We have in the past always hired a neighbor kid(s) we know down the street or know from church to come water our in ground and container plants and feed our pet rabbit and cat. They would walk down or come over every day- twice a day.

To see pics of our gardens, ck out my Picture Trail:

careytearose

Here is a link that might be useful: look at Landscaping Projects 2007, Favourite ROSES We Grow albums

Perhaps you could bring them inside by a sunny window. That way they will dry out slower than being in the elements and your friend can water them when she visits to water the in-ground garden. You can even leave a few full watering cans right by the plants for her.

I set small pots of plants about 3" deep in our water feature (like using a kiddie pool). I gathered all the big planters and pots and grouped them close together on a patio that is mostly shady -- and gave our son instructions to water those every other day. We were gone 12 days and didn't lose anything -- it also rained while we were gone.

Cameron

Honeygirl,
I hadn't thought of bringing them inside. Problem is, I don't really have a sunny window to leave them by. Our sliding glass doors would be the only place and they are the entrance to our covered patio. Think that might still be better than leaving them out in the full heat? hmmm...going to have to give that some consideration.
If not that then I do like the idea of the shaded patio Cameron.
gotta keep thinking on this.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Stephanie

Another way to water containers that should work, Kiddie wading pool filled with water, old pantyhose for wicks, planks for across the top of the pool (if too heavy for the pool place something outside the pool for the planks to sit on) use a dowel or something else to poke a hole up through one of the drainage holes, thread a piece of pantyhose long enough to reach the bottom or the pool up through the pot. This way you just have to keep water in the wading pool.

Annette

I gather all my pots, including unplanted perennials into one area and set up a sprinkler on a timer to water them once daily and it works very well. I tried the swimming pool once but had it too close to the roof of the barn and we got like 4" of rain and they were floating and some had rotted when we got home.

The unexpected rainfall is why I used our water feature instead of a pool this time. Our water feature has an overflow so it never gets higher than that.

Cameron

Last August I took care of a friends plants and pets while she and her family were on vacation. She put all her containers into a kiddie pool like you said, and left it under her covered parking area where it wouldn't bake in the sun. It worked great for watering the plants, and also the dog!