KEEPING your plants alive when you’re away can be a real hassle, especially if you’ve put a lot of time, money and effort into helping them thrive.
But don’t worry, you don’t have to rely on your neighbours or as a friend to water them if you’re jetting of somewhere – there’s a cheap hack you can use instead.
You don’t need to spend a fortune on any fancy products to try the gardening trick either.
In fact, you might already have all you need at home already.
Gardening pro Simon Akeroyd recently took to social media to explain why few bits of string will do the job.
First, you’ll need a large container to full with water, Simon used a watering can but a large bowl or tub would also work.
Cut a few lengths of string and soak them in water – remember the string needs to be long enough to go stretch from the water to your plants.
“Important! Place the water above the plants that need watering,” Simon said.
You can use a chair to do this, or simply place the water on a step in your garden if you have one.
Once you’ve got that sorted tie the ends of the string to something like a stone so they stay put in the water.
The other end of the lengths of the string can then be stretched out and coiled un the surface of your plants.
“Coil them up on the surface and push the end unto the compost,” Simon explained.
“The string acts as a moisture wick with water travelling down the string when the compost is dry,” he added.
Fellow gardening fans loved the simple trick, and thanks the gardening guru for the budget-friendly advice.
One said: “You always come out with brilliant ideas, well done.”
A second agreed: “I used this last year for a week and it was so good.”
Meanwhile, others shared some similar hacks they use too.
One commented: “Take a wine bottle, fill it with water, put it upside down, easy peasy.”
And someone else suggested: “A timed sprinkler system is the best for this.”
The Sun's Gardening Editor Veronica Lorraine, has shared the tasks you need to tackle this July in your garden.
1. Prune Wisteria
You should only prune back Wisteria twice a year – and July – or mid summer – is one of those times. After flowering cut back long side shoots to around seven buds.five or six leaves.
2. Pinch out tomatoes
Your tomatoes should be really picking up – so pinch out all the side shoots without flowers – and remove all the leaves that are shading the tomatoes – this will give them maximum light and energy.
3. Keep weeding
Hand weeding and hoeing the surface of the soil will keep your weeds under check.
4. Feed Dahlias
To keep Dahlias flowering until Autumn, you must keep feeding them weekly with a liquid fertliser high in potassium – which encourages blooms.
5. Keep deadheading plants
Keep up with deadheading your bedding plants and perennials – so they keep coming back for the season. With roses make sure you’re deadheading back to a set of five leaves, giving you the best chance of them flowering again.
6. Check on your pond
If you’re lucky enough to have a pond – make sure it’s clear of algae, which can really bloom when the sun beats down.
7. Feed your lawn
Whether that’s with a liquid feed or granules. If you’ve chosen granules try to get them down before the rain comes, so they soak into the soil.
8. Tend to strawberry plants
Cut the leaves off strawberry plants after you’ve picked them – leaving the crown untouched – which should help with next years fruit.
9. Sow extra seeds
July weather is a great time to sow seeds as the warm soil and sunshine is great for germination. Try carrots, winter broccoli and other brassicas.
10. Move young plants into soil
Get any young plants you’ve got left in the greenhouse – like courgettes – into the soil.
