22 Aug KEEPING PLANTS GOING WHILE YOU’RE ON HOLIDAY

Holiday season is upon us!  

But how can you ensure your precious plants don’t miss you too much while you’re away? No irrigation system or neighbourly help with watering? No worries…  

Planning ahead 

Train your plants to be tough

Unless you have a very established garden with a high proportion of shrubs and mature plants, a week or fortnight away during the height of summer could spell trouble for your perennial border plants. Particularly if yours have always been cossetted with regular irrigation. Yes it’s important to water new and young plants well until they have a decent sized root system, but then try to back off a little with the hosepipe – it will breed tougher plants more able to withstand your absence.  

A nice thick application of mulch will help your plants and soil cope with drought – more on that later.

The same goes for lawns

Enjoy the fact that you can save water and the effort of mowing by laying off the sprinkler. Excessive watering of your lawn discourages the establishment of deep roots, actually making it less resistant to drought during holidays.  

You can help your lawn become more resiliant to drought by tweaking your lawn care regime from spring time onwards. Start by scarifying and aerating your lawn in march or april. These are quite ‘big’ lawn jobs aimed at making it easier for the soil to absorb and retain rainwater without becoming waterlogged. If you don’t have the machinery (or the energy!) to carry the work out yourself, take a look at the UK Lawn Care Association website to find a reputable professional near you .

Next up, raise the height of the cutter bar on your mower. Longer grass tends to keep its colour better in hot weather because it shades the soil and reduces water loss through evaporation.

Finally, regular applications of a seaweed based lawn treatment will provide the grass plants with important micro-nutrients that help the plants cope with hot dry weather.

If you do return from holiday to find your lawn is a lovely honey colour, don’t panic. This is a natural reaction to drought. It will green up as soon as the weather cools down and the rains arrive.

The larger the container, the better it will support plants during a period of drought. 

In the veg garden

If you always go away in the summer think about not growing crops that need attention or harvesting during that period. And consider how you actually grow – for example tomatoes in gro-bags have shallow, limited roots which dry out very quickly. A tomato plant in the border with its longer root runs has more chance of finding water. 

Of course, you could always invest in an irrigation system that is connected to a timer. These are invaluable in greenhouses and polytunnels where no amount of rain will ever reach the plants.  It also helps to shade greenhouse glass with blinds, netting or a paint-on shade solution.

An upturned bottle full of water pushed into the soil makes a great watering device to keep your plants hydrated while you’re on holiday

Short term fixes

Consider these measures for plants that could still be worse off for your holiday: 

Borders

Drench new borders and keep that water in with a thick layer of mulch to reduce evaporation. 

Or try sinking a plastic bottle of water into the ground near the rootball which will drip water slowly through a tiny hole in the lid.  

Containers

Plants in pots are particularly vulnerable while you’re away – packed with plants, and large root systems now competing for more water than ever. Add in a breezy day and it’s even more drying.   

If possible, move containers into the shade while you are away on holiday, this will reduce water loss through transpiration.

Placing a saucer of water underneath each pot will give the plants their own, personal reservoir. Another emergency watering system is to fill a large container of water and raise it up so that it’s higher than the plants. Then run strips of dampened cloth (I use J-Cloths) from the water container to the plant pot, ensuring that one end is deep in the water and the other is tucked into the soil. I tried this gradual diffusion system last summer and it worked well!  

Long term fixes

A drought tolerant gravel garden that is more than capable of looking after itself while its owners are on holiday

Planning well in advance of your holiday (and by well in advance I mean at least 9-12 months) means that you can a) improve the soil around your plants and b) devise a drought tolerant planting plan so that you can be confident your garden will look great even if it’s not watered for a week or three.

Holland Landscapes, together with our sister company Tapestry Design Studios are happy to help you design and build a drought resiliant garden that will allow you to enjoy as many holidays as you’d like to.  Please get in touch if you’d like more information.