked as a Senior SEO Editor for News UK in both London and New York. You can usually find her looking up trending terms and finding real-life budget makeovers our readers love. Millie came up with the website's daily dupes article which gives readers ways to curate a stylish home for less.