Are you taking a vacation this year? Maybe going to a cabin for a safe, socially distant, and much-needed respite from normal life? You've probably already made arrangements for any pets you may have, but what about your garden? It's a good idea to have someone available to keep an eye on that for you, too. After all, you have invested time and money in your garden, and it deserves the best of care while you're relaxing elsewhere. Here's the scoop on hiring a babysitter for your garden while you're on vacation.
Leave a List
It's a good idea to email your garden sitter with a list of tasks that will need to be done while you are away. Specify the preferred day for each task, as well as a time of day if that makes a difference. For example, watering the lawn should be done two or three times a week. The lawn needs to be deeply watered, preferably in the early morning.
Your list might include items like watering the shrubs, checking the sprinklers or pool, keeping an eye out for pests, and picking up debris from storms that may have blown through.
In addition to emailing the list of tasks, you may want to write down or print out a hard copy and post it somewhere on your property—perhaps on the side door, or inside the shed or garage.
Supply the Tools
Ensure that your garden sitter has all the tools they need to accomplish the tasks you've set out. For example, if you are going on vacation during the fall, and you know that your trees are going to drop a ton of leaves while you're gone, you'll need to have a rake or leaf blower readily accessible for your garden sitter. If your garden will need weeding, your garden sitter will need a couple of tools for that purpose as well.
It's a good idea to give your garden sitter a key to your shed or garage, or wherever you store the lawn mower and other tools. That way, the person caring for your yard and garden can have access to everything they need.
Be Reasonable When Assigning Tasks
It's a good idea to minimize the number of tasks that you ask your garden sitter to do. Checking the plants for encroaching insects? Sure. Watering the lawn? Absolutely. Reseeding the lawn, or aerating it, or planting the new trees you've been wanting—probably not. If there are big projects you want to accomplish, you can do those yourself, either before or after the vacation. The small, maintenance-type tasks that have to be done every week are the ones that your garden babysitter can undertake for you.
Remember to leave instructions for how your garden sitter should dispose of any yard waste such as raked leaves, trimmed twigs, or weeds. There may be regulations in your area for the correct disposal of yard waste, so it's important to know and communicate those guidelines.
If you need to purchase some garden tools or supplies before your upcoming vacation, you'll find those items on the Kurtz Bros website. We're also available to answer your questions throughout the week, so feel free to contact our lawn care experts!