The flights are booked, your accommodation's been reserved, the cat's lodging is secured and your itinerary is as loose and carefree as you hoped it would be. And, two days out from your relaxing getaway it suddenly occurs to you that the garden needs looking after.

The two-week break you've been planning all year is momentarily jeopardised. You're crippled at the thought of coming back to a brown lawn, your favourite rhododendron keeling over and pest infestations racking your vegetable garden.

But, it doesn't have to be this way. With a little forethought you can easily taken a vacation from your garden and return with it looking better than it always has.

Here's a checklist to help you get away without any gardening headaches;

1. Have you planned the watering schedule? If your garden is reticulated it should just be a matter of scheduling the timer to irrigate your garden at set times. It may pay to have someone who knows how to work these machines come and check every couple of days to ensure it's working properly.

   If your garden is primarily hand-watered, devise a roster with some of your friends pitching in to take a turn. Martha can do Mondays, Santana - Wednesdays, Eloise - Fridays and Fred (your next-door neighbour) can drop over for a quick check on Sundays.

2. Have you mulched the garden beds? If you don't want to turn friends into avoidance specialists my biggest gardening tip would be to mulch all your garden beds. It will save water and mean there are less chances for weeds to get a foothold.
3. Have you organised someone to mow the lawns? I don't know about you but most of our vacations tend to be in the warmer months when lawns grow their fastest. Therefore, you may want to organise a lawn contractor to come and mow once per week.

   If you have really, really good friends it may not be too much to push the boundary and get one of them to mow it for you. But, you need to remember that relationships are more important than grass so it may pay to hire someone.

4. What about the bird seed? Okay, for the past year you've been enticing wild birds into your garden to eat from your feeders. Now that you're taking a break you've just realised that they're going to go hungry unless you make some extra provisions.

   You could opt for a hard seed bell that will take extra effort for the birds or possibly fully restock your feeders before you leave. You could even request Martha, Eloise, Santana or Fred to fill them when they drop in to water. Begging works...

5. What about all your fruit that's ripening? This could be the answer to your bird feeding problems. Just remove all the deterrents that you had which tried to scare them away and let them feast while you're on your break.

   One horrible problem will be removing all the fallen fruit. If left to rot on the ground for a couple of weeks it could increase your chances of attracting fruit fly and other vermin to your property. This might be another job for Fred but you could at least reward him by allowing free access to any fruit he chooses.

6. Have you considered your container plants? If they're not part of the reticulation scheme you could use some of the PlantMinder products to keep them going for a few weeks. They're not cheap so you may want to be a little selective in which plants get the treatment but it will give you some options.
7. Have you cleaned the fish ponds? Imagine coming home to an algae infestation where your fish have given up the 'ghost' and taken an extended break of their own. A day or two out from leaving home is probably a good time to clean the pond, check the pumps and aeration products and make sure the fish are well fell.
8. Have your plants been fed? If you're going away for a few weeks you're probably best to feed your plants with some slow-release fertilisers rather than liquid feeds. This way the plants can draw their nutrients more constantly than with one concentrated boost before you take off.

Well done. You're now all ready to get on the plane safely knowing that your garden will be there when you get back.

Just don't forget the plane tickets...