How To Water Garden When On Vacation
When the gardening season is underway, even for just a couple of days or during the weekend, a trip out of town can occur to one as a no-go. Most families choose to have their vacations during the warmest days of summer, which is the exact season when the majority of garden plants are blooming and are particularly prone to drought injury.
While you’re planning your vacation, you must also consider the following:·
- The number of days of your vacation – If you only plan to have it during the weekend, many plants will stay around provided that you give them a good soaking shortly before you head out. However, you may have to maintain the upright shape of your plants if you intend to be away for several days.·
- The types of plants in your garden – Small pots, hanging flower baskets, and freshly sowed lawns and vegetable beds may require regular watering and need more time to prep. Large planters and old and deep-rooted plants in a garden bed are sturdier.·
- The possible 5-day weather prediction – If the forecast states sunny weather, you’ll need to ensure your garden is pleasingly equipped.
How Much Water Do Your Plants Need?
Under the best of circumstances, plants require no less than one inch of water weekly. You can determine the amount of water in your drip irrigation system, soaker hose, or sprinkler spouts with a can or rain gauge. Place the rain gauge beneath the irrigation system and clock the time it takes to reach the one-inch marker.
Gardening Tips For Keeping Plants Hydrated While On Vacation
Prep The Indoor and Outdoor Plants First
See to it that your plants are well-fertilized for about a month before you have your vacation. This will secure their robustness and bloom even when you’re not around.
A properly pruned plant won’t need much water. You need to pluck out any rotten, failing, and dead parts of your plant, including weeds. Then, snip the plant into your preferred shape. Carry this out more or less about a week before you leave.
Thoroughly Water and Mulch Outdoor Plants
Let’s say you’re simply going away on vacation for a couple of days. Your plants can thrive if you provide them with a thorough soaking just before you go out of town.
Mulch is necessary for this attempt to produce results, considering mulched plants waste a lot less moisture than those exposed ones. Strive to apply and keep a two to four inches layer of mulch. If you spread more than the suggested mulch, it may affect the aeration of the roots.
After watering, use a shovel to make small holes. If the soil is wet some inches from the surface, your garden may thrive even when you’re away.
Potting Soil In Container Plants
You can take advantage of potting mix in the ground as it has a nice texture and it’s sterile. Watering is needed for your potted plants and you do so by pouring water onto the soil surface of the potting soil. It sustains ample moisture, though voids excess. Additionally, it allows adequate air circulation to the plant roots.
You receive most of the organic benefits from garden soil with the added rewards of potting mix. It incorporates natural organic materials, such as animal manures, while providing the soil with the compulsory aeration.
Different Self Watering System
Automatic Irrigation System or Sprinklers
Spray Systems – An automated spray system is a popular and commonly used irrigation method for watering plants to all types of gardens. Spray heads release a huge volume of water in a rather brief period, making them a system with a superb application calibre. As a result, spray head sprinkler systems are best for flat surfaces.
Rotor Systems – An automated rotor system works similarly to a spray system, only the water is rotated through the sprinkler head and onto your lawn or garden. As the name dictates, a rotor system has a structure that enables the whole sprinkler body to turn around in a specified course. This sprinkler is typically used for a more extensive garden which is usually more than 18 feet in width.
Automatic Water Pump With Timer
Suppose you want a more interminable solution that maximizes technology to make self-watering more straightforward and timelier, a water pump with a timer perhaps is for you. It’s outstanding that you may even wish to adopt it even when you’re home simply for serviceability!
With this approach, you can utilize any waterproof containers, enabling you to fill them every couple of days or weekly when your containers carry adequate water. All you’ll have to do is put the pump for it to have access to the water source, distribute the tubing to your garden beds, and schedule the watering time.
This method is most profitable when the plantings are placed side-by-side, or else you’ll have many tubing to conceal.
Drip Irrigation System
The approach you choose to water plants can be the answer to keeping your garden and plants healthy. Having drip irrigation is one of the effective and time-saving tips to water your garden beds. Contrary to other types of irrigation systems, like sprinklers that are only 65-75% fruitful, drip irrigation is at 90%, letting plants consume the water.
Water is distributed straight to the root area of a plant gradually below the surface of the soil and at a stable flow through hoses or tubes that spout the water via micro-sprayers, inline emitters, or bubbler nozzles. This reduces water loss because of evaporation, runoff, and wind.
Garden Hose Timers
When you plan to have a vacation, a garden hose timer is more affordable than calling a local garden center and employing a plant sitter. Connect a hose to a sprinkler and set your preferred time and duration in watering your garden.
Many would recommend arranging the timer a few days before leaving so you can observe the output and change it if needed. A hose timer also allows you to conserve water, which saves you money and impede your yard from being over-saturated. Nobody wants to come home to a flooded garden,
DIY Method for Container Gardens
DIY Drip Irrigation Method
One of the most uncomplicated tips for watering container plants while you’re on vacation is to load an empty bottle with water. A little more intricate, you can use a glass wine bottle. A wine bottle functions best for this intent as it’s hard-wearing and good enough to carry a sufficient volume of water.
Make sure you are using a clean plastic water bottle or wine bottle. Pour some water up to the neck. For potted plants, you may want to have a smaller bottle, such as a soda bottle. Using your thumb, cover the mouth of the bottle, then turn it over. Plonk it within the soil, release your thumb before doing that. Shove the neck a few inches below the soil’s surface for the water reservoir to remain stable. Ensure the bottle is not sticking very near to your plants and that it is pretty far down that the soil covers the opening.
Suppose you’re away for some week, use larger bottles, about 2-liter bottles, so that your garden plants can still sip from water. You can ask for help if your garden is quite wide for you to finish in time for the leave.
Once more, you may need to test this roughly a week ahead of your trip. In this manner, you will have an idea if it requires some adjustment.
Rain Barrel and Soaker Hoses
If you plan to have your vacation for a couple of weeks, mulching may not be the best solution as the water will evaporate during the week. In that circumstance, rain barrels will work out since they make sure your garden has a constant supply of water even when you’re not home.
Inspect the volume of water in the rain barrel and if it is half full, fill it with tap water. Be sure that the soaker hose is connected to the barrel and lay it along the garden beds. These hoses can be used to maintain the moisture of the soil for a prolonged period. They have small holes where water infiltrates the ground in little amounts. You can have the hoses under the mulch or soil. The hoses will dampen small gardens gradually such that they will stay at a great extent for nearly two weeks.
An alternative is to keep the faucet open, enough for a water dripping, with a hose connected.
Water Wicking Method
Another manageable way to gradually water your container gardens is with wicking material and a one-gallon plastic container. Wicks can be twine, shoelaces, or cotton material. Wick should be long enough to touch from the container’s bottom to the plant’s peat. The wick in the plant must be under the pets for several inches.
For garden beds, fill the water reservoir with water and tightly close it. Create a gravity-fed drip line with a garden hosepipe and a huge container. Connect the hosepipe to the container and line the tubing around your garden. Stab the tubing where it spreads across the root area of plants.
Or, put up no-sweat drip lines for every plant with a water bottle. Take one end of the twine and shove it two to three inches beneath the surface of the peat, near the plant. Remember not to disturb the roots. You may secure a weight at the end of the wick, like a metal washer to secure the wick at the bottom of the bottle.
Self-Watering Pots
Invest in a professional, longer-term wicking system with self-watering pots. It provides ease, water efficacy, and boosts plant robustness. These pots utilize a wicking method within the vessel. What you have to do is fill the pot with water, and the wick will deliver water to the plant when the soil gets parched. Try first the self-watering pots around a month before your vacation so you are aware of how long a full container will last.
Asking A Friend Or Neighbour
A very straightforward yet practical way to guarantee your plants are taken care of even when you’re not at home is to ask the help of a good neighbour or close friend. Your garden will thrive more satisfactory if a real human can observe it, not only the water system.
Strive to make the entire procedure as simple as possible. Your neighbour is more likely to manage if you have clear instructions. Take him or her on a thorough trip around your garden before you leave. Explain what plants need to be watered at a certain time. Help your friend or neighbour out by arranging plants with matching water needs on an impervious area and away from direct sun.
Don’t forget to bring a present or souvenir from your trip when you get home. Assure then that you’ll do the same in return when he or she goes out of town.
Keep Your Plants Healthy Even When On Vacation
If you’re preparing for a trip and will be out of town for several days, you must not forget your duty to your garden. Regardless of the size of your garden, your budget, or your practicality level, the above-mentioned tips will surely lend a hand to keeping your plants and garden aesthetically pleasing and in good condition all day and night.
