Gardens continue when the house is locked. Irrigation can fail in either direction: planting dries out, or a damaged line wets a wall, terrace or façade for days. Both are easier to catch with a photograph than with a message that the garden “looked fine”.
A gardener’s remit is plants, timers and, often, the irrigation they installed. A whole-property inspection still walks the rest of the home. The two jobs overlap at the tap, the timer and the wet patch against the house.
Dry is one problem. Running water is another.
A brown zone in an otherwise watered bed is a useful observation. So is a hiss, a puddle, or staining on a boundary wall that was dry last month. The second kind of failure can waste water and, in some positions, put moisture where you do not want it.
Neither observation is a diagnosis of the pipe, the pump or the controller. That belongs with the gardener or an irrigation technician. The value of the visit is time: the owner hears about the change before the next trip.
If irrigation is on a timer, the property file should say so, including whether it should be left running in winter. A home-watch visit should not reprogram a controller unless that is a written, authorised task — and even then it is coordination, not horticultural advice.
Keep the gardener, and keep a record of access
Existing gardeners are often the people who already have a gate code. That is convenient and, if undocumented, untidy. Record who attends, on which days, and whether someone checks the house after they leave.
Working with your existing team and contractor access are the same idea: one account of who entered.
A gardener who never goes indoors will not see a bathroom leak. An inspector who never walks the irrigation line will miss a split pipe against the terrace. The property care plan should include the exterior if the home has one.
Weather, salt and unvisited land
Wind blows furniture onto planting. Salt and heat stress exposed hedges. Rural and hillside plots add more ground to walk and more gates to confirm. The inspection scope should name which land is included, especially in Vila do Bispo or similar spread-out settings.
After significant rain, look at whether water is ponding against the house or running off as intended — from safe ground, without digging. Winter in an Algarve holiday home and storm checks sit alongside this.
Apartments are not exempt
A balcony with pots, a shared garden the owner is expected to keep tidy, or a ground-floor patio with a tap can still surprise you. The condominium may handle the communal lawn and not your irrigation tap. Write that boundary down.
A simple garden routine
Photograph the same beds, the timer cupboard if accessible, and any wet or dry anomaly. Compare with last month. Tell the gardener what changed. Do not wait until arrival week to discover that one zone has been flooding a wall since October.
Guardemar’s plans can include pool and irrigation visual checks at the higher service levels. Request a property assessment if the garden is part of what you need watched.