Do you know how to keep your garden green while away?
It’s all about having fun and short getaways over the summer. But if, by any chance, you manage to turn your outdoor garden into a beautiful oasis, you won’t want to come back to see them all dry, or worse, dead!
As usual, I am your friend in need, and in this article, I will share all my secrets with you. So don’t worry, because, by the end of it, you will master some new skills.
While you’re out of town, your plants will surely miss you, but forget about the guilt and follow my tips for keeping your garden green and healthy even if you’re not there.
Before you leave, soak your plants
If you want to keep your garden green while away, especially if you leave for just two or three days, make sure you soak it. That doesn’t mean you’re going to drown them! Of course not.
Plants can withstand a broad range of temperatures as long as the soil surrounding their roots is wet and abundant in nutrients. Water the plants down to a 6-inch depth, ideally.
If there’s sufficient mulch covering the area, you might be able to water it down to just 1 or 2 inches. In simple terms, you are providing the roots with adequate moisture to allow them to absorb it over one or two days. The water may even extend for three or four days if there are rain chances in the area.
Trim the plants
Regular pruning of any grown-up bushes is usually a good idea and you can do that before leaving on vacation. The plants will require less water and be better equipped to survive on their own if you do this approximately a week before you depart.
Trim them into a tidy shape after removing any dead or dying parts, including wasted blossoms.
Invest in some garden sprinklers
If you have a trip planned that lasts more than three days, or even a week, the garden sprinkler may function as an automated waterer. This system can be turned on and off remotely, depending on your demands and financial situation. Place drip or soaker irrigation hoses on the top soil of your flower beds or garden and attach them. After that, put a timer in place where the hose connects to your faucet
One of the best hacks for keeping your garden green while away is to invest in an automated garden sprinkler. You can find them in-store, or if you want to score a better price, check out Amazon’s offer.
For example, this greenhouse micro-drip irrigation kit suitable for an area of 160 square feet costs just $45.99. This is the best price in months because they offer a 33% discount from the initial price. I’d say it’s a good deal!
Before use test the soaker hoses (especially if they’re new)
Lay out the hose so it can unfold about a week before you travel. Attach it to a water hose or faucet after ten minutes or so. To ensure that the hose fills slowly, adjust the water output.
The hose should be releasing some moisture, and you will see water flowing from it in every direction. Insert the hose into your garden once the moisture content fits you. You may check the hose’s functionality by seeing it in use throughout the week.
Try out the rain barrel trick!
If you are thinking about keeping your garden green while away, but you’re also concerned about the water bills, this trick might help you reduce the costs.
Attach your soaker hose to a rain barrel and use it on the plants. To catch falling water all year round, a lot of people, including myself, own these barrels, which is an excellent method of water conservation.
Verify that the barrel is filled with water, then connect the soaker hose and circulate it around the earth, surrounding your parched plants. Depending on the size of the barrel, this setup could nourish your plants for up to a week.
Look out for the plants that need more shade
For these sensitive plants, you can try using a shade cloth. Any sunlight that reaches the plants will be filtered by adding a shade cloth over them. In terms of moisture loss, the cloth helps the garden feel less stressed, even if it’s not precisely like creating a greenhouse around the plants.
Plants can live in these conditions for many days to a whole week if you water them deeply and cover them with a shade cloth. The shade fabric performs much better when clouds move in since the sun naturally sets later.
If your plants are in pots and the indoor space allows, you can move them there to ensure that their leaves won’t dry out due to sunlight.
Add compost (or manure) to the soil
If you are planning to stay away for more than just two or three days, your garden won’t survive without water if you don’t put some manure or compost over the soil.
All you have to do is cover the garden bed with 2 to 3 inches of compost. Then water your garden and compost to allow the moisture to seep into the soil. By doing this, the heat and rays from the sun won’t be able to dry the soil anymore.
Because of the mulch, the moisture in your garden stays in the ground for a longer time. You can nearly always rescue a group of annuals or perennials using manure or compost.
Consider organizing your plants again
Rearrange your outdoor and indoor plants to ensure they survive while you’re gone. Place the pots in a group somewhere in a spot with more shade. The humidity around the potted plants stays concentrated as the wet soil evaporatively cools. All in all, part of the moisture will be absorbed back into the soil to prevent loss to the atmosphere.
Check how the weather will be during the time you will be away, and if it gets too hot outside, move this group of plants indoors. They might not like being indoors, but they can survive for a few days until you can move them outside.
Just give them a little water before you leave. You might even use the soaker hose for potted plants that are left outside.
Drip-watering containers are your friend in need
You don’t have to purchase fancy watering globes for your potted plants because you can make your own with recycled wine bottles. Consider turning huge soda bottles, plastic milk jugs, or laundry detergent bottles into drip-watering garden containers. Make holes at the bottom first, then place them close to your plants.
Fill the bottle with water, place your thumb over the top, flip the bottle over, and plunge it into the ground as soon as possible. Before leaving home, water their soil and refill the dripping bottles.
The water in the containers won’t leak out as easily if the ground is already wet. However, water will begin to seep out of the soil due to gravity as it dries up.
Ask a friend to come over
Will you be away with work-related business for several months and you can’t assure your greenery a safe life? Ask a trusted friend to come over to your place or to take some of the pots to their place.
If you also have a vegetable garden, things might be a bit complicated, so don’t forget to leave your friend some instructions on how often the plants must be watered, how much water they need, and most importantly, how often they should pick the ripped vegetables.
Encourage the person caring for your plants to help themselves if they will be harvesting fruit or veggies in your absence! In this manner, nothing will go to waste and they may eat fresh and delicious produce from your garden.
You may also want to read Poisonous Plants That Pose a Threat to Your Home.
