To keep your garden alive while you're on holiday, mulch well, move vulnerable pots into shelter, and set up automatic watering before you go. A single big soak before you leave won't carry a garden through a hot Australian fortnight. With a little preparation, you can come home to a thriving garden instead of an expensive collection of dead plants. Here's exactly how I do it.
Holidays are meant to be fun and take your mind off day-to-day life. The last thing you want is to be stressing about your garden instead of enjoying your second or third margarita. - Ben Hayman, Horticulturist at Hoselink
Quick answer: Deep-soak the whole garden, top up mulch to 50 to 75mm, and move pots and hanging baskets into morning sun with afternoon shade. Set up an automatic tap timer running weeper hoses or irrigation to water early each morning, and test it for a few days before you leave. Harvest ripe veggies, weed, raise the mower height, and check the forecast. For longer trips in extreme heat, have someone pop in.
Table of contents
- Mulch to lock in moisture
- Protect your pots and baskets
- Automate your watering
- Getting the watering right
- Prep the veggie garden
- Don't forget the lawn
- Your pre-holiday checklist
Mulch to lock in moisture
One of the best things you can do before heading away is mulch your garden, because it's all about keeping moisture in the soil for longer. Aim for 50 to 75mm of mulch across your garden beds, and give everything a really good soak before you lay it down.
- Sugarcane mulch is fantastic for veggie gardens. It holds moisture in and breaks down quickly, feeding the soil.
- Pine bark or wood chips are my favourites for established beds. They last longer and are great for insulating the soil.
Remember mulch conserves moisture that's already there, it doesn't rehydrate dry soil, so the deep soak beforehand is what makes it work.
Automatic Tap Timer with Rain Sensor
15m Weeper Hose
Protect your pots and baskets
Pots are the first things to suffer when you're away. They heat up quickly and only hold a limited amount of moisture, so a few minutes repositioning them pays off. Move pots somewhere they'll get morning sun but protection from the harsh afternoon heat.
- Group pots together to create a slightly more humid microclimate and shelter them from drying winds.
- Mulch the top of larger pots to help them hold moisture.
- Move hanging baskets somewhere sheltered, as they're particularly vulnerable and dry out fast.
Automate your watering
This is my biggest tip: don't rely on one big water before you leave and hope for the best. Set up automatic watering so the garden looks after itself while you're gone.
A Hoselink Automatic Tap Timer is perfect for this. It can run irrigation, sprinklers or weeper hoses, and you can set it to water early in the morning when temperatures are cooler and evaporation is lower.
Run a Hoselink Weeper Hose throughout your garden beds, winding it around the root zones of your plants. Weeper hoses slowly release water directly onto the soil rather than spraying it everywhere, which is a far more efficient way to water. Where it suits, cover the weeper hose with mulch to keep that moisture in the ground.
One less thing to worry about: Hoselink fittings never burst or leak, so you won't come home to a hose that popped off halfway through your holiday. Browse the full watering range to put a simple system together.
Getting the watering right
Every garden is different, so there's no magic number of minutes. What matters is getting water down into the root zone, not just wetting the top couple of centimetres. For most established beds, aim to get moisture around 20 to 30cm deep.
- Sandy soils dry out quickly; heavier clay soils generally hold moisture for longer, so adjust your run times to suit.
- Run your irrigation, then dig a small hole with a trowel. You'll quickly see whether you're watering deeply enough.
- Set your system up about a week before you leave, so you've got time to fine-tune everything.
For more on deep watering, see when you should water your garden.
Single Outlet Bluetooth Tap Timer
Wi-Fi Gateway for Single & Double Outlet Bluetooth Tap Timers
Prep the veggie garden
A productive veggie patch needs a little extra attention before you go, or you'll come back to bolted greens and over-ripe fruit. A few quick jobs make all the difference.
- Pick everything that's ready before you leave.
- Give the garden a good weed, so weeds aren't stealing precious moisture while you're away.
- Make sure tomatoes and climbing plants are properly staked and tied.
- A bit of temporary shade cloth can make a huge difference to leafy greens and sensitive veggies.
Don't forget the lawn
The lawn needs less fuss, but a couple of steps help it ride out your absence. Give it a good deep watering before you head away.
- Raise your mower height slightly. Longer grass shades the soil and protects the roots from extreme heat.
- Avoid scalping or heavily fertilising the lawn just before leaving, which only stresses it while you're gone.
Your pre-holiday checklist
Run through this before you lock the door:
☐ Deep-soak the garden before leaving.
☐ Top up mulch to around 50 to 75mm.
☐ Move vulnerable pots and baskets into sheltered positions.
☐ Set up your automatic tap timers and weeper hoses.
☐ Check every connection for leaks.
☐ Run the system for a few days to make sure it's working properly.
☐ Harvest ripe veggies and remove weeds.
☐ Check for pests and diseases and deal with any you find.
☐ Raise your mowing height.
☐ Check the weather forecast and adjust your watering schedule.
☐ For a couple of weeks away, have someone pop in and check things, especially in extreme heat.
If you don't want to set up an irrigation system, a Hoselink tap timer, a few weeper hoses and some decent connections do a fantastic job.
It really is just a few simple steps to make sure your garden survives a couple of weeks of neglect. If you love and care for your garden, it's the least you could do. - Ben Hayman, Horticulturist at Hoselink
Adjustable Drip Irrigation Kit
Adjustable Spray Irrigation Kit
Frequently asked questions
How do I keep my garden alive while on holiday?
Deep-soak everything, mulch to 50 to 75mm, move pots and hanging baskets into morning sun with afternoon shade, and set up an automatic tap timer running weeper hoses or irrigation to water early each morning. Harvest ripe veggies, weed, and test the system for a few days before you go.
What's the best way to water a garden while away?
An automatic tap timer running weeper hoses or drip irrigation is the most reliable option. Weeper hoses release water slowly straight onto the soil around the root zone, which is far more efficient than sprays, and a timer waters early each morning without you there. Set it up a week early so you can fine-tune it.
How long can a garden survive without watering?
It depends on your soil, plants, pots and the weather. Sandy soils and pots can dry out in a day or two of heat, while well-mulched, deeply watered clay beds last longer. For anything beyond a few hot days, automatic watering is the safest bet, and for a couple of weeks in extreme heat, have someone check in.
Do I need an expensive irrigation system?
No. A Hoselink automatic tap timer, a few weeper hoses and some reliable connections do a fantastic job for most home gardens. The key is watering deeply to the root zone, early in the morning, and testing the setup before you leave rather than relying on one big soak.
How should I prepare potted plants before going away?
Move them into morning sun with afternoon shade, group them together to create a humid microclimate and shelter from wind, and mulch the top of larger pots. Hanging baskets dry out fastest, so move them somewhere sheltered. Include pots on your automatic watering where you can.
A little preparation is the difference between coming home to a thriving garden or a very expensive collection of dead plants. Put a simple, hands-off system together with our watering range, from automatic tap timers to weeper hoses, and head off without the worry.
