What do you do about watering your gardens when you are off on a jaunt????

[pampam]

I just thought id ask as you are all obviously experienced at getting out and about, how do you water your plants ,hanging baskets, fruit and veg etc,when you are off on your travels?(obviously this is aimed at people who have a garden) when we had motorhomes we just didnt do much gardening ,and block paving and lawn was about all we had, we have since got carried away with borders,pots, tubs, and hanging baskets,thinking we would be at home,(plugs of bedding plants in conservatory waiting to get pottedwhen weather improves, but the otherday i impulsively booked a flight to spain,for july, and am now thinking what i can do about my plants? i cant ask anyone to do it for me , and ive been looking at irrigation systems ,like hozelock ,has anyone any recomendations please? Thankyou pampam
and before you say it
this is when a fulltimer could park on your drive lol

 

[Nanniemate]

I have seen requests for 'home sitters' I can see Doncaster is your base you seem to have the solution I am sure someone would love to visit Doncaster park on your drive and water your garden. What dates are you looking a and do you have a drive?

 

[Gaston aires]

Daughter in law does ours. We have given up on hanging baskets, they take too much watering.

 

[Larrynwin]

At our last house we moved from four years ago I fitted hidden water system around the paved patio area and also out front to hanging baskets .
I used Hozelock water timer/computer fitted to external plumbing feeding through dedicated 12mm pipe and then very small bore offshoots with adjustable drippers for each pot and more than one on large pots.
I set on off for morning and evening and the system although needs regular checks for moisture worked well over many years.
It’s worth a look around either B&Q or garden centres who normally stock this.

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[Podney]

I think that unless you are going to install an elaborate automatic watering system,you need to cut back on the hanging baskets for starters. Then look at reducing your pots. If the plants can stand being in poor draining soil,use some if you can....many of the composts you buy at the garden centre dry out very quickly. Put pots and tubs in the shade . Try adding some of those water retaining crystals that you can buy at the garden centre or on line. Cut back leafy plants,the more lush they are,the more water they need. Put trays under pots and leave with water in. Pray!

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[Riverbankannie]

I use hozelock automatic timers,I have 2 on separate outside taps. They have never failed and the batteries last for ages. I use some of their pipes and drippers and one tap feeds a soak hose. However o e year I came back to drowned plants. It is difficult to get the rate of drip and length of time of watering balanced correctly especially with a long length of drippers. You need to have it in operation for a week before leaving and I always ask my neighbour to check and if she sees any problems, like a leak, just to turn the taps off.

 

[scally]

Got no hanging baskets, most of my plants are very hardy, what dies, dies, and is replaced with something a bit hardier for the following year

 

[Nirvanauk]

Round the back I have a hozelock system which my neighbour doesn’t think too much to it so he comes around twice a day to water it for me. Great guy and as he says, “nothing dies on my watch”

 

[Nanniemate]

or you could do as i do and cultivate and insect sanctuary the weeds need very little looking after

 

[Lenny HB]

Ask daughter to pop round & water them she only lives a few hundred yards away but she normally forgets and we come home to dead plants.

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[emjaiuk]

Helpful reliable neighbour

 

[Kirsten]

Neibours used to do ours ( they are utter stars! ) when feeding the cats but alas- they have bought a Moho and we are now co- jaunting so need to cultivate reliable garden loving cat sitter....my tomatoes are as well loved as the cats...

 

[ManTheVan]

I use hozelock automatic timers,I have 2 on separate outside taps. They have never failed and the batteries last for ages. I use some of their pipes and drippers and one tap feeds a soak hose. However o e year I came back to drowned plants. It is difficult to get the rate of drip and length of time of watering balanced correctly especially with a long length of drippers. You need to have it in operation for a week before leaving and I always ask my neighbour to check and if she sees any problems, like a leak, just to turn the taps off.

We also use a set of timers, but to avoid the overwatering scenario, I gather that there are now sensors that can decide whether the water needs to come on or not.

 

[Riverbankannie]

We also use a set of timers, but to avoid the overwatering scenario, I gather that there are now sensors that can decide whether the water needs to come on or not.

It was the ones at the beginning of the run that got all the water even though I use the adjustable drippers!

 

[pampam]

Nanniemate yes i would definately have a house sitter if i had animals
but am not going down that path at moment id love a couple of dogs but i do like to go on holidays whenever possible, so no pets at moment

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[meanders]

Timed watering system seems to work. All pots pulled together in the shade under a pergola.
Take the cats with us. They love it.

 

[Minxy]

Fortunately the only thing we need to worry about externally is cutting the grass which our friend is more than happy to come round and do. Internally house plants and post are more difficult - we move all the plants into our north facing bathroom and as we normally away over winter we turn the mains off so leave a large bucket of water in there too and my in-laws then come over once in a while and water them and sort the post (not a lot usually) but unfortunately they are often are too enthusiastic about watering the plants and I often lose some through overwatering.

Our new neighbours either side are great so if either of the above parties couldn't do the stuff for us I'm sure they'd do it instead if needed.

 

[Polar bear]

I have trained the next door neighbour to water plants every couple of days only costs a couple of bottles of wine a year

 

[scotzsue]

Wondering the same, mine will just have to do what they can, will ask John's family to check weekly, but they are not reliable. His son's face was a picture when we told him one of the cameras had piked him up putting the mail on the side in the kitchen.Had said he was visisting every week but we knew he was not, hastily said he had looked round outside and everything looked ok, we have an over 6' fence round most of the house and he is under that. Might spur him to actually have a proper look in future. cant get into the garden without going through the house as gate can only be opened from the garden. so asking neighbours isn't really an option, although our new, across the road neighbours are keen gardeners, may have to cultivate them as well as my raised beds.

 

[carolyn]

We have a gardener. I know that sounds like I’m being unhelpful but a few years ago I had a stupid moment and we went off and I had turned the water off so he had no outside tap! What a muppet.

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[Jenben]

We have a drip hose system from the water butts slinking around part of the garden, we don’t have hanging baskets , we have a robomower called Robbie to keep the grass trimmed. The worst thing for me is feeding our regular hedgehog visitors but my neighbour does that .

 

[bilM]

Son comes around if I threaten him and next door neighbor very good if said son is not seen about.

 

[Richard n Ann]

When I had the greenhouse I rigged up a washing machine water solenoid to the outside tap and plugged it into a plug type timer. Just programed it on 6.00am until 6.01am every day and only opened the tap 10%. Worked great.

 

[138go]

We have a low maintenance garden, no lawn, so it doesn't need watering.

 

[pappajohn]

Nothing in our bit of scrubland gets watered unless it rains.
Seems to do quite well considering in the wild it would only get watered when it rained.

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[WESTY66]

I have seen requests for 'home sitters' I can see Doncaster is your base you seem to have the solution I am sure someone would love to visit Doncaster park on your drive and water your garden. What dates are you looking a and do you have a drive?

There’s no need, there’s rarely a drought here in Doncaster

 

[MitchandJenny]

There’s no need, there’s rarely a drought here in Doncaster

There is here in South Norfolk.
Mitch

 

[Ivory55]

We have found the moss (lawn) is very resilient and does not matter about watering it. Haha

 

[Robert Clark]

We have a guy who mows our lawn weekly.

When we’re away he comes in daily to feed the chickens, collect the eggs, feed the feral cat, water the plants and empty the mail box

Works a treat

 

[two]

Timed watering doesn't work too well in practice.
You don't get an even distribution, so it can take a long time to set up (each time you alter one section, it affects another). I've used the water sensing devices to prevent over-watering but have not been convinced that they work.
The best method I've found is to water into very large trays, into which you stand pots. Watering is more even that way and serious overwatering less likely.

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