A hol lotta love
Going off to enjoy the sunshine? Make sure your garden is happy basking in it too with our hot tips to really make the moist of your summer escape
Last-minute packing for your summer holiday can often mean forgetting something important. Unfortunately, our plants can also suffer if we’ve not left enough time to prep them properly.
There are few things more depressing after a fab holiday than arriving home to find total devastation when you open the gate.
Luckily, there are some easy steps to ensure plants survive.
Starting indoors, group all your house plants together in the bathroom. Take some old towels and line the bottom of the bath.
Make sure the plug is in then fill the bath until the towels are saturated.
Then, stand all your house plants on the towels. Make sure they’re not immersed in water or you’ll risk the roots rotting.
This helps in several ways. There is enough moisture for the plants to draw up as they need it. The evaporating water also creates a lovely humid climate – and plants naturally benefit from each other’s company.
Finally, reflection off the bath’s sides maximises natural light.
Moving outside, it’s a good idea to get right up to date with garden
Line bath with towels and soak them to keep houseplants thriving
jobs before you go. Tidy the lawn, weed and water beds and borders, and give the garden a general tidy up.
Removing troublesome weeds is of double benefit: They suck moisture and nutrients from the soil, and it’ll stop them seeding while you’re away.
By deadheading bedding plants, you’ll hopefully come home to flowers rather than finding them leggy and run to seed. If you can, add an inch or two of bark chippings to your borders
to help to lock moisture in and keep weeds down.
Get rid of any barbecues, kids’ toys or balls from the lawn to save killing the grass.
It might sound contradictory, but don’t cut the lawn – longer grass holds moisture better.
Likewise, crop any grass or weeds growing around the bottom of young trees or shrubs to help them survive. Weed block and bark chip will stop them coming back. Next, group patio pots and containers together; that will make them easier to maintain if the neighbours are looking after them.
Wheeled container stands – available from your local garden centre – make moving heavier pots a breeze.
If plants are under the eaves, consider moving them away from the house so they benefit from any rain – but try and site them in a shady spot to help stop them drying out. Likewise, keep them sheltered from wind, which can increase evaporation massively.
If you haven’t got friendly neighbours to water your containers or borders, consider a simple irrigation system – essentially a hose with holes in to slowly drip water into pots or soil.
For a more DIY solution, use waterfilled two-litre pop bottles buried upside down in the soil with a few pin holes in their lid – good for containers. If you have fruit or veg, neighbours may be happy to keep an eye on it if you let them take any that ripens.
Crop and freeze or give away anything that’s likely to rot – herbs can often be dried, frozen or stored.
Before I go, I always take a final walk round the garden to make sure fence panels are up, security lights work, and the shed and greenhouse are locked.
Expensive kit should be post-coded with a UV pen and locked up, especially ladders, using a bike chain.
Remember, ordinary tools can be used to help someone break into your home – they don’t call the spade the burglar’s friend for nothing.
Finally, with the taxi on its way, saturate the whole garden. No matter if it’s rain or sun, that last drenching will help keep everything going.
Now sit and enjoy the sun – without worrying what it’s doing to the garden.