Rune Sovndahl co-founder and CEO of Fantastic Services
 
When you are preparing to head off on your holiday and have no one to look after your garden, you might be worried about what state it will be in upon your return.

Do not despair: with a few simple hacks you can effectively look after it while you are away.

Preparation
The key thing about maintaining your garden when you are going away is preparation and making sure you have done everything you can to limit the work you will have to do upon your return.

Get rid of all the weeds, cover any bare soil with mulch and trim the hedges to protect these areas of your garden.

Watering your plants inside
To keep your indoor plants watered, you will need a plastic bottle, a couple of plastic trays and a rubber tube. Put a small hole at the bottom of the water bottle and fill it with water, replacing the lid after. Place the bottle and your plant into separate plastic trays, and connect them with the rubber tube.

As long as the rubber tube stays unclogged you will get a constant flow of water, and it will drain slowly or quickly depending on how much the plant can and needs to absorb.

Remove plants from direct sunlight
If you can move your plants, make sure you move them to a shaded area that is open to the elements. This will stop them from drying out too quickly.

If you can’t move them, cover them with shade netting or fleece. This will give them the best chance against the blistering sun.

Watering outside plants
If you have a sprinkler system, put it on a timer. This will make it easy to water your garden when you are away and it

is a more cost effective solution than installing a drip irrigation system.

An alternative and even cheaper solution will just require a plastic bottle. Drill a hole into the cap and cut the bottom off. Place the cap end into the soil next to the plants you want to water. Water will gather in the bottle and then slowly trickle down into the ground soaking the roots of the plant, effectively watering them.

Plants that don’t need constant watering.
Plants like pelargoniums don’t respond well to constantly having their roots wet, but are pretty sensitive to drought.

To keep them alive, make sure you water them and assure that the water goes all the way down to the roots. Do this just before you go away.

Lawns
Lawns generally don’t need watering except for when they are new. Make sure you mow the lawn and trim the hedges before you head off. It will make all the difference to your garden upon your return.

Check for pests
A couple of weeks before you go, check for pests in your garden and take action before you leave. Do not leave it until after you are back, even if the problem seems small. You will be surprised how quickly a small problem can turn into a big one, which will only cause you stress after your holiday.