Dreaming Of Your Holidays? What About The Garden?

Breaking news. It seems that scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider in Cerne, have initiated a microscopic shift in the earth’s rotation which has created a location-specific temporal anomaly whereby the whole world seems normal, except there is a Teletubby in charge of the USA, the UK’s weather has reverted to the summer of 1976 and England are suddenly doing OK at football. It is now so hot in the UK, that brass monkeys from all over the world are desperately trying to get work visas sorted out so they can live here and the air is as still as a sloth in a coma.

So it’s about this time we are all starting to think about the holiday proper. Schools break up very soon and holiday arrangements start to be a priority. Going away? (Somewhere hot? Hmmm yes. What about Birmingham or Cleethorpes?) .

The annual holiday is usually a well-deserved break with the family full of fun, food and miserable teenagers trying to spend 24 hours a day on their phones. However, we all need a break and a couple of weeks away is often what we need to recharge our internal lithium-ions and prepare us to battle again for another year. But what of the garden? What will become of it while you are away? Will it still be there? Will some guys on a moped have stolen it?

Don’t worry. This is not so tough. There are a few things you can do and I am happy to pass on a few tips. I’ve done it before but it is worth revisiting, after all, some of us go to the same place on holiday every year.

Ask your neighbour or a trusted local friend to water the garden. DON’T enlist your neighbour’s children, they will cover each other in water, spray the leaves so they cook in the sun and trample your onions into the ground. If that sounds like it was learned from bitter experience, that’s because it was. This job is usually entrusted to my mate Bungalow Bill but our holidays clash this year so Holly’s gardening friend Brody is carrying garden care duties for a small fee. Better be small!

More about watering. Here There is a great tip for watering your potted plants., indoors or out. Any bottles you have that have caps, fill the bottles with water, then punch some small holes in the caps and just before you go, stick them upside down in the soil so the water is released slowly. You could also place indoor pots on damp or wet towels or kitchen paper before you go so water is sucked up through the roots. (They have to have holes in the bottom of the pots of course) Simple.

Make sure you give plants a good watering the evening, night or early morning before you go. Basically last minute but at a time when the sun is not strong.

Have a general tidy to remove any debris or organic material that might encourage, or lead to an increase of, pests.

Mow the lawn on a high setting before you go and, if you can, use a mulching feature, allowing the clippings to fall back into the grass, helping to reserve any moisture there may be.

If you don’t have a mower that mulches,  like the amazing value Racing 5073T 4-in-1 Hi-Wheel Self-Propelled Lawnmower at £249, or the MowMaster 43PD 3-in-1 Self-Propelled Petrol Lawnmower at £219 you can see a great selection here.

If you have a greenhouse, make sure any ventilation is open and soak the soil around your tomatoes and so on before you leave.

Have a good look at all your netting, security and so on and, again, why not ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your property.  It’s all good for neighbourly sociability and we should all be looking after each other.

And if you need anything for your garden before you go, visit our site on MowDirect.co.uk. We’re still the best value on the net.

‘This is the first time I’ve used MowDirect but they were offering the lowest price I could find on the internet. Found previous buyer reviews really helpful. Placed the order on the Saturday and got an update on Monday 12.40pm that my order was with their distributor… Would definitely use again‘ B. Warren (TRUSTPILOT) June 2018

Enjoy your garden.    Drew Hardy.