Home And Garden Articles

You Take The Vacation - Not Your Garden

If you are planning to go on vacation, there are some important tasks that you really must undertake to ensure that your garden continues to maintain that well cared for condition which you constantly strive for.

After all, because you have spent so much of your time during the rest of the year trying to achieve perfection, it would be a great pity if some of that good work were to be undone.

You do deserve that well earned vacation however, so I put it to you that you will enjoy the break even more, in the knowledge that you will not be returning home to any unpleasant surprises.

Here are a few simple steps that I would advise you to take to help to make sure that all remains well.

Just how much you need to plan in advance depends entirely on how long that you intend to be away from home.

Even if you are only going away for a week or just over it, I strongly recommend that you make the time to attend to those basic garden chores the day before you leave.

For example, I always mow the lawn, deadhead all my flowers, and I make a point of moving any house plants that I might have temporarily placed outdoors to blossom, back indoors.

Naturally I make sure that they are watered thoroughly.

If you intend to be away from home for two consecutive weeks or longer, I suggest that you make some provision well ahead of the time, especially for the care of the lawn.

Perhaps you know a reliable teenager looking for some extra money in your neighborhood. If you do, strike a deal with him to cut the lawn once a week during your absence.

Whether he uses his lawn mower or yours though, do make sure that he knows to cut the lawn at the highest setting on the mower, which will usually be about three inches or so.

If you have an exceptionally large area of lawn however, or you intend to be away from home for a much longer period, you would probably be best to hire a professional Gardener, or a Garden Maintenance Company to attend to this. (funds permitting of course)

The day before you leave, preferably in the late morning, prune just recently opened blossoms, taking long stems with the cut flowers. I suggest that you also carry a container of water and water thoroughly.

On the same day prune flower buds also, as the blossoms will have most likely have opened and wilted during your absence.

Check your annuals and perennials for blighted foliage, removing any discolored leaves.

Your house plants will also need to be cared for as well while you are away. If you intend a long break, then you really should arrange for someone to attend to their needs if at all possible.

A good friend or neighbor will most likely be more than willing to oblige, especially if you offer to return the favor.

Your plants should be fine though, if you are only going away for a few days or so.

However if you have a situation where you simply cannot call on anybody to assist, or perhaps you do not want to impose on anybody, then I have outlined a few useful steps that you can take, particularly if you are intending to be absent for an extended time.

Move all those plants that are summering outdoors back inside, but place them in a shaded area first. Do this during the week before you leave, so as to let them acclimatize to the change in conditions.

Then bring them indoors, and place them in a spot where they will be most likely to get the benefit of indirect sunshine. In the morning before you depart, spread sheets of newspaper on the floor of the room where your plants are situated.

Water all your plants thoroughly, (whether they need it or not), and then place them on the newspaper sheets.

Place four large bowls of water around the plants, and cover them with a large white sheet. Make sure that the sheet drapes down beyond the plants onto the newspaper.

This will help to keep your plants moist and healthy.

Remember that the first priority is to have a fantastic vacation.

If you are like me however, you will enjoy it all the more, because you know that you have taken the time to make sure that your cherished garden and house plants have been well looked after.

Marie K Fisher is an avid gardening enthusiast with a passion for exotic flowers and wonderful colors. She is a regular contributor to Garden Center Showplace a leading online Garden Center. For more details of the superb range of products offered, and also more Featured Articles And Tips on Gardening visit http://www.gardencentershowplace.com

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

MORE ARTICLES:

Exotic Flowers: Luxurious and Impressive for Your Home and Garden Decor
There are several types of exotic flowers to best suit any occasion. And of course, depending on your personal taste, you will want to choose the best exotic flowers you can obtain to be the perfect flowers, the most adequate for the purpose they will be serving. For example: at someone?s funeral, you may want to choose bouquet of flowers that the deceased would have loved. Here are some other examples (after all, these flowers are for happy occasions as well as the more tragic ones.

Chocolate for the Home and Garden ~ Chocolate Flower Farm Launches New Candle Division
Chocolate Flower Farm, a specialty nursery featuring dark foliaged and flowering plants, launches a new candle division with the acquisition of the exclusive rights to a distinctively different "Essence of Chocolate" candle. The candles along with their popular series of Chocolate Garden Seed Kits will be offered to retailers worldwide.

Edible Flowers in Your Garden
Flowers can be an integral part of cooking. While most of us are aware that violets can be candied and nasturtiums can be eaten in salads, there's a bounty of flower varieties that are both edible and delicious.

Flowers That Beautify Your Home and Garden
To help gardeners choose flowers, various systems for rating hardiness have been developed. A plant is considered hardy in a region if it can grow and thrive there without requiring special protective measures such as insulating with straw mulch.

Brighten Up The Garden With PVC Box Deck Flower Railings
Box deck flower railings can really brighten up any garden. The flowers create a homely, warm feel as well as adding a touch of elegance. Many people wonder how to improve the look of their deck and a flower box is by far one of the best ways to do it.

The Flower Garden in August
Our flower garden in August can be brimming with activities we can do at this time of year, as we can for most of the year. We have some flower gardening tips to give you and some experiments to try.

Flower Gardening
Flower gardening is becoming more and more popular every day. Flowers can brighten everyone?s day, they smell nice, and are a great hobby. Flower gardening is simple, inexpensive, and loads of fun. Flower gardening can be done for yard decoration, simply as a hobby, or even professionally.

Flowering Field Farm of NJ Announces Association with Garden Spot Structures
Flowering Field Farm has announced a new business relationship with Garden Spot Structures of Lancaster County, Pa. The NJ farm is located on Highway 34, just south of the Holmdel border and Route 520. Garden Spot Structures of Leola, Pa. has been delivering fine, Amish-crafted structures for 30 years.

Town & Country Conservatories Designs Custom English Skylight for Rockefeller Center's Flower & Garden Show
EnglishSkylights.com, a division of Town & Country Conservatories designs and builds a custom conservatory-inspired skylight for Rockefeller Center's annual Flower & Garden Show.

5 Most Popular Flowers for Your Garden
When planting a garden there are many questions which you must ask yourself before you begin. Where are you going to plant it, do you have the garden equipment to do so and how big do you want your garden to be? When do flowers bloom and what are their heights? These are all very important questions, however they mean very little if you have not yet decided which types of flowers you want to plant.

Wild Flower Garden - Plan to Plant
In the previous article I discussed design for your new wild flower garden. The next stage is planning the planting.

Converting a Weed Garden to a Manageable Flower Garden
Recently I must have had sucker tattooed on my forehead because just when I thought my summer gardening season was winding down into a nice relaxed not hard labor kind of fall a friend baited me into a conversation about their landscaping and the outcome was I ended up helping them redesign a garden

New Ways to Use Flowering Clematis in the Home Garden
As a lifetime horticulture professional, Vicki Smith (www.LGYP.com) has exciting news and guidance for using Clematis in today's low maintenance landscapes.

How to Choose the Right Bulbs for Your Spring Flower Garden
Choosing the right bulbs involves more than just selecting colors and cultivars. Timing, bulb size, and most importantly, bulb health are equally significant factors in designing your spring garden.