If you go on vacation in the summer, it is perfectly possible to return to a beautiful garden–all it takes is organization. Sadly, though, garden security has become an issue for the entire year, not just while you are away.
Before going on vacation, allow time to organize your garden and make a checklist of things to do. Friends and neighbors may be willing to help with watering and other simple tasks, but you cannot expect them to do more laborious chores, such as weeding. If you have set up an automatic watering system, make sure that it is working properly and that the helper understands where everything is and how it works.
You may decide to hire a gardener to do general tasks, such as mowing the lawn and clipping the hedges. Or, you could consider a housesitter to look after the house, pets and plants.
To make watering as easy as possible, reduce your collection of containers to those with permanent plants and temporary plants that will still have a good display on your return. Fading bedding plants should be put in the compost bin. If practical, group the containers together in light shade in order to reduce the frequency of watering. Remove all open flowers from healthy bedding plants so they produce a flush of new blooms on your return. Feed with liquid fertilizer, but do not be tempted to give any extra feed–follow the instructions on the packet. Cover containers and bedding plants with greenhouse shade netting to reduce water loss through transpiration–but not in the front garden, because it will act as a message to passersby that you are away from your home.
Encourage the people who are keeping an eye on your home to help themselves to crops that need regular picking, such as beans and courgettes, so that the plants will still be cropping well when you get home.
On your return, if the grass is long, do not cut it short immediately, otherwise it will turn yellowy brown. Instead, raise the mower's blades for the first cut and gradually lower them over the next two or three.
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Instead of cutting the grass short when you return from vacation, raise your mower’s blades then gradually lower them.
