The month of August being the month of holidays and summer holidays, many people leave their homes to finally indulge in the much coveted rest. For those who take care of their own garden and vegetable garden, however, the departure poses quite a few problems in relation to their absence. To help you leave your plantations in peace, discover a list of last-minute gardening tasks that would be necessary to carry out before leaving.

What to do in the garden before going on vacation?

Make sure the garden is watered

With the recent heat waves, your first important task is to ensure that the garden is drought resistant. For this purpose, make sure that the garden would be properly irrigated in your absence. Ideally, you can assign this responsibility to a family member, friend or neighbour. Just make sure that the garden hose, your watering cans or other irrigation are easily accessible. Do not hesitate either to give detailed watering instructions and to focus on the plants in priority, those that are more sensitive to drought. In case you cannot count on a human helping hand, the automatic watering system is a solution to consider. Consider automated drip or consider using oyas or making a drip in a plastic bottle. You should also know that there are gels and granules of water, which retain it, so that the frequency of watering is reduced.

Think about irrigating the vegetable garden beforehand

Ensuring watering of potted plants

When it comes to your potted plants, it’s a good idea to reconsider their placement and grouping. To limit evaporation and retain humidity for longer, remember to bring the pots closer together and place those containing the most sensitive plants in the center. Opting for a shaded location would save more water. In order to facilitate the watering process, it would again be useful to place the water source nearby.

Take care of the watering of your potted plants

Remove faded flowers

In order to get your garden back in full bloom, consider removing wilting flowers and foliage. You can go even further by cutting off the buds of flowers that are in the process of blooming. This would make it possible to attend a real spectacle just in time for your return. In addition, it would be a great opportunity to offer someone a nice bouquet before leaving.

Remove faded flowers, but also those in the process of blooming

Weed and mulch if possible

If you want to offer your plants all the best conditions for their survival, it would be good to remove the weeds before leaving. So your plants wouldn’t have to compete with weeds for water, light and nutrients. The installation of a layer of mulch would also help to retain moisture in the soil, creating a barrier against the sun and the drying wind.

Weed to eliminate competition for nutrients

Harvest ripe crops

Just before you embark on your vacation, pick all the ripe fruits and vegetables. Thus, you will prevent your crops from going to seed during your absence. Otherwise, you can also ask someone to pick the crops for you. And in case you suddenly find yourself with a little too much fruit or vegetables, consider freezing them or storing them in jars.

Make the last harvests

Avoid fertilization

Despite common sense, it would be useless to feed your plants just before leaving. Because by providing them with nutrients, they would be stimulated to grow faster and consume more water. If you do decide to add fertilizer though, make sure its release is slow, so you don’t worry about overproduction.

Do not feed to avoid boosting productivity

Avoid replanting

Sowing or planting new specimens just before going on vacation is not a good idea. Instead, remember to take good care of your already established plants and reserve the new plantings when you return home. Quite fragile, the new plants may die if you don’t pay enough attention to them.

Abandon sowing and planting for a little while