Maybe for sits where you want to negotiate mowing or such, you could ask whether they could get a neighbor, because they could cut their grass in return when the neighbors go on vacation?
I recently did a sit in the U.K. and my hosts had arranged for a neighbor to water their outdoor plants while they were watering their own. They never even asked me to do it.
My personal take is that in the interest of mutually beneficial exchange, if I’m getting to enjoy a garden, I should bear the responsibility of maintaining it, just as I do in my own home.
I know not everyone agrees with that stance, so to me the most important thing is that yes HOs can request it, but it must be upfront i.e. in the listing. It’s up to sitters if they want to apply or not, nobody is being forced. Then the usual supply and demand factors can dictate the outcome. If high applications, great, HO can continue in that way. If low/no applications, perhaps the listing as a whole is unattractive and they need to reduce the responsibilities. There is no harm in asking, either to HO or sitters, as long as it isn’t a surprise expectation.
We have a small orchard and lots of pretty plants that all of our sitters have willingly kept an eye on. We make it as simple as possible, most is on irrigation, only the carnivorous plants need special watering, but I’m grateful for sitters who don’t mind looking out for drying plants or broken sprinklers. The alternative is disrupting the sit with a gardener. I think our sit naturally attracts people who enjoy a bit of gardening and even feel more grounded having little projects while they’re here. At least that’s what I’m told. As always, communication and clear expectations are key.
I think it also depends on priorities differing among hosts. Like my current ones have left me with their dog and Florida home for nearly three weeks and never mentioned their grass. I have no idea who cuts it. It’s in good shape and I think must be maintained, because no one’s grass is in poor shape in their retiree golf community. I’ve seen neighbors cutting their own grass.
Maybe my hosts have a mowing service. They have a cleaning service and they continue to come during my sit.
With me sitting, my hosts seem to really prioritize their dog. They seem to be loving the updates I share, because they said they’d hit the jackpot with me and how much I love their dog.
She’s now calmly sprawled on my feet despite lots of thunder. And my hosts had told me she was afraid of thunder and would shake. I’ve not found that to be the case.
They’ve been happy enough even though I’ve mowed nothing and done no gardening (they have a beautiful butterfly garden) that they’ve offered me a Christmas sit even before our current one has wrapped up.
I don’t sit at the holidays, but I appreciate their offer. And I would’ve never applied if mowing and gardening were required. I telecommute and don’t want house projects.
Owners can request anything they want.
And, you, can decide that any particular sit is not for you for any reason you want.
I am not a plant person and let every potential HO that I have killed cacti …because I have.
Fine for the HO to ask for gardening. I will only water. So I just scroll on by if gardening is required or asked for. Deep down I think HOs should pay for someone to garden + mow. But, some pet sitters no doubt enjoy gardening.
One thing we find a challenge is that since we do our own gardening and snow blowing, trying to find a per diem person/company for when we travel has not panned out.
We’ve decided we won’t travel during the gardening season unless a friend is willing but for snow blowing/shoveling…we’re going to have to add that to the responsibilities of a sitter.
We had a neighbor help with snow once during an absence but it is a big ask when the neighbor is doing your lot after they’ve done their own lot.
And yup…sitters that don’t want to do snow blow/shovel won’t apply.
Always a good idea to ask the HO who has horses in a field, if they require daily poo picking with a wheelbarrow? It’s actually a very relaxing thing to do as the horses will often follow you around- but not ok if you’re nervous around horses. And of course well trained horses will have been taught to poo in one spot making it easier to do the poo picking. On a long horse sit you’d also need to be able to spot and pull up Ragwort (UK) which is poisonous to horses if it is trampled on the ground and dry.
I love a bit of poo-picking on a horsey sit! It’s weirdly therapeutic, especially on a lovely sunny evening, and a nice way to just hang out with the horses for a bit if there’s not much other care required. Glad I’m not the only mad one!
Have you tried TaskRabbit, Thumbtack, Angi or such platforms? They offer help for one-off jobs of all sorts.
We’ve used regular landscaping services, pool cleaners and such and they typically accept only regular clients. But if we have separate one-offs, those kinds of platforms are useful.
Sometimes it also can be useful to ask real estate agents, because they often have a roster of good service folks for one-offs. Such agents typically have sporadic jobs, tied to prepping homes for sale or getting them past inspection repairs, cleanup and such.
As always excellent suggestions. But yes we have checked those sites in the past which is why we asked a neighbor but things change so going into any traveling in the winter for a 2025, I would check with those sites again because you never know…
Long and short: I wouldn’t and don’t, but if it’s spelled out prior to the sit and acceptance, then I would think it’s fine. I also wouldn’t ask a sitter to walk a dog every 2 hours, give pills or injections to a horse, chauffeur us to/from the airport, but I think it’s perfectly fair to ask anything they need done, even bottle feeding a kitten, and if it’s not acceptable, the sitter shouldn’t apply or should ask if negotiation is possible. If the homeowners don’t get applicants willing to do requested items, then they’ll prob hire someone to do those chores.
While gardening is not for everyone - homeowner or sitter alike, I would think some sitters, and especially for longterm sits, might be missing a garden and would be happy to step in mid season to do garden chores - and eat the bountiful harvest. For many people, flower and vegetable gardens are perks of having a home, and that some nomadic sitters are missing the home-grown fruits of their labor that comes with being in one place from early spring though the first frost.
If you are ever considering a visit the Pacific Northwest, look us up:) We have a lovely home and a funny cat and probably some fan blades you could find that need dusting, lol!
I’ve not been asked to mow the grass or do any gardening, but on my latest sit I offered to bring some plants and so I put them in. I also responded to a heavy hint and put some new bedding plants in planters because I enjoy gardening. If I didn’t enjoy it the hints would have washed over me.
I was asked to take the dogs to the groomers and to pick up the next lot of frozen food, which I didn’t mind doing - it wasn’t a huge bother (although I think the dogs minded!).
I usually give houseplants some TLC - dusting them, removing dead leaves.
Great that you enjoy it however I think as HS we need to reconsider using the word “free” it’s an exchange between HO and HS
Hi @Andee. Yes I agree with you. I have learned causually throwing around “free house sitting” sometimes gives me too much feedback. Envy is a funny thing.
It is not free for the HS after travel, food, and other regular living expenses. Inflation on food prices is noticeably higher.
Everyone has bills to pay, costs to bear. I am very lucky to have stumbled across this alternative way of Life.
I usually dont mind driving the homeowners to the airport when they allow the use of their car, especially when they reciprocte in turn.
IF gardening is disclosed before you decide!
All the sits that we’ve had that were longer have hired someone to care for the lawn and garden. It’s a lot ask and could lead to issues. The most we’ve been asked is to water the plants, fill the birdfeeders and clean up after the dogs. Since we are comfortable with gardening, we would consider doing more but we’d hope the HO would offer to pay. One exception would be if we had a longer sit like 3-6 months. Then, we’d be happy to take care of those things as long as there were clear expectations and we could meet them.
Shoveling is different to me than mowing the lawn. Shoveling is for safety and convenience whereas mowing the lawn is not. I have no problem shoveling but would hesitate at mowing the lawn because something could go wrong especially since I don’t have any experience with mowing a lawn.
