Tips for leaving gardens unattended during summer holidays

Article by Trusted Housesitters, a website which lists house and garden minders, both in the UK and abroad.

Every summer around 13 million Britons ignore the prospect of a ‘great British summer’ and instead head off to sunnier climes in Europe, the U.S. and further abroad. But while holidays are important, for the keen gardener it can also be a stressful time not knowing what condition their garden will be when they return home. Here’s a few tips to minimise problems and keep your garden in shape while you’re away.

Neighbours

Everybody needs good neighbours as the theme tune goes and if you’re lucky enough to have them, why not ask if they’re willing to run the watering can around the garden a couple of times per week while you’re away? It can’t work to ask and it’s likely that they’ll be glad of someone to reciprocate with when they go away as well.

House Sitters

Websites like TrustedHousesitters.com list an increasing number of house sitters, many of whom are willing to stay in your home and tend to your garden for free. The vast majority of these are also willing to take care of pets, so if you were thinking of putting Rover into a kennels, you can save yourself a considerable amount of money on petcare as well!

The Neighbours’ Kids

In the UK, most children are off school for large parts of the summer and are usually open to the idea of earning some extra cash. If you already know a few of your neighbour’s children, and you’re not looking for anything extravagant carried out in the garden, why don’t you offer them a couple of pounds per week to carry out a few simple chores such as watering the plants and checking for unwanted beasties.

Technology

Having to leave your garden while you’re on holiday isn’t a new problem by any means and so there are quite a few technological solutions on the market right now including:

• Timed Sprinklers: As the name suggests, these sprinklers will go off at whatever time of day you set with during the evening being the best to prevent scorching.
• Watering bulbs: Watering bulbs slowly drip water and are ideal for potted plants or plants that are out of the direct area of rainfall.

Preparation is Key

Preparation is key when it comes to leaving a garden unattended, whether it’s for one week, two, or more. It’s worth tending to the garden as close to your departure date as possible in order to reduce the gap from when you return. Some things you can do in the final 24 hours are:

• Check for pests
• Cut the grass
• Heavily water the plants
• Move potted plants into shady areas and within direct reach of sprinklers

DISCLAIMER:
Debby's Garden Links is not responsible for the content or reliability of any websites
linked from this site, and cannot accept liability for any damage or loss arising from
reliance on such websites

We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time
and we have no control over the availability of the linked pages