You've spent months nurturing your garden, so it's only natural to worry about leaving it behind while you enjoy a well-deserved holiday. From clever watering solutions to protecting delicate plants from the summer heat, here's how to keep your plants healthy while you're away, so you can return home to a garden that's every bit as welcoming as when you left.
Summer is the most popular time of year to go on holiday, but it's also the time when our gardens need us the most, particularly if we have a heatwave. If you regularly go away for extended periods, then it may be worth investing in an irrigation system for your garden, but most of us make do with a combination of advance preparation, DIY solutions and if we're lucky, a friendly neighbour.
In this guide, I cover how to water your garden when you are away and what to do in the weeks leading up to your holiday to prepare your outdoor plants for your absence. If you also have house plants, then check out our guide on watering house plants when you go away.
Check the forecast
Keep an eye on the long-range forecast for the period you're away. If regular rain is forecast, then your garden may be fine without any supplementary watering, whereas if it's looking hot and dry, you may want to take extra steps to shade delicate plants. Look at wind speeds as well as precipitation and either support vulnerable plants or, if they're in pots, move them to a sheltered location if strong winds or storms are forecast.
Ask a friend to help
This is usually the best way to look after your garden when you're on holiday, as long as the person you've asked to help is reliable. A neighbour or local friend is best, as it's a bigger ask if they have to jump in their car to get to your house. Other options include inviting a friend to house sit (which can be mutually beneficial if you live in a desirable location) or asking around your local community to see if there's a responsible teen who's interested in watering your garden for a bit of extra cash.
Whoever you get to help, here's how to make looking after your garden easy for them:
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Make sure they know where your water butt or outside tap is and which plants most need watering. Unless your garden is very small, it's unreasonable to expect them to water everything.
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Place watering cans next to your water butt or attach a hose to your outdoor tap and unreel it so it's with the plants that need watering.
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Areas to prioritise when watering are greenhouses and cold frames, plants in hanging baskets or pots, and possibly vegetable beds.
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Bring them back a small gift to say thank you or return the favour and look after their garden when they go away.
Another option for smaller pots is to drop them off at a friend's house. I did this with some young dahlia plants that I hadn't got around to planting out before I went away. They lived in a sheltered corner of my friend's garden where she was able to water them along with her other plants.
Watering garden pots when you're away
Hanging baskets and plants in containers are usually the first casualties in a heatwave, but there are several things you can do to stop them drying out as fast:
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Take down hanging baskets so they're not exposed to drying winds.
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Group pots and hanging baskets together, ideally somewhere that's in shade for part of the day. Choose a spot that gets morning sun over one that gets the hot afternoon sun. Avoid putting pots up against walls or tall fences, as these can create a rainshadow effect.
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If you don't have a shady spot or your containers are too heavy to move, use shade netting to protect delicate plants.
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Place drip trays under pots. Check the forecast before doing this – I returned from one wet holiday to find my cucumber plants had drowned.
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Water and feed your plants just before you leave, then add a layer of mulch (e.g., bark, gravel or compost) to help reduce evaporation.
If you're only away for a few days or you're expecting rain while you're away, these steps may be enough to keep your plants alive. However, if the weather is forecast to be dry or you're away for a week or more, you need some kind of irrigation system. A self-watering system with a timer is best if you have a lot of pots, but individual watering spikes attached to bottles of water work well for shorter breaks.
A quick DIY option is to drill a small hole into the lid of the bottle and thread a cotton wick through the hole. Fill the bottle with water, turn it upside down and bury the top part in the soil near your plant. This should help keep your plant watered if you're away for a long weekend..
Make sure you set up your system and test it before you go away, so you can make sure it works properly. If you have valuable or precious plants, then you may want to invest in a computerised system that links to an app on your phone.
Keep beds and borders thriving
Get your garden plants used to deep, occasional watering before you go away. Watering plants deeply encourages their roots to grow down to seek out water, meaning they'll be better able to survive longer periods without water. Plants with shallow roots are more vulnerable to drought.
Newly planted perennials, shrubs and trees are the most likely to suffer without water, so if you want to use an irrigation system for part of your garden, prioritise these plants. You can buy irrigation bags specifically designed for young trees.
Keep on top of weeding and deadheading in the week before you go away. You could add a layer of mulch around vulnerable plants after weeding and watering to help lock in moisture.
Looking after your vegetable beds or allotment
If your summer holiday coincides with a hot, dry spell, then you could return to find your carefully nurtured plants shriveled up. At the other end of the scale, you may come back to giant marrows and rampant bean plants! Whatever the weather, here's how to prepare your fruit and vegetables for a period of planned neglect:
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Harvest fruit and vegetables regularly in the lead-up to your holiday. Pick all ripe and nearly ripe produce just before you leave and freeze, store or give away anything you can’t eat.
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Make sure your beds are clear of weeds, so your plants aren't competing with them for water and nutrients. Try to keep on top of weeding, as digging out deep-rooted weeds disturbs the soil, causing moisture loss.
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Add a thick layer of mulch after watering to help the soil retain moisture. If you have a drip irrigation system or soaker hose, mulch on top of it to reduce water loss.
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Tie in plants that need support (e.g., tomatoes) as high as you can before you leave. You may be surprised at how much they grow while you're away.
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Shade leafy plants using shade netting to help protect them. Realistically, salad crops are unlikely to survive a couple of weeks without watering, and most tend to bolt in hot weather. Luckily, they're fast growing, so you can sow some more when you get home.
If you know you'll be away for an extended period, you can also plan for this at the start of the growing season. Healthy soil, rich in organic matter, plays a big part in determining how well plants survive a period of drought. Plants crops that are less reliant on regular watering, such as root crops (carrots, beetroot, parsnips), pumpkins, asparagus and globe artichokes. Swiss chard is more likely to survive than lettuce and spinach.
The timing of your holiday is also important – beans and squashes need regular watering when flowering, but later in the season, they'll cope better with drought. You could also dedicate more space to early cropping vegetables, such as peas and broad beans, and freeze the excess to use over the summer.
Other garden jobs to do before your holiday
Plants may be your priority, but other areas of your garden may need a bit of extra attention before you go away:
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It may be tempting to mow your lawn as short as possible before you go away, but leaving the grass slightly longer will make it more resilient to heat and drought.
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If you have an irrigation system linked to a water butt, check the water level in the butt and top it up if needed so your plants don't run out of water.
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Fill bird baths and bird feeders. You could also leave additional dishes of water in shaded areas for wildlife.
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Make sure your pond is weed-free and any pond filters are clean. Top up the water in the pond if needed (rainwater is best, but tap water is better than no water).
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If you don't have anyone to check on your greenhouse, open all the vents and doors and move plants onto the floor. Consider adding shade netting or paint to protect plants from the sun.
A final note…
Once you've locked up the house and left, focus on enjoying your holiday! Worrying about your plants won't change how they fare. One of the few reasons I look forward to coming home after a holiday is to see what's changed in the garden, and I'm often pleasantly surprised at how well it handles a bit of neglect.
