If the trip takes a week or more, someone needs to come over to check the condition of the plants and maybe water some.
The first step is to find someone the gardener can really trust to get things right. Many of us have our own ways of doing things and we would like these methods to continue in our absence. Once this person is found, it will help to spend a little time walking around the garden with them and looking at the houseplants to understand what to expect from them.
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Before you meet up with them, do your own walk-through and write everything down. Make sure you leave space on the paper for you to take your own notes. Then show them what you would like and explain how often they should do it.
For example: “The vegetable garden needs to be watered every other day when it’s not raining, but this perennial bed only needs water every five days or so. Stink bugs attacked the tomatoes, so if you see them here, you can spray them. “
Limit plant care to watering as much as possible. This will reduce the likelihood of plant damage and make the job easier for the person doing the “plant sitting” while you are away. Healthy plants can easily go without feeding for a couple of weeks and probably won’t even need to be fed anyway.
Plant pests are a different story. Most gardeners know what pests to expect in their garden at certain times. Have things handy so the sitter will be able to take action if necessary. Make sure they call you before they do anything other than water.
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