10 ways to keep your garden beautiful if you go on vacation

Pots, hanging baskets and grow bags are the parts of your garden most likely to take a hit during a summer absence: small volumes of soil dry out quickly and require daily watering in hot weather, otherwise you'll come home to a crusty mess. If you have a friend or neighbor willing to pop in and hose down, that's ideal: make it more tempting by offering to reciprocate when they leave, and invite them to pick flowers and edible crops that would otherwise be wasted.< /p>

If this is not possible, the best option is to install a self-watering system: this can be as simple as sprinkler spikes attached to plastic beverage bottles filled with water or wine bottles planted in individual pots, but you can also attach a soaker hose on a timer to a water catcher or an outside faucet. If you have lots of valuable plants in pots, a computerized self-watering system that you can monitor remotely from an app can be a worthwhile investment.

If that sounds like too much hard work, your best bet is to soak everything well before you leave, then gather the containers and hanging baskets in a shady spot away from the walls so they can catch any rain. Place a drip tray filled with gravel under the pots to collect water and allow it to be absorbed. Add a layer of bark mulch or gravel several inches thick to the top of the pots to slow evaporation and stop weed competition. Do you have pots that cannot be moved? Shield them from the sun with old sheers or horticultural fleece.

These are less vulnerable than containers during holidays, as they can absorb more easily rainfall and roots can reach far into the soil to suck up moisture. Rather than spraying everything quickly, focus your watering on the plants most susceptible to drought, such as shrubs and trees planted in the last few months and summer leaf litter. Soak them deeply, directing the water towards the base of the plant.

If you've spent the money on a new tree and plan to be away a lot, it's worth investing in a tree hydration pack to ensure that your new addition is not deprived of water during its vital installation period. Trim flowers and remove weeds to ensure plants are not...