For gardener Crystal Osborne and her partner Chris Cochrane, keeping the lawn looking as verdant as an Irish hillside was on top of their wishes when restrictions banning the watering of lawns kicked in.

With a family of six to look after their water use was at such a level that rather than seeing it disappear down the plughole, they decided to do something about reusing their grey water.

Five years ago, when they were renting a property, they began their first tentative steps towards water harvesting and reuse.

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Now that they have purchased a property in town they've expanded their water reuse to the point where at times they're simply struggling to find somewhere to put it.

"After the rain we had last weekend everything is wet, but water that comes from the washing machine needs to be used straight away. Otherwise it gets a bit smelly," she said, directing a small rose sprinkler onto a dry patch of lawn under some play equipment.

The reuse of the washing machine water was her first foray into water recycling and at first was used on the lawn, now however an old Otto garbage bin is used as a reservoir in their ensuite, and the amount of water captured surprised even Crystal.

"At the end of the day we fill the Otto bin three quarters of the way up, just from filling the old baby bath that we have in the shower and pouring it in," she said.

With the assistance of an $89 submersible water pump, that prize water goes directly onto the lawn and garden trees.

The other surprise for Crystal was just how little effort it takes.

"It really becomes second nature once you get started and you begin to see how well your garden responds," she said.

Apart from the lawn, the other essential part of the garden the family can't go without is the bountiful veggie patch.

"It's the only part of the garden where I really use our hour of watering on Wednesday and Sunday," she said.

The patch also benefits from a scunge bucket that sits in the sink.

"Every day we empty it on the patch," she said.