Garden ruined!!

Probably been banged up for trying to use a hosepipe.

 

And the rest of the garden? Is it as bad as you first feared?

 

I've often wondered about a holiday, but nobody is going to water my plants, so summer is out.
Spring is out because we get the odd late frost and things can get frosted or dry depending on how things are shaping up.
Winter is out as I spend most of my time checking greenhouse heaters and covering garden plants on very cold nights.
I've come to the conclusion October is the time, not hot ,not cold and most things are passed their best.

 

I have finally seen the neighbour, he was very apologetic, but HE HADN'T REALISED THE CLIMBING PLANTS WERE PART OF THE GARDEN!!! Idiot or what?? I left him a memo explaining where to water, but HE DIDN'T OPEN IT!! That is what makes me think he'd gone on holiday and forgotten about everything, and my note was at the bottom of the pile of unopened post.
Also...there are hardly any tomatoes, just leaves, as he hadn't pinched out the side shoots....he has let the violas die off.....
OK, it's not a complete disaster, there are lots of apples on the tree, I managed to pick them before they fell to the ground and rotted.

 

At first today I didn't think it was bad....we had fresh blackberries from the garden for lunch, and I was able to make five jars of chutney from the apples in the garden.

But then, while I was watering, I saw the empty troughs, and I started crying again at the thought of all the work I'd put in over the last four years, which was destroyed in two and a half weeks.

 

I tend to think you were perhaps asking a bit much of your neighbour.

Expecting them to pinch out the shoots on the toms is taking things just a little too far.

I'm a gardener, but if the neighbour gave me a memo about what to do while they were off enjoying themselves I think I would tell them where to stick it.

Are you sure the apples were ready???

 

yes, the apples were/are more than ready!!! I am trying to collect them before they fall to the ground and rot.

As far as the other matter is concerned...he OFFERED to look after the garden, if he isn't going to do it properly, why bother to offer?

 

We used to leave Mr Kandy's brother in law to water our allotment plants while we were away on holiday,the same as we watered all his while he and Mr Kandy's sister was away on their hols.Said Bil always planted loads of veg plants the week before they went away so that we would water them in for him and keep them alive.The plants were so large they could have gone out weeks before.

I suspected that none of our stuff ever got watered because we used to leave the ground raked over down the sides of the Runner bean rows after we had weeded them.When we came home the ground was still as fresh as the day we left the plots but there were no footprints on the soil where said BIL would have had to walk to water the plants.Luckily it used to rain enough to water all the plants but a few years ago we had really hot weather in the middle of July and when we got back home from our holiday the whole lot was dead or dying.Mr Kandy was nearly in tears at the state of the plants and all the hard work we had both put into growing them.

He was really angry when he contacted his sister and refused to give them the gift we had brought them back as a Thankyou for looking after our stuff.

Since that day,we have never watered their veggies so they have now lost out in the end.....

Our next door neighbour looks after our garden while we are away and we look after theirs in return.They are not gardeners so I bet you can all guess as to whos plants look the best and the worst after the holidays are over.Good gardeners are few and far between these days{especially in our village:D}

 

:rotfl::rotfl: Pete, you are wasted on this forum. Have you considered a career in the diplomatic service?

 

There's always the option of not going away in Summer you know. Why on earth would you want to go abroad July or August? It's full of Brits, everywhere you go! :lollol:

We prefer to go on holiday in Spring or Autumn. Added bonus, you avoid families with their children as well:thumb:

In all seriousness, perhaps asking a neighbour to pinch out tomatoes and leaving him a list of instructions is a little over the top. I too would tell someone where to stick it if they left me a list like that. Coming in once a day to water plants is fine - a full scale gardening exercise is a bit much, regardless if I was a gardener or not.

But your plants will recover - they're resilient, are plants. Maybe next year a little more planning before going away?

 

Oh do you really think so, wouldn't mind a career change just now.:D

 

ah it might still be ok... I went away for 3 weeks and asked OH to water the garden.... he watered the GRASS but not the plants! Sigh! I could have killed him when I returned.... I thought everything was dead - some of it was - lobelia, spinach, beans etc, but some of it (once cut back) was ok and it now has some ickle green shoots at the bottom.... viburnum, honeysuckle, jasmine, blackberry, blueberry etc

phew!

 

Whenever we go on holiday during the summer here in the city we just fill loads of water balloons and hang them around the neighbourhood, theres normally enough chavs around to keep all the gardens watered :rotfl:

 

I agree with Pete and Sussexgardener that maybe you were asking a bit much of your neighbour. When he offered, he was probably just thinking of half an hour's watering every couple of days, not full-on gardening services. He's probably got his own life to live, you know!
Anyway, I was reminded of the first time we went away on holiday and left our two teenage children alone. There were, of course, many, many instructions about what they needed to do, but what sticks in my mind is that I reminded m daughter, once again, to be sure that the dogs had water and were fed every day. And to remember to water the plants in the greenhouse. "Mum," she said wearily, "would you rather have the plants die or the dogs?" And sure enough, when we got back the plants were dead but the dogs were in the rudest of good health! This same daughter is now thrilled at the harvest she is getting from her very first attempt at vegetable growing. Maybe something rubbed off after all.
Anyway, Leonora, I do hope that much of your garden is recovering. Lots of plants are a lot tougher than we think.

 

Well, that wasn't too nice from your neighbors... I'm glad not to live on their other side :lollol: Anyway, I hope you will manage to revitalize a few of your plats, a week it not so disastrous! And... by the way, the next time they will ask you something, just return the favor :hehe: