Ah, summer... It’s finally here.

My social media feeds are full of last day of school photos. Meals I can barbeque are appearing on my menu with more frequency. And I am counting down the days until my family leaves on a much needed vacation.

Hopefully, your family is also making some much needed vacation plans as well. And hopefully, you are planning what to do with your garden while you are gone. I think I worry more about garden than anything else while I am gone- but a little bit of planning can ensure that your garden does just fine without you.

We often remind our readers that we understand failure because we are not perfect gardeners and have made plenty of mistakes ourselves. We often find that we learn better from our mistakes than our victories. My garden versus vacation track record is not a very good one. Let’s take a look at years past and see what we can learn.

Lessons Learned

Let’s start with the summer of 2016. Lauresa and I loaded up our girls into Lauresa’s little car and we drove from Arkansas to Idaho to visit our parents for two weeks (they are pratically neighbors!). This was also the year that I had my first real garden. I left my husband and my neighbor’s husband (who was caring for things while my husband spent a week with me) with instructions to water the garden if it did not rain.

When I got home, there was an audible cry of dismay when I went outside and saw that my garden was completely and totally dead. The boys had forgotten to water and there had been no rain. I was devastated!

So, by the the time the summer of 2017 rolled around, I had a new plan… or so I thought. Once again, Lauresa and I loaded up our kids and drove to Idaho for two weeks. (Black Thumb Garden Club was born shortly after this trip, so perhaps it was all those hours driving across the country that sparked our big ideas!)

Anyway, I decided that the best way to avoid the no water disaster of 2016 was to install a water system. I added a soaker hose to my raised beds and gave my husband and my good friend who was feeding the cat) instructions to turn it on in the morning and off at night.

The problem this time? I didn’t tell them that they only needed to turn the faucet on a little bit. They turned it on all the way. That’s right. Full blast. I came home to a boggy, flooded mess and an outrageous water bill. Some of my plants survived, so it wasn’t a complete disaster.

Coincidentally, I paid my babysitter to come a couple of times to fertilize and treat my garden with Neem Oil. She did a fantastic job and it was well worth the money I paid her!

I once again took a two week trek to Idaho last summer. I had only been in San Antonio for a couple of months by the time I left and had given up on the soaker hoses. So, I decided to just set my sprinkler system to turn on daily to water my garden. It worked alright, but you could tell that my garden struggled a little bit without the regular care I normally give it.

So- what are the lessons learned and what can you do to have your garden ready to survive any trips you make this summer? I think that I finally have it all figured out!

#1: Make a watering plan.

Ask yourself the following questions: How and when do I water my garden now? How can I make sure that continues to happen while I am gone?

If you have a drip irrigation system, you could probably just make sure that you turn the water on before you leave and all will be well. If you use any other method, you will need to have someone come to take care of the watering for you. Do you have a trusted friend or fellow gardener who can come do it for you? Is there someone you can pay to come water daily?

I have found that other gardeners are more than willing to trade garden care services… is there someone nearby to trade vacation care days with? Our Facebook page (Black Thumb Garden Club with Lauresa and Mariah) could be a great place to find someone local to help you out!

#2: Make a list of daily routines.

Besides watering, is there anything that you do daily? This probably includes checking plant appearance, checking for pollination in vining plants, and checking structural supports.

If you are gone for a shorter amount of time (say a long weekend), you will probably ok to let these things go while you are gone. But if you are going to be gone for longer, you will want some help.

Can any of these tasks been assigned to the person watering your garden? A fellow gardener will know what to do, but someone not familiar with gardening may need a little coaching and teaching. Invite them over to work in your garden one day so that they can see what you do. Have them try doing some of these tasks while you are there. You might just create a new gardener!

#3: Make a list of weekly routines.

What are the tasks that you do weekly? In my garden, I check for weeds, fertilize, apply Neem Oil and Rot Stop weekly. How long will you be on vacation? Can you do any of these tasks right before you leave and then again as soon as you get home?

We leave in a couple of weeks for Disney World (yay!) and we will be gone for 8 nights. I am planning on applying Neem oil and Rot Stop and fertilizing the day before we leave since we leave early in the morning. I will complete these tasks again as soon as we get home. This way, the girl I have staying at the house to care for my pets will only need to water since she has no gardening experience.

However, I will be going to Idaho again at the end of the summer and will be gone for two weeks. It looks like my husband is going with us for the full two weeks this year, so I will be asking my friend to take care of things. Once again, I will apply Neem oil, Rot Stop, and fertilize right before leaving, but I will need to have my friend do all of those things once while I am gone. She’ll be coming to feed the cat, anyway, so it makes sense!

For whatever tasks you have someone help you with, be sure to leave written instructions. Even if they are experienced gardeners, it is helpful to have something written down to know what your garden needs- after all you know your garden best!

Be sure that whoever is keeping an eye on things is harvesting anything that is ready. Hopefully you are timing your vacation so that just a few things are ready to be picked while you are gone. I will most likely have some tomatoes and cucumbers ripen while I am away. I’ve already told my house sitter to pick and eat whatever is ready- there is no sense letting it go to waste and it will keep my garden healthy!

#4: Take care of your garden ASAP once you are home.

I’m just going to warn you- no matter who you have taking care of things while you are gone, you will need to spend some time in the garden as soon as possible once you are home. I have two garden beds that are 8 feet by 4 feet. It takes me a couple of hours a day or two after I get home to make sure everything is secure on structural supports, apply Neem Oil and fertilizer, harvest, etc. I find it to be quite relaxing after being away from home.

Now I want to know- what works for you as you prepare your garden for your vacation? Do you have any tips or tricks not mentioned here? Head over to our Facebook page and join the discussion! And enjoy your vacation- you deserve it!