Are you going on a vacation but worried about the plants you have in your garden? Put your worries to rest now. You can keep your best friends alive and fresh with these simple and effective tips. Read on to know more…
Taking Care of The Plants While On Vacation
- Water the plants thoroughly and mulch!
If you vacation is for a week or less, then you can keep your plants alive with a little soaking and a single layer mulching. Studies suggest that plants that are mulched lose about 25 percent lesser water than those that are not mulched. Just ensure that the soil lying under the mulch is damp for about several inches, at the same time take care to prevent mulching so deep that the plant’s crown gets buried. If you ready have a couple of inches mulched, then do not do more. The ideal rule – mulch around the roots to keep the plants intact.
- Drip irrigation is a great way!
Wondering how to do this? You get countless low cost kits in the market that you can put together easily. But there is a hitch here – this works only for the plants that are in the beginning of their growing season. Adding a drip irrigation with a timer will enable you to put your worries at rest. You even get timers that could adjust the irrigation levels according to rainfall received.
- You can place a timer on your garden sprinkler!
Drip irrigation is a better way but if you are not keen on getting too high tech, then you can add a simple timer on your garden sprinkler. Just keep a couple of connector hoses along with the sprinkles and timers handy to ensure that you are able to reach throughout the garden as against targeting individual plants.
- Self watering jugs are a great choice!
Make a self-watering jug from the unused plastic bottles and jugs. Just make a very tiny hole on the underneath of the jug. You can bury this watering jug a few inches into the soil next to the plant, Fill the jug just before you are leaving. The drip will be very slow, enabling the roots to absorb sufficient moisture.
- Move your container plants to shady areas!
You can move the containers into a place that is shady and will have access to water. Place them in such a way that sprinkles give them water. Keep them in clusters as it will allow lesser lose of moisture and creation of better humidity. There are very less chances of plants wilting away too.
- Use self-watering gadgets wherever necessary!
There might be cases wherein you cannot move the containers. In such cases you can make use of various self-watering gadgets such as water globes or bulbs to meet your needs. However, it is advisable to water these containers thoroughly before you leave. You can then fill the bulb with water and insert in the containers to ensure that water slowly drips into pot. The maximum time for a bulb is about 7 days. So, always ensure that there is some additional option for the containers to absorb adequate water till you are back. Just bury materials such as sponges or newspaper strips next to the containers after soaking them in water thoroughly.
- Employ someone to take care of your garden!
You can either hire a garden sitter to take care of your plants or ask you friends to look after them when you are on vacation. Just ask them to look into the water levels and adjust it. This is the best option if you are leaving your garden unattended for 2 weeks or more. A professional garden sitter is the ideal choice as he will also know, without you dissertation, what he needs to do, why, when, and how. Shelling out those extra bucks will really be worth.
Keep these tips in mind and enjoy a great vacation without worrying about your plants. The will very much be alive and safe when you are back. Happy vacation!