Am wondering what yard expectations a houseowner should have of a sitter during a long sit. Is the maintenance of 20,000sqm (2hectares) of lawns and garden and one pet plus security of property reasonable to expect of a sitter? Would be interested in other sitters opinions and what THS requirements of houseowners as members are. Thanks!
I treat a sit like I treat my own home. If I see something needs doing, it gets done. If I donāt want to do much work, I donāt apply for sits with big yards/farms, but if Iām feeling robust, I do. I personally enjoy yard work and take pride in keeping our planet beautiful.
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Thanks for that - precisely as we do on all our sits but this one is a little different. The other sits we have done have been shorter and with the large properties, there has been gardener, handiman etc., and no gardening/grasscutting requirements although we have mowed lawns anyway. Happy sitting!
Yard work has been discussed a few times on the forum before - here are some links:
Sitters How Do You Feel About Mowing lawns?
Everyone is different - some sitters are happy to mow, while others will definitely skip the listing. If a HO wants mowing of a large property done, then they will need to be aware that it will limit their pool of applicants - however, there may be the right sitter out there for them. In general, it is fairly uncommon for a listing to ask for mowing & yard work (particularly for a large property). It is helpful when listings mention what exactly the mowing expectations are - if they have a ride-on mower, and how frequent is the mowing is.
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Such responsibilities should be noted in listings to save everyone time. If I saw such in a listing, Iād skip it.
Iām about to start my 18th sit. No yard work, gardening or mowing. Iām open to watering plants, within reason. No crops.
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I did two sits last year, both ten acre (4 hectares or thereabouts) properties with swimming pools, two pets and gardens, one six months another three months. Loved loved using the ride on mower and the pools were super easy to look after. Personally I seek out these kinds of sits, but Iām very much an outdoor person. Iām sure there are many sitters who are like me.
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I imagine many sitters might find caring for that much property to be too much, but some may enjoy doing it and wouldnāt find it burdensome.
Essentially, I believe hosts can request whatever they want, and if their āasksā are truly unreasonable by most peopleās standards, they wonāt get any applications and will have to consider other options.
THS doesnāt dictate what hosts can and cannot ask sitters to do.What is considered āreasonableā can vary between sitters, and it is up to us to decide how much responsibility we want to take on, and choose our sits accordingly.
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Not the houseowner and yes it was mentioned. Sorry about asking again - havenāt been on the forum for several months.
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Ah, my bad - sorry I thought you meant you were the HO - have changed response accordingly 
No, no problem - always good to add more to discussions 
Hadnāt thought about the āwhat if the ride-on breaks down?ā aspect, even though we have one ourselves (newish) and use it frequently during the summer. Doesnāt work in a metre of snow though! 
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Actually the ride on DID break down 
But I had the details for the guy to come out and fix it so wasnāt a problem. Definitely not good in snow 
Hi - yes all good advice. We have 7,000sq.m. at our vacation house so our ride-on is a saviour for my husband. I am gifted the task of the push (self-drive isnāt behaving on it!) mower round the tree stumps and mounds of granite! Thanks for your help!
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For some sitters, they find gardening and maintaining the lawn quite pleasurable, while others may find it cumbersome. A sitterās interest could depend on the time of year (weather wise) and just how time-consuming taking care of 20,000 sqm of lawn / garden could be.
For most of my sits, gardening and the lawn are taken care of by gardeners and lawn maintenance workers. Thank goodness because I am not a lawn person (mows grass) or gardener.
However, on one sit, while the HO was showing me her home, she took me outside to show me her garden which would require daily watering. There were bees present and she asked me if I had a problem with bees. No, I did not have a problem if they did not bother me and I would not bother them. The garden was beautiful, plentiful of tasty vegetables that the HO said I could harvest and help myself with. Fortunately, it was not a long sit and even with bees present, I got through it, but it was not my comfort zone.
Taking care of the HOās garden had been sprung on me during our walk-through. If taking care of gardens / lawns are a requirement for the HO, it should be stated in the HOās listing.
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For the sits we have done that are 2 hectares or more, there has always been a gardener to take care of grass cutting and some garden tasks, maintenance, none of this has been at our request, it has just been automatically provided by the HO.
But with all of them over hectares weāve still taken care of plants in pots or plants nearer to their home patio area, and the gardener usually takes care of the main bulk of the area away from the patio area.
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As long as it is clearly described in listing I guess it can be said that there is a sitter for every etc.
For me, gardening is not the reason I signed up. Apart from that, I do find that there are limits for me for what should be a swap between HO and sitter, and what should be paid work. Both in relation to the sitter, to the people who has it as an income and the local community. Iām not quite sure where that line is, but it is related to for instance if the host him/herself would do it normally, how much work it is etc. But it has also something to
do for me what would the consequences be in relation to health care cover, insurance etc. if something should occur. Thoughts on insurance, liability etc? Are HO thinking about a possible liability? I donāt know. Just wonder.
If the ride on mower has a beer can holder Iām in!
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takes new meaning to āHold my beer and watch thisā¦ā
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