Away for the Summer: Caring for Your Garden and Home

Summer is the season when many property owners in Slovenia happen to be away: a holiday in another country, a long break, work. And for a garden and plot, summer is the most active growing season. The result is a contradiction: the house and garden need the most attention precisely when the owner is most often absent.

This article is about what happens to a garden and home in summer without care, why summer tasks can’t be paused, and how to organise care for the season you are away.

This material draws on Slovenian seasonal practice and on the many years of experience the DomCare team has in caring for gardens and homes in the summer season.

Summer is the active season for a garden

In winter a garden “sleeps” and needs almost no attention. Summer is the opposite: it is the peak of growth. The lawn grows fastest, weeds take over any free space within a few weeks, the hedge loses its shape, plants need water. A garden in summer is a process that runs every day, regardless of where the owner is.

That is exactly why leaving for the summer is so treacherous for a plot. Leaving for a month in winter — the garden barely notices. Leaving for a month in summer — and you come back to an overgrown, parched plot that takes a long time and a lot of money to put right.

What happens to a garden without care in summer

Over a single summer month without care, a well-kept plot changes like this:

• The lawn becomes overgrown to the state of a meadow — an ordinary mow can no longer get through it, and heavy restoration work is needed.
• Weeds take over the flower beds, paths and areas alongside buildings.
• Plants suffer or die without watering — especially in hot, dry spells, with container plants first.
• The hedge loses its shape, and bringing it back is harder than keeping it up.
• The plot looks abandoned — and an abandoned look is also a signal to thieves that no one is home.

Restoring a plot left neglected over the summer costs more and takes longer than keeping it up. This is the key argument against “I’ll leave it until autumn”.

Watering — the main summer task

If in winter the main task is protection from frost, in summer it is watering. Slovenian summers can be hot and dry, and without water, plants, the lawn and especially container plantings suffer fast.

Watering cannot be done “in advance” before you leave — it is a regular task across the whole season. The options: an automatic watering system (but even that needs monitoring — it can fail precisely in the heat), or someone on the ground who waters on a schedule. For an owner who is away, that means: either a well-set-up and verifiable watering system, or regular visits, or a combination.

Lawn, weeds and hedge in summer

The lawn. In summer the lawn needs the most frequent mowing of the whole year. Skip two or three mows and a neat lawn turns into a meadow. Mowing has to run on a schedule throughout the warm season.

Weeds. Summer is the peak of their growth. Regular weeding stops them taking over the plot; a missed month and you will be pulling up thickets afterwards.

The hedge and shrubs. Summer trimming keeps the shape. A neglected hedge takes a long time to restore.

All of this is not a set of one-off tasks but a rhythm that has to keep running while you are away. There is more on the scope of regular care in the article on light gardening.

The apartment and home in summer without you

The garden is not the only thing that needs attention in summer. The home itself does too:

Heat and airing. A closed apartment overheats in summer heat and the air goes stale. Periodic airing keeps it in a normal state.

Air conditioning. If there is any — it should be in working order; a summer breakdown in an empty apartment is not critical, but the equipment should be working by the time you arrive.

The basic risks haven’t gone anywhere. A leak, a breakdown, an emergency are just as possible in summer as in winter. An empty home in summer still needs someone to have access and be able to respond.

Security. Summer is holiday season, and empty homes are a frequent target for burglary. An overgrown plot and accumulated post are a direct signal that the owner is gone.

So in summer, as in any season, the home needs both property care and the access question settled — Key Holding or Property Care.

If the home is rented out in summer

For many owners, summer is the opposite — the season of active short-term rental. In that case the garden also plays the role of the property’s “face”: a well-kept plot is part of the guest’s impression and of good reviews, while an overgrown one is a minus to the rating. Garden care for a rental home in summer is not an option but part of the product you are selling to guests.

How DomCare helps

DomCare covers summer care while you are away. Garden & Outdoor — mowing, watering, weeding, trimming on a schedule throughout the warm season, so the plot doesn’t become overgrown. Property Care — airing, monitoring the home’s condition, responding to problems. Key Holding — access in case of an emergency. The house and plot are convenient to maintain together, by one service. We work in Ljubljana, on the Slovenian Coast, in the Bled and Bohinj region and in the Kranj region.

The simplest way to discuss it: write to us through the form or on WhatsApp.

Frequently asked questions

What happens to a garden if you leave for the summer? Over a summer month without care a plot becomes overgrown: the lawn turns into a meadow, weeds take over the flower beds, plants suffer without watering. Restoring a neglected garden costs more and takes longer than keeping it up.

Can you water the garden “in advance” before leaving? No. Watering is a regular task across the whole season. You need either a well-set-up and verifiable automatic watering system, or regular visits, or a combination.

Do you need property care for an apartment in summer, or is that only a winter concern? It is needed in any season. Summer adds heat and stale air, while the basic risks — a leak, a breakdown, a burglary — don’t go anywhere. An empty home in summer also needs property care and the access question settled.

Why can’t you leave garden care until autumn? Because over the summer the plot has time to become overgrown, and in autumn you won’t be keeping the garden up — you’ll be struggling to bring it back into order. It is cheaper and simpler to look after it as the season goes.

What is especially important for the garden of a rental home in summer? A well-kept plot is part of the guest’s impression and a factor in reviews. For a rental home, summer garden care is part of the product, not an extra option.

Summer pits two schedules against each other: the owner is most often away, while the garden is growing most actively at the same time. If you leave the plot without care for a summer month, you will be restoring thickets in autumn. Well-organised summer care — watering, mowing, weeding on a schedule — solves that practical problem: you are on holiday, and the garden and home stay in order.

Leaving for the summer and want to come back to a well-kept plot — write to us.

Sources and further reading

• Garden care: what “light gardening” means — the scope of regular care
• Garden: seasonal subscription or one-off visits — choosing a format
• DomCare — Garden & Outdoor — what the service covers
• DomCare — About us — our experience with summer garden care