Why were you watering the neighbors garden? Are you free labor or something.
You let someone take advantage of your generosity and because you didn’t deliver them exactly what they wanted, they are annoyed at you.
Screw the hosts, give them a proper negative review. Warn others and make sure that in the future everything is established before the house sit begins and if they pile on extra jobs, move on.
There are literally hundreds of house sits in London that you could apply for. You can be picky.
I was a landscaper in Australia, and it was quite common for delicate plants to die in summer. Don’t beat yourself up over it. They should be happy most of their plants are alive.
@Willhawkes I’m still undecided what to do so haven’t left a review yet. The 2 week window ends on Sunday. The HO already left their review of me, I’m pretty sure she dinged me on reliability category and total rating (potentially other categories as she was upset).
I know I sound defensive but I don’t think I need to get better with plants. I just need to get better at choosing HOs / sits (I didn’t read her previous reviews of sitters when I accepted the sit)!! I was deadheading the HOs plants. I was watering during the coolest part of the day. I soaked the roots with lots of water. I wish I could have sprinkled the leaves with water more, but without a hose or watering can it’s pretty hard. The HO needs to pick more suitable plants and pots which I’ll write in my response to the HOs review.
Anyway, thanks for writing in that you also lost some plants during this heatwave / drought.
lol, I’m a people pleaser which I need to stop. Thanks for the reality check. I’m also Australian. The problem is the weather in the UK has traditionally been mild so a lot of the pots and plants survived in previous years where there was only a couple of days of hot weather at a time, not weeks in a row. So HOs think it’s my fault.
@Lil Please leave a factual review. Other members have given you advice on how to word it. The extreme heat needs to be mentioned. I know because I was trying to keep vegetables in a large poly tunnel and many outdoor pot plants alive, like you were.l, by watering twice daily.
If you don’t leave a review but rely just on responding to their review of you should it be a little negative, then it shows on your profile and not theirs so they really don’t get greatly affected unless future sitters click on your photo as their last sitter to try to learn why you didn’t leave a review.
Depending on location, marijuana is legal to grow. But prospective hosts shouldn’t be surprising sitters with responsibilities and they shouldn’t be asking for duties that aren’t even for that household. Of course, some hosts are exploitative and entitled and some sitters don’t uphold boundaries.
Okay you’re better with plants than I am then! Don’t over-think it, there’s no need to offer them planting advice, that won’t look good. Just point out the extenuating circumstances, it was the worst heatwave in the UK since 1976, that’s a fact, and that you did your best. Also as other people said, the pets are the priority!
The title got to me - pot plants or potted plants?
I did a sit in Berkeley, Calif and there were a few pot plants to water. On a second floor deck so not visible from the street!