Aquist Holiday Watering — Service Terms
These terms sit alongside our general Customer Terms and our Privacy Policy.
1 What Aquist is
Aquist is our holiday garden watering service. While you are away, we visit your garden on an agreed schedule and work through a task list set up with you in advance — watering your containers, beds, greenhouse and other planting as needed, so your garden is cared for until you return. Every visit produces a short photo report, sent to you, so you can see your garden is being looked after even while you are away.
Aquist is a seasonal summer service. Visits are booked as a block to cover a holiday or period away, rather than as an ongoing subscription.
2 How booking works
You book Aquist as a block of visits to cover your time away. When you book, you tell us the dates you need and how often you would like us to visit, and we confirm a visit schedule. Aquist visits are short, focused visits worked to your agreed task list.
Each visit has a minimum charged duration, reflecting travel and set-up, regardless of the actual time on site. Visit availability is seasonal and subject to capacity, particularly at peak holiday times, so we recommend booking ahead where you can.
3 A survey first
Aquist begins with a garden survey before your first watering visit, so that we understand your garden, agree your task list, and confirm how we will access your property safely while you are away. We cannot carry out Aquist visits without this survey, as it is where your watering instructions and access arrangements are set up.
4 Your task list
At your survey we agree two task lists with you:
A primary task list — your watering instructions, set out by area and frequency (for example, containers daily, beds every two days, greenhouse with its own ventilation and temperature instructions). This always comes first on every visit.
A backup task list — additional light tasks you choose in advance (such as dead-heading, tidying, weeding, sweeping etc.), in your order of priority. We carry these out only when watering is not needed on a given visit — for example after good rainfall — so your visit still delivers value rather than watering an already-wet garden.
Watering is always carried out first where it is needed; backup tasks never replace required watering. We work to the list you have agreed and will not carry out other tasks without your permission. We will leave you to enjoy your holiday in peace knowing your garden is being cared for, but if any concerns arise while you are away we will (with your permission) alert you and await your instructions.
5 Watering restrictions and dry-weather conditions
Occasionally a hosepipe ban or water-use restriction may be in force during your booking. If this happens, we will first maintain your watering using a watering can where that remains lawful. Where watering is not lawfully possible, we will protect your planting by other means — for example moving containers into shade or cover — and carry out your agreed backup tasks instead, so your visit still delivers value. We will never apply water in a way that breaches a restriction, and we will tell you in your visit report what we did and why.
6 Access to your property
We know that letting a service into your garden while you are away is a significant trust. We take it seriously, in two respects.
Who comes to your garden. All our operatives hold a valid DBS check appropriate to their role, and we do not send anyone to a customer property without it. Any keys, codes, or access details you give us are held securely, with restricted access, used only to carry out your service, never shared with anyone else, and removed when no longer needed.
Your property while you are away. At every visit we access only the areas we have agreed with you, we secure your property again before we leave — closing and re-locking gates and access points as we found them — and we leave your garden as we found it, with the watering done. If we ever find a property insecure or something amiss on arrival, we will contact you straight away.
You choose how we access your garden from the following options, agreed at your survey: a key safe or gate combination; a combination padlock we can lend you for the period you are away; a key held securely by us under a written key-holding agreement; or a key released by a neighbour you nominate. Please note however some watering appointments are as early as 5am to ensure watering is completed before the sun becomes too strong. Whichever you choose is recorded at your survey. You are responsible for making sure the agreed access method is in place and working before you leave.
7 Price and payment
Aquist is charged per visit, at the price shown on our website, which is the definitive source for our pricing. We invoice after your return, once your block of visits is complete, payable within 7 days. There is no deposit.
8 Cancelling and changes
If your plans change, please tell us as soon as you can. You can cancel or change an Aquist booking up to one hour before a visit. As Aquist is invoiced after your return rather than paid in advance, you are only ever charged for visits actually carried out. If you sign up online, you also have a legal right to cancel within 14 days under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.
9 What we can and cannot promise
We will water and care for your garden with reasonable skill and care, following your agreed task list. Plants are living things, and in very hot, dry, or windy conditions some plant stress or loss can occur despite proper watering — particularly with containers and tender plants in a heatwave. We cannot guarantee against this, but we will always work to your instructions and tell you in your visit reports what we have found and done.
10 How we contact you
We send a photo report after each visit by email so you can see how your garden is doing. Any issues or concerns raised during the visits will be raised in your reports. If a serious issue arises we may make direct contact by mobile or SMS to get your instructions. How we use your contact details is explained in our Privacy Policy.
11 Your responsibilities
Before you go away, please make sure the agreed access method is in place and working, that we have your current contact details in case we need to reach you, and that you have told us about anything we should know — pets, alarms, hazards, or areas that are out of bounds. Please also leave watering equipment (such as hoses, cans, or an accessible outside tap) available and in working order, and let us know if any neighbour should be made aware that we will be visiting.
12 General
Our general Customer Terms and our Privacy Policy apply to Aquist. Where these terms cover something specific to Aquist, they apply in addition to our general terms.