Keeping the garden in shape!

[Robin4]

I host in an old converted garage and although I put all the love and care that I can into providing a comfortable guest 'pit stop' I can't make 'The Ritz' out of this place. It is our garden that is our major guest attraction........

Every avid gardener will tell you the greatest enemies to a garden, particularly one featuring potted plants is......Over watering and Under watering.

One of my most valued gardening tools is my Moisture Meter. With it I can keep my plants moisture at an optimum level for their healthy growth.......

 

Anywhere in the Green zone the plant doesn't require watering. In the Blue zone, the plant has been over watered, in the Red zone the plant requires watering.

Here is a plant that has been killed with kindness, it has been over watered......

It costs about $14.00 from most hardware chains, does not require batteries and takes the guesswork out of garden watering maintenance.

One of the added bonuses is, every now and then we may be away for a few days while guests are on the property, and they jump at the opportunity to look after the potted plants and water them as required for us. Most of them say what a great device it is and end up buying one for themselves. For guests watering becomes fun.

I recommend one of these devices for any host who maintains a garden.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Moisture-Tester-Gardening-Farming-Outdoor/dp/B09S6B4F32?ref=undefined&th=1

Cheers........Rob

[Breanna]

The garden is definitely looking lush and lovely @Robin4!

How did you manage the watering while you were away on your recent travels? My garden is always my first thought in the warm months if I think about taking a long weekend as the late spring and summer months usually mean it needs to be watered every day 😵

[Robin4]

@Breanna 

Hi Brea, I have three options for garden watering while we are away from home for any extended time.

1/.....Fran, the woman who helps me with my listing servicing, I give her $40 before I leave home and she gives the garden a water every three days if there isn't any rain, and that works well. She is a keen gardener with her own property and she is reliable. She also puts out the garbage bins on collection day and collects any mail for us. From a workable point of view, it's almost like we hadn't left home.

2/.....We have a regular guest who is a doctor in the maternity section at the local hospital, and he stays 5 nights a month when he is on call, as our property is only 3 minutes from the hospital. I give him a good nightly rate for each stay and he is only to happy to make sure everything is properly watered.

3/.....We belong to an organisation called 'Happy Housesitters' and if my first two options are not available to me, or, we needed Betts the dog looked after as well,  there are always reliable, properly vetted people who are happy to do the regular chores around the property and look after the dog for free accommodation. Over the years we have used them twice when we haven't been able to take the dog away with us and it has worked well.

We have even done the same with a previous Airbnb guest once. She mentioned during her stay that she would love to come back and house-sit for us if ever we needed it. I gave a nightly rate of $15 pr night  just to cover the power and water for the two weeks we were away and that also worked well.

If worst came to worst we have good neighbours and I could always call on them if my 2 other options failed.

Brea, we sometimes loose a plant somewhere, no matter how good your help might be, nobody knows your garden like you do.

It's a big garden and it all the time needs a bit of maintenance. Many people do not realise that there is only a week between what belongs in the garden and what belongs in the compost bin......you all the time have to be at it. But over the years we have always managed to get the required help!

Cheers.........Rob

[Frances3408]

@Robin4. Hi Rob. You are very lucky to have such reliable help. Its rained so much here that the bottlebrushes have started to die back and the mower man's fortnightly retainer often isnt quick enough. We've put away the hose and disconnected the Holman sprinkler system for now. the water tank is overflowing. So much for long hot Summer...

Currently the gardens are overgrown but that has enabled a rather opportunistic family to move in rent free!. Currently we are hosting a feathered family of 5. the nest is right under the eaves against a bamboo wall and wedged right against the bathroom window. So brings new meaning to the words "room with a view".

Here are 2 pics. First is one of nest (thats my husband's hand- he was supposed to be helping trim the vine but found the nest instead). Second pic is from inside the bathroom- the small orange triangle is one of the chicks with its beak waiting to be fed (no professional natureFeed me. One week oldBathroom with a view of feeding timephotography here just lucky timing!).

They will have flown off in a week and will be interesting to see the next lot of garden invaders.

[Robin4]

@Frances3408 

Oh yeah, you have had a lot of rain over there Frances.

Our eldest daughter Sarah lives in Warrawong, just south of Pt Kembla. Ade and I have just spent a few weeks over there to attend her 50th and her surprise wedding.

This may interest @Quincy  Whenever over there I love to cycle down the South coast. I have never got as far south as Shoalhaven on the bike though. I cycle down as far as Kiama. I never fancy climbing that hill at Kiama heights. I am staring 80 in the eye now Frances and there is a limit to the hills I want to cycle up these days!

We do however regularly take Sarah and Lisa's boat down and water ski on the Shoalhaven River.....beautiful part of the world you have Frances.

I wouldn't put the hoses away just yet, we are told it's going to be a long hot summer. Although we have 1,080 m/2 (about 1/3rd of an acre) of garden, I have resisted the temptation to move to an automated  watering system. The problem with automation, it works whether you need it or not! It can be pouring with rain, those sprinklers and drippers keep on dolling out the water. 

You talk about bird nests. We have one right outside the cottage door and each year another generation of blackbirds enters our life to keep our garden free of unwanted bugs.......

 

We call our listing cottage Auri's House.

Before we hosted on Airbnb we hosted international exchange students for our neighbourhood High School. Auri came from Northern Italy and we had her stay here for 3 months. Our younger daughter her partner and two grand-daughters were living close to us at the time and Auri fitted in as part of the family like a velvet glove. We think she had come from a fairly dysfunctional family in Italy and she was so thrilled to be accepted into ours. There were many tears when we had to put Auri on the plane to return home after her 3 months here.

About 6 weeks later I received a message from her that her mum had died. I replied how shocked we were to hear that and she responded that it was expected.....she had committed suicide. 

We felt so much for Auri that we named the cottage after her. She has been back since and is always welcome as part of our family! 

Cheers.......Rob

[Frances3408]

@Robin4. I'm impressed- most cyclists would give up well before there!.

You just need the Holman app (free) so you can turn the systems on and off (even remotely) at will. Allows multiple daily waterings with flexible durations you can set. I watch the weather radar fairly frequently. I think you can also invest in sprinklers with in built rain sensors. Just works off wifi which yes, can be glitchy at times but we have found works pretty well. Next on the budget is another water tank and pump.

Love your nest pic and clearly Auri's Cottage is a haven of peace for all. Well done 💓

[Robin4]

@Frances3408 

Sometimes Ade and will sit out in the garden until maybe 10.00-10.30 pm before we think about getting something for dinner. There is something inertly reviving about a garden. We are fortunate with our location here in Mt Barker. With hills all round we are in a bowl, and as soon as the sun disappears, so does any wind.Almost every night is dead still, it's almost like nature is saying....don't go!

So in the main watering is a pleasure Frances, it's not a chore and it gives us time to contemplate what we do next in the garden. I would feel I had lost something if I automated the garden watering so, yes I know these aids are available, they just don't sit high on my priority list.

Cheers.......Rob

[Frances3408]

@Robin4. I have garden envy. Its dead flat here and the coastal breezes sometimes whip up a horizontal rain storm. I used to hand water until we let it go for a week and the lawn almost died- so much for tough buffalo. Sandy soil means even the flooding rains dissipate in a few hours from the garden and everywhere except the roads- thats why council keeps telling us kerb and gutters arent a priority 😉

Yes, we would love to visit your area and stay in your garden, whenever we decide to give up our other full time jobs and travel: hopefully sooner than later.

[Robin4]

@Frances3408 

Our door will always be open to you Frances.

Through this most recent visit of ours we have formed a friendship with @Laurelle3 from just south of you in Huskisson. On our next visit over in late February it would be lovely if we can have a communal get together for a cuppa and a chat. Laurelle and Alex are a lovely couple who together run a beautiful listing and it would be lovely to compare notes.

Cheers........Rob  

[Frances3408]

@Robin4. Thanks. Its a lovely idea. May be hard with our Sydney back and forth for work but will consider. 🙂