Some HOs have a lot of indoor plants (not all real!) others have complex gardens a few have ‘estates’ or fields. One sit we did had over 50+ indoor plants and multiple yard plants to keep alive in 43°C heat…..we managed. The two dogs were easy in comparison.
This summer I’ve very happily taken on a sophisticated garden (my main interest) with the add on of an old ginger Tom 
, I’m looking forward to learning how this garden is set up/managed. It has automated watering systems. The Welcome Guide is mostly going to be about the Garden!
Have you ever taken on a sit primarily for the great garden experience?
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Sort of, because I used to daydream about living in a U.K. village. The sit that helped me fulfill that included a conservatory with maybe 100 plants, plus a vegetable garden.
I hand watered the conservatory plants and some seedlings, which were in a separate warm enclosure outside. The beds were mostly done for the season, but I harvested a bunch of asparagus, which was new to me.
I never even thought about how asparagus grew before that. They just magically appeared at grocery stores. 
At home, we have a nice backyard, with many plants, but I leave them to folks we hire. My husband, who retired early, is starting to take more of an interest, but I think that’s more to keep busy and active.
Funny from a sit I just wrapped: I watered a few plants throughout the house and my hosts said, thanks for asking and FYI some are fake and some sitters have watered them by mistake. I told them, I know which to water, because I feel the soil first.
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When we began full-time house sitting, I thought I’d miss having my own garden and veg patch the most.
Instead, as many of our U.K. hosts head off on holiday right when their gardens are at their best - so we arrive to French beans , tomatoes, lettuces all ready to pick and be eaten . Cucumbers in the green house . Strawberries . Plums and apples ripening on the tree.
Summer evenings are spent watering flower beds, soaking in the view, and watching the sun set on the horizon.
We may not have one garden to call our own — but we get to experience so many each with its own special view.
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I love gardens and have looked after some very extensive ones with cats as the added bonus. Several times it has been excessively hot and to keep everything alive including lots of seedlings in the greenhouse I have watered at around 6am ( very tranquil) and late evening. 2 gardens were open as part of the National Garden Scheme which raises money for charity so it was a big responsibility. Added to that last year we had a hosepipe ban. I love it and often leave a new plant or seeds as a gift. The irony was when I did a very untidy and not very clean home with a few pots and I was marked down a star as the plants ‘were just about surviving’. I didn’t bother to reply.
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Yes my local summer sit is part of the RGS Open Garden scheme and the HOs have a Landscape Gardening Business. I’m really looking forward to it.
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Wow 
can you tell me where they are?
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No because they are private gardens and for security I haven’t shown the house. I always look at the house and garden when I apply. So I know that I have somewhere nice to enjoy while I am staying.
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Nobody wants ‘competition’ when they’ve found Shangri-La 
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These don’t really ever advertise they just message me with their future dates and then send an invite to sit. We have all become friends over time and if I am nearby I call in for coffee and can stay the night if I need to.
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One of our earlier sits, before we knew better, had ENORMOUS sweeping lawns (think French estate) where the owner was a bit OCD about them and wanted them mowed every three and a half days.
I was a bit taken aback but after I found the ride on mower had a cooler and beer can holder I just accepted my fate 
P.S. The hosts were lovely and the caretakers cottage very comfortable.
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I don’t cut lawns, being of a certain age the time I was asked to do vast lawns with a pull start heavy petrol mower was really too much. I said so, as I had the welcome guide but it hadn’t been mentioned previously. The owner was obviously put out and 2 days later she cancelled the sit and said her daughter was coming to stay. I escaped I think, as part of the house was locked up so the sitter was restricted where they could go and in the hallway there was a big bank of screens so I am pretty sure there would have been an inside camera.
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One of our regular sits has a very large and beautiful garden with glorious views over a Valley and red kites soaring overhead. They have a gardener once a week in summer who would chat for hours given the chance!
Over the years their garden maintenance has become more automated with an automatic watering system for the flower beds and a robot mower. So our input is now mostly limited to rescuing the robot mower when it gets stuck in a rabbit hole, or harvesting (and eating) plums from the trees at the right time of year!
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Y’all are making me jealous with these fabulous garden sits, especially @Chrissy . I haven’t taken a sit just for the garden, but I would.
I did have a sit in the southern U.S. that had large veg plots… coming out of a Canadian April that still had snow, and standing around watering the extensive garden almost daily, in shorts & t-shirt, was such a novelty, because even in the summer here, I have to dress like a hazmat worker thanks to all the blackflies & mosquitoes. It was delightful.
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It’s not that I lack interest; it’s the talent that’s missing. Plants and I aren’t exactly the best match. I used to joke that houseplants would wither the moment they saw me. Watering them is a bit of a challenge because I need to know exactly how much water they need and how often.
Right now, I’m on a sit in Croatia, and my hosts have several kiwi trees. Surprisingly, it’s harvest time. February, March. The trees are tall, with branches spreading flat across a trellis. Harvesting requires a special tool, scissors on a long pole. So, every morning, I climb onto a table (which I moved to come closer to the kiwis) to snip a few for my breakfast. How cool is that?
And … surprise, surprise … they taste exactly as kiwi from NZ
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Having downsized 5+ years ago, we gave up our beloved vegetable garden, which included a robust asparagus patch.
We now live in a HOA townhome community, which is helpful since we travel frequently (HOA takes care of all outside maintenance and chores, such as mowing). Unfortunately, vegetable gardens are not permitted here. 
So, when we find a sit that includes taking care of a vegetable garden while the HOs are away, we jump at the chance. 
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I’ll put in another plug for this, for the green-thumb-ishly challenged. Houseplant growers’ secret weapon.
My plants are all labelled – where on the meter to water, and how much to put on. @august – just what you asked for 