Summer Vacation? Tips for thirsty plants while you are away:

Summer time means weekends at the beach and camping trips for in the mountains. Then there’s those dream vacations that may take you away for a week or more. If you don’t want to return home to wilted plants here are a few tips to keep your plants hydrated while you are gone.

1. Train a trusted friend or neighbor to water for you.

The secret to a successful plant nanny is to mark the plants that need daily water during hot weather – such as hanging baskets and containers in the sun so that they won’t be missed or forgotten. Buy a packet of small American flags and poke these into containers that need water every few days, with two flags into the plants that are very thirsty and might need a drink every day. Bonus: Flags decorating the patio will make it appear like you are still home and ready to party.

2. Group your pots together in the shade.

Better yet set them inside a shallow plastic wading pool and add a few inches of water to the pool right before you leave. How long your plants can go sitting in a pool of water depends on your weather and the type of plant – cannas, fuchsias and many perennials with thrive with soggy bottoms – sedums, geraniums and many herbs can only handle three or four days of sitting in water.

3. Make your own self-watering, leaky, plastic water bottle.

These are easy to make. Cut the bottom off of a plastic bottle so that when turned upside down, the bottle is open like a vase. Leave the cap screwed onto the top of the bottle. The size of bottle should correspond to the size of the planter and length of time you will be away.

Next, use a small push pin to poke just two tiny holes near the neck or top of the bottle. The top of the bottle, with the cap still screwed on will go into the soil, head first, so you want the pin holes to be buried in the soil. Finally, make room with a trowel for the bottle to be inserted into the center of your container and fill the newly cut opening with water. The water will leak ever so slowly from the pin holes that are buried in the soil. As the soil dries out, osmosis will pull more moisture from the pin holes in the plastic bottle to hydrate you plants.

4. Best way to water plants while you are way

Take the plunge and invest in a drip system with an automatic timer. You can even purchase watering devices that have a rain sensor to turn off the watering system on wet days.

Gardeners shouldn’t have to stay home and meet the demands of thirsty plants – with a little planning you and your garden can both enjoy a little vacation.