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Water the garden while on holiday with a Gardena timer

Updated: 23 October 2026

You are going away for several days and the pots will dry if nobody opens the tap. To water the garden while on holiday, a Gardena timer has to start itself, on a fresh battery, after you have watched one cycle. A countdown wheel will still be shut on Tuesday morning. This page is from the Products Compared editorial team, updated on 21 October 2026, from the amazon.co.uk listings, the Select manual and a Thames Water notice. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Which model you own is on the [Gardena water timer comparison](/hub/garden-watering/gardena-water-timer).

You are going away for several days and the pots will dry if nobody opens the tap. To water the garden while on holiday, a Gardena timer has to start itself, on a fresh battery, after you have watched one cycle.

Our top picks

Gardena Gardena Water Control Easy (01896-20)

Best overall

Gardena Gardena Water Control Easy (01896-20)
9.6/10about £28.82
View offer
Gardena Gardena Water Control Select (1891-28)

Rank 2

Gardena Gardena Water Control Select (1891-28)
9.4/10about £53.99
View offer
Gardena Gardena Water Timer (1169-20)

Alternative

Gardena Gardena Water Timer (1169-20)
9.0/10about £31.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Which Gardena can start while you are away
  2. 2.The day before you leave
  3. 3.Hosepipe bans and a timer
  4. 4.If it fails open

Which Gardena can start while you are away

An electronic schedule can open the valve on a later day. The Select stores three programmes. The Easy and EasyPlus repeat a preset. The Flex is for short pot cycles. The Duo can run two outlets. The mechanical 1169-20 cannot: packing a countdown on for a fortnight does not create a 7am start. The smart models can be set by Bluetooth beside the tap. Changing that plan from the airport needs the smart Gateway, which these listings do not name in the box, plus internet and an account. Gardena's AquaBloom kit is for pots with no tap, and it is not in this set. A water butt with no pump will not feed these valves.

The day before you leave

Replace the battery if the symbol is flashing. The Select manual specifies a 9 V alkaline cell. Easy and EasyPlus follow two AA cells on current UK pages. Flex and the Duo use a 9 V cell that reviews say is not in the box. The smart amazon tables say 9 volts while the UK pages for 19033-20 and 19034-20 say three AA cells. Fit the cells your own manual names. These listings do not print a holiday endurance test. Run one cycle while you watch the bed, the joint and the hose end. If the Select head comes off while the valve is open, the valve stays open, so the indoor stopcock has to be a known tap. The clock steps are on how to programme a Gardena water control.
Gardena Gardena Water Control Easy (01896-20)

Testsieger

Gardena Gardena Water Control Easy (01896-20)
9.6/10about £28.82
View offer

Hosepipe bans and a timer

A timer does not cancel a hosepipe ban. Bans are local notices under the Water Industry Act 1991, sections 76 and 76A to 76C, so a 2026 notice in one company area says nothing about another garden. Thames Water's notice from 23 July 2026 excepts drip or trickle irrigation with a pressure-reducing valve and a timer, and it excludes jets, mist and runoff. The Gardena carton is the timer, not that valve. You add the valve only if your own company has written a similar exception. The buying guide matches drip on pots to a Flex, or weekdays to a Select.

If it fails open

Safe Stop skips the next planned cycle. It does not close a valve that has stuck open, and it does not turn the stopcock. UK reviews of the mechanical timer include mechanisms that stuck open, and electronic units fail too. Show a neighbour the indoor stopcock, where the timer sits, and that pulling the head off a Select does not shut an open valve. Leave a note with the days and the run length. Do not leave the hose end in a pond, a bucket or a water butt. The outside tap still needs its own double check valve under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999.

Common questions

Can I use the mechanical Gardena timer while I am away?
Only if someone is there to start each run. The 1169-20 counts down for 5 to 120 minutes, or it can sit on continuous flow. It does not store Tuesday at 7am. Continuous flow while you are away is a flood risk, and UK reviews include units that stuck open.
How long a trip is reasonable?
The Select manual expects holiday use and tells you to replace a flashing battery first. It does not print a guaranteed number of days, and these listings do not either. A few days on a fresh cell, after one watched cycle, is the use they describe. A fortnight is only reasonable if a neighbour can intervene.
What should I test the day before I leave?
Fit a fresh battery of the type in your manual, confirm the clock and the weekday, and run one full cycle while you watch the joint, the hose end and the bed. Write the days and the minutes down. A programme you have never seen finish is the one that floods the path on the first morning.
Is a sprinkler on a timer allowed in a hosepipe ban?
Not under the Thames Water notice of 23 July 2026. That notice still treats spray as hosepipe use. A timer does not move a sprinkler into the drip exception. Read the notice that names your postcode. Do not borrow Thames Water's exception as if it were national law.
Does drip with a timer need anything else?
On that Thames notice, drip or trickle is excepted when there is a pressure-reducing valve and a timer, and the water is not a jet, a mist or runoff. The Gardena computer is only the timer. Your own company has to have published a matching exception.
Can the smart model be changed from the airport?
Only if you already have the smart Gateway, internet and an account. The bullets claim Apple Home, Alexa and Google Home, and they do not say the gateway is in the box. Bluetooth programming is for when you are standing at the tap. Set the schedule before you leave if the gateway is not fitted.

Related pages

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Gardena water timer

Best Gardena water timer for weekday watering 2026

Which Gardena water control should you buy in 2026

How to programme a Gardena water control step by step

Sources

Manufacturer pages, the Select manual, and UK public sources for bans and backflow. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines saved on 19 October 2026. This is not a lab test.

  1. Gardena UK Select 1891-28 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  2. Gardena UK Easy Plus 1897-28 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  3. Gardena UK Flex (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  4. Gardena UK smart Water Control 19033-20 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  5. Gardena Select manual (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  6. Thames Water temporary hosepipe ban legal notice (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  7. WaterSafe — double check valve on an outside tap (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  8. Water Industry Act 1991 s.76 (retrieved 19.10.2026)