Garden care while you're away.
Long trips, summer at the beach house, months overseas. We keep your garden looking exactly as you left it for as long as you're gone, and send brief reports so you know how it's going.
Well Tended maintains gardens for residential clients in Melbourne's inner east while they're travelling: Toorak, South Yarra, Armadale, Malvern, Hawthorn and Kew. Programs run for the duration of your absence with regular visits, photographic reports and immediate notification of any issues. New clients begin with a complimentary on-site consultation before departure. Call 03 9961 6078, Monday to Friday.
A garden that holds while you're away.
An absent garden is a different problem than a maintained one. Without weekly eyes on it, small problems become big problems. An irrigation failure in mid-summer can lose mature plantings in days. A pest outbreak can damage structural hedges before anyone notices.
We treat absence care as proactive monitoring, not just maintenance. Regular visits to the schedule you choose, photographic reports after each one, and direct communication if anything needs your attention. You come home to the garden you left.
Travel without thinking about the garden.
What absence care covers.
Each program is structured around the length and timing of your absence. Standard inclusions:
Setting things up
- Pre-departure consultation and walk-through
- Irrigation system check and timer adjustment
- Coordination with house-sitters or property managers
- Access arrangements and key handover
- Bin and mail collection coordination
Regular visits
- Weekly or fortnightly visits to schedule
- Watering supplements during heat events
- Pest, disease and irrigation monitoring
- Quick remedial work between visits if issues arise
- Garden remains presentable from the street
Brief reports
- Photographic visit summary after each appointment
- Immediate notification of anything needing attention
- Coordination with your communication preferences
- Plant health monitoring with photo updates
- Welcome-home tidy before your return date
Owners with gardens that need watchful eyes.
Absence care suits owners away from home for stretches that would otherwise compromise an established garden.
Extended overseas travel
Months at a time abroad. The Australian summer doesn't pause for your trip. Mature gardens need irrigation, monitoring and presence to come through unscathed.
Seasonal homes and second properties
Summers at the coast, winters somewhere warmer. We keep the city garden in shape while you're at the other house, and brief you before you come back.
Investment properties between tenancies
Vacant heritage homes between tenants or sales. A maintained garden protects the property's value and keeps it presentable for inspections.
From departure date to your return.
Three steps from your call to a garden that holds in your absence.
Pre-departure consultation.
We meet you before you leave. Walk the garden together, agree on visit frequency, set up access arrangements and confirm communication preferences. No obligation.
Visits to schedule.
Your assigned horticulturist visits to the agreed rhythm. We check irrigation, monitor plant health, water during heat events and do quick remedial work as needed. A brief photographic report follows each visit.
Welcome home.
Before your return date we do a final tidy. You arrive home to the garden you left. Most clients move straight into a recurring program from there if they aren't already on one.
Questions about absence care.
Common questions about keeping a garden looked after while you're not in town.
How far in advance should I book?
Two to three weeks before departure is ideal. That gives us time for a pre-departure walk-through, irrigation checks and any minor work that should happen before you leave. We can mobilise faster in an emergency but earlier is always better.
Will I get the same horticulturist each visit?
Yes. We assign a single horticulturist to your garden for the duration of your absence, just as we do for any client. They'll know your garden, your irrigation, your access arrangements and your communication preferences from visit one.
What do I get if a problem arises?
Immediate notification with photos. If it's something we can fix on the spot (irrigation tweak, dead plant pulled, small remedial cut) we'll do it and let you know. If it needs your decision (replacement plant, larger repair), you'll get options and we'll wait for your call.
Do you coordinate with housekeepers or property managers?
Yes, regularly. Many of our travelling clients have someone managing the house in their absence. We work directly with them on access, deliveries and any household coordination, saving you being the middleman from the other side of the world.
Can I still travel even if I'm not currently a recurring client?
Absolutely. New clients can engage us specifically for an upcoming trip without needing to commit to ongoing work afterwards. Many do continue with a recurring program after seeing the benefit, but there's no obligation.
Serving Melbourne's inner east
Travel without thinking about the garden.
Start with a no-obligation consultation before your trip. We'll walk the garden, agree the program and the visit frequency, and you'll have one less thing to manage from the other side of the world.
Request a garden consultationOr call 03 9961 6078 · Monday to Friday · 7:30 am to 5:00 pm