Take care of your green pals while you’re away

Who doesn’t love vacations and holidays? But the moment you plan a vacation, the first thing that gives worries is ‘care’ of your home when you are away. Moreover, if you are a ‘Garden Lover’ or the ‘Green philosopher’ personality, it becomes a herculean task to manage your garden and plants, when you aren’t physically there.

Whether you have prepared flower beds, a lush green carpet of grass, well-curated plants in designer planters, or a healthy veggie garden, there are several ways to take care of your green space when you are away on holidays. Here are a few tips to maintain your garden while you’re on vacation.

Manage to water your garden: 
Automatic irrigation and time sensors are the boon from technology for gardens. In fact, agriculture has progressed a lot with technological evolution. The automatic irrigation systems aren’t much expensive and can be really beneficial if you have a big garden. You can also rely on timers that schedule sprinklers and soaker hose, so the garden and planters can get water timely during summers. 

One can also use a self-watering system or self-watering planters to save themselves from much trouble and worries.  Also, water your garden really well before leaving for vacations and mulch the base of the plants and remove the old mulch. This will help plants to retain moisture and nutrition, so you can enjoy your vacations without any tension. By the time you return, the plants won’t wither away, and you can save them. 
Garden management:

Garden management is very important right before you plan your vacations. The first step to safeguard your garden is to keep the weed away. Weeding your flower beds, grass and garden a day before you leave makes more space for your beloved plants to grow well and flourish. Once the unwanted wild plants are removed, there are fewer chances of garden soiling and more water availability for desired plants. Mulch also helps in preventing the growth of weeds, so do that on priority to save the plants. 

Arrange your plants: 
Arrangement plays a crucial role in the healthy growth of plants, even when you are home or away on holidays. When you are leaving for vacations, group planters together and create a micro-environment in the area which is shady for most hours of the day so that the plants can sustain for longer. Don’t forget to schedule watering system for the planters as well. Once again, in such a scenario, self-watering planters can be of great help. 

Get help:
Although technology has helped us in managing the gardens yet there are times when you need human interventions to some parts of your garden or some special plants. For this, either ask any of your non-travelling family members to take care of your plants or ask a garden buddy to extend help. Creating self-help groups in the neighbourhood really helps a lot when it comes to leaving your house. 

– Myna Batavia, Green Carpet