Greywater friendly plants
If you are going to be using greywater on your garden and there are a number of things you need to consider to ensure your plants and soils, and those of your neighbours stay healthy and happy.
The starting point for this discussion is not about the plants, its about managing greywater and using greywater friendly detergents so that you don’t need special plants. Having said that some plants may be more suited to how much or little greywater you apply and there may be parts of your garden that have been adversely affected by ‘bad’ greywater in the past.
We have recommended a number of plants that will manage different aspects of greywater. These plants respond to different possibilities in relation to how YOU use water and generate greywater. Some of the chemical impacts of greywater on soil include:
- Salinity, will compact soil making it water resistant and reduce biological activity
- High phosphorus levels
- pH levels, most likely to be alkaline
- High alkalinity
- Fats, can make the soil hydrophobic, therefore plants need to be more drought tolerant
- You might also be creating wet or dry garden conditions or a combination of both at different times.
The following plants are likely to cope with phosphorus, drought, waterlogging, alkalinity and salinity and on this basis could be considered greywater tolerant:
Trees
Corymbia maculata – Spotted Gum
Pittosporum undulatum – Sweet Pittosporum
Small trees
Acacia stenophylla – Shoe-string Acacia (inland Australia)
Casuarina glauca – Swamp she-oak
Melaleuca armillaris – Bracelet Honey Myrtle
Melaleuca huegelii – Chenille Honey Myrtle
Shrubs
Callistemon linearis – Narrow leaved Bottlebrush
Escallonia rubra – Escallonia
Westringia fruiticosa – Coast Rosemary
Turf
Cynodon dactylon – Couch grass (only average for waterlogging)
Stenotaphrum secundatum – Buffalo grass (based on experience with bath water)
You could also try (generally tough plants)
Atriplex cinerea – Coastal Saltbush (not tolerant of waterlogging)
Dianella caerula – Paroo Lilly (may be phosphorus sensitive)
Dietes grandiflora – Native iris
Gunnera manicata – Brazilian rhubarb (outrageous bog plant)
Juncus flavidus Rush – quietly charming Australian native, may be phosphorus sensitive
Limonium perezi – Sea lavender
Lomandra longifolia – Spiny headed mat-rush (may be phosphorus sensitive)
Goodenia ovata – Hop Goodenia (may be phosphorus sensitive)
Strelitzia nicolae – White Bird of Paradise
Yucca spp
Plants that DON’T like greywater
Grevillea
Bouganvillea
Camellias
Lavender
Herbs
Ferns
Citrus
Azaleas
Vegetable seedlings