Are you going on vacation and you do not know in what condition you will find your garden? Fortunately, there are tips to prepare your garden for going on vacation!
Anticipate stopping seedlings in the vegetable garden
Two weeks before you go on vacation, you can stop sowing and planting. This will prevent you from having a harvest date in the middle of your vacation and your fruits and veggies going bad because they won’t be picked up.
Clean up
Before leaving, remember to remove weeds, cut faded flowers, mow the lawn, pass the edger, prune deflowering shrubs, apple and pear trees… Clear space to limit the damage! A well-kept garden will be more likely to resist while you are away.
Don’t mow too short
If each time you return from vacation you notice a dryness in your lawn and the grass turns yellow, it is normal… The shorter the grass, the more it will be affected by the heat. So remember to put the mower in the high position, this way your lawn will retain more moisture.
Hoe and straw!
Hoeing is an essential step in the good health of your garden. It makes it possible to stop the rise of capillary water, responsible for the drying out of your plants, in the vegetable garden in particular, and it helps rainwater to penetrate more easily into the soil. Finally, mulching, a step that consists of covering the soil at the foot of your plants with straw, helps to maintain moisture in the soil and to space waterings.
Harvest just before you go
To prevent fruits and vegetables from rotting during your absence or being devoured by pests, consider harvesting your young eggplants, beans, salads and zucchini. The tomatoes can also continue to ripen outside the vegetable garden! Consider taking them on vacation, handing them out to your neighbors, or making preserves for the winter.
Install an automatic sprinkler system
Because there is nothing more efficient to find a healthy garden when you return from vacation, consider installing an automatic sprinkler system. Whether it’s a drip for your tomatoes or tips that allow you to plant water bottles in your planters …
Protect your plants
You will be away for several weeks… This leaves time for your plants to grow and for pests to attack them quietly. So think, before leaving, to put stakes for your plants and to treat your vegetable garden against snails and other slugs. You will find products made from natural ingredients on the market, otherwise, consider surrounding your vegetable garden with ashes from the barbecue or the fireplace… The snails will not touch it!
Cut the aromatic herbs short
It’s time to cut your aromatic herbs to the ground! This way, you will find pretty fresh young shoots when you come back from vacation, rather than an overloaded and withered plant. Take the opportunity to dry them in a bouquet and upside down, to stock up on dry herbs for this winter!
