Heading off on holiday? Don’t let your garden suffer while you’re away. In this quick and practical guide, Debi Holland shares her top tips to keep your plants thriving. From clever watering hacks and self-watering pots to deadheading, mulching, and pest checks. Whether you’re going away for a few days or a few weeks, this easy holiday garden checklist will help you return to happy, healthy plants.
Holiday garden checklist
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Going away for a few weeks? Here’s a checklist to help keep your garden and houseplants going while you’re on holiday.
Set up watering outdoors. Try drip irrigation in pots and borders, an olla that releases water at the roots, a wick or self-watering pots. Move containers out of strong sun and group them together. Pelargoniums, sedums and drought-tolerant grasses usually cope better than thirstier plants.
Do a last round of garden jobs. Water well and mulch around the plants to hold in moisture. Use a slow-release feed where appropriate. Deadhead roses, dahlias and cosmos for another flush of flowers, mow the lawn, weed the borders and pick any ripe crops.
Check houseplants before you leave. Water and feed them as needed, check both sides of the leaves for pests and consider a grit top dressing to deter fungus gnats. Ask a friend to water if you’re going away for longer.
Editor’s note. The video suggests using a bath to water houseplants. For plants that need a steady supply of moisture, the RHS guide to holiday care explains how to use the bath as a reservoir with a wick or capillary matting.
