Wouldn’t it be amusing if when you went to Portugal for two weeks; your garden went on holiday to Cornwall?
If only!
But plants don’t take holidays, they stay where they are. so I’ve put together some practical tips you can take so your garden will be alive and thriving on your return. (Whether it rains or there’s a hosepipe ban!)
How to Prep Your Garden for Your Holiday
- For pot plants – save plastic containers to use as water trays under pots, as they’re often deeper than pot saucers.
- Purchase capillary matting – this has a couple of uses as we’ll see below. This also has the advantage of being a last minute solution if you don’t have enough saucers or containers. Recycled capillary matting is available.
- Save plastic bottles, large and small, to use as water reservoirs for plants in the ground. See below for ‘how to’, its especially useful for thirsty flowers like dahlias and water heavy plants like courgettes.
- Ask your neighbour or a friend if they can check on the garden for you and water plants where needed. Making a simple list of instructions and / or a plan of where key plants are can be helpful.
- With a large garden, or a lot of plants that need attention, it may be a idea to ask two people to share.
- Remember to tell them to eat the ripening fruit and to cut flowers for their own house. If they have a garden, offer to return the favour. If they don’t, remember to bring them a present!
Holiday-ready gardens – nearer the time you leave
- Deadhead ornamental flowering plants. Yes, I mean those that are past their best bloom as well as dead ones! That way you should have a new flush of flowers to greet you on your return.
- Weed – the critical thing here is to prevent weed flowers from running to seed. “Seven years seed means seven years weed” is a true saying!
- Give a liquid feed, at least to the most needy such as food crops.
- If you can, apply mulch on any bare soil after watering.
How to use plastic bottles as water reservoirs
- Make a small hole in the cap and leave in the bottle. Cut off the bottom end.
- Dig a hole next to your thirsty plants, for example, tomatoes and dahlias. Put the bottle top end down into the hole and back fill with the soil.
- Water is poured into the bottle and it slowly soaks through to the plant’s roots.
- 2 litre bottles can be placed in between plants to water 2 or 3. Smaller bottles will suit single plants and are good to use in pots.
- This is actually a good trick if you don’t want to be always watering tomatoes, courgettes and squash in your vegetable garden or on the allotment.
Plants don’t take Holidays – the Greenhouse
Have you got the greenhouse shading up? If not, and its not going to happen before you go away, move plants into the shadier parts of the greenhouse and / or onto the floor where they may get less direct sun (if possible).
Capillary matting is really useful. You can line large gravel trays with it for those potted plants that would rather not sit in water. And you can use it as an irrigation tool. Have one end in a water-filled bucket or watering can and the rest underneath the pots in the gravel tray. The plants will take up water as needed. And it’s easy to refill the bucket.
Does the door need to be closed overnight or left open?
How to keep your garden alive while on holiday – Containers
Pots –
- Where are the cooler places in the garden? Out of the midday sun is good for most plants. Place on matting or in trays; water well before you leave, so that the plants are “sitting in moistness”.
- However, your pelargoniums (pot geraniums) will not take too kindly to having their roots sitting in water, so water well before you leave making sure the water gets down to the roots. They are fairly drought tolerant, so should be fine if in a shady spot. If in the sun and a porch where they won’t benefit from any rain, put tray underneath.
Hanging baskets –
if in the rear garden, take down and treat as a pot above. If they’re visible by the public, make sure they’re on the priority list for your garden carer.
Micro-salads –
cut & eat before you go. You can get 2 or 3 harvests out of them but sometimes its just less effort to sow new when you get home.
Garden Borders
Even your established plants don’t take holidays, and thats fine, as those trees and shrubs which have been in the ground for a few years will have a good root system and shouldn’t need any looking after whilst you’re away.
Many established herbaceous perennials will also be fine if you’ve carried out the prep tips above. But if any of them are wilting because we’ve had a heat wave, give them a thorough soak a day or two before you go away. (Guaranteed to make it rain on those of us who are staying behind…)
New plants, summer bedding, thirsty plants like dahlias – if there’s room in the border you can use an upturn bottles as a reservoir. (see above) Otherwise, leave watering instructions.
Plants don’t take Holidays – Vegetable Gardens
This is one area which will need some attention. Watering, obviously, but probably also harvesting. The mange tout and courgettes may be a bonus for your garden carer, in which case no problem. But if they have a full-on kitchen garden themselves, they may not need your harvest as well.
What are the options?
- Some produce would probably sit in your fridge for a week and still be edible on your return.
- You may have mutual friends who would enjoy the produce to eat fresh, turn into chutneys or freeze.
- If theres a reasonable amount, possibly local animal rescue centres and community would take it to sell for their funds.
- Worst case scenario and its all gone over? Theres always the compost heap – nothing gets wasted!
If you have an allotment, I’m presuming you already have an arrangement with another plot holder to look after each other’s allotments.
Holiday-ready gardens – Lawns
- Domestic lawns do not need watering unless newly laid.
- Mow before you go, medium cut.
- And make sure you trim the edges – especially if time is too short for a mow. This makes a big difference and it’ll look tidy when you come back.
Hosepipe bans and downpours
Whilst we’ve mainly planned for watering your plants, we do get rain. A bit of rain is no bother to plants sitting in trays of water, but three days of heavy rain and they’ll be suffering! So remember to add in a note to your helpful list that the pots will need lifting out if a few days of rain is forecast.
Obviously I don’t know whether you and your garden guardian prefer to use hosepipe or watering can. If appropriate have both available, with the watering cans next to the water butts or outside tap.
By the way, if you have a fishpond or pond with wildlife a hosepipe can be used to top up the water level (animal welfare legislation). Remember that human drinking water isn’t the best for the fish, newts etc and you’ll probably need to add dechlorinating tablets or similar.
The Front Garden
The trick is to make it look like you’re still at home.
- Put water reservoirs under pots (if in the sun) well in advance of your holiday so it looks ‘normal’.
- Tidy up, weed and water planting as above, and add to your garden guardian’s list of tasks.
If someone is coming to tend the garden whilst you’re away, you could ask them to bring back in or put out the bins as well.
If Plants don’t take Holidays, Why are there Plant Passports?
Good question!
The answer involves biosecurity – bascially safguarding the plants in this country from pests and diseases coming in from elsewhere.
Which is why there is only a relatively small list of bare root plants, bulbs and seeds that you can bring home with you from abroad for yoru own use. The list does change, so check out the govenrment website before you go as you may need a phytosanitary certifcate from the seller. This guarantess the plants’ health.
NB Northern Ireland has different rules to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).
And finally
Plants don’t take holidays so make it as easy as possible for the person keeping your garden alive while you drink cocktails by the pool. Then they’ll do the same for you! You could always point them in the direction of this blog if they need tips to make it simple for you…
On your return, unpack, put washing on; make tea / pour wine, sit in garden and enjoy the view!
and if Plews can help you with anything, please do get in touch. For example –
Why not ask about our bespoke Gardening Lessons and Courses where your classroom is actually your own garden? You could learn how to grow an orchard of citrus fruits in your conservatory. We can help with both gardening basics and more ‘expert tasks’, carry out worm and other experiments and for example, also show you how to plan a vegetable plot. Have a read through this pdf download for info.
For further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below Plus we have a monthly Tipsheet (currently changing our provider, so there may be a delay) You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.
Feeling nosey? You can have a peek at the progress of my garden renovation, Spitfires and Slow Worms, on Instagram and Facebook
You’ll get to see it in person if you come to the Plews Gardening Workshops Current ones on Eventbrite for you to book into. Follow for updates on topics and dates on Plews website, Instagram, Eventbrite, Facebook
Plus get your local garden club, allotment, WI, U3A or other group to ask me along to give a talk (and bring plants 😉)
Related Gardening Blogs from the Award Winning Plews Potting Shed
Watering Plants in Hot Weather
Summer Flower Border Ideas from Garden Visits
Easy Maintenance Edible Gardens
Summer Bedding Plants – Questions and Answers
A Walled Garden on a Summer’s Afternoon – flash fiction for you
