How a maintenance round works
Visits are weekly or fortnightly through the growing season, with fewer visits over winter. Each visit covers what the garden needs that week rather than a fixed checklist: mowing and edging, weeding before weeds set seed, deadheading to keep flowers coming, pruning each plant at the right point in its year, and feeding and mulching when it does the most good.
Knowing what you're cutting
A surprising amount of damage to gardens is done in the name of maintenance. These are the mistakes I see most often:
- Forsythia cut back in autumn loses next spring's flowers, because they form on this year's growth.
- Mophead hydrangea heads cut off in autumn expose next year's buds to frost. The old heads stay on until spring.
- Lavender cut back into old, bare wood rarely regrows.
- Clematis fall into three pruning groups, pruned at three different times. Prune the wrong one hard and you lose a year of flowers.
Getting these right every visit is the difference between a garden that's kept tidy and one that gets better every year.
Winter visits
Winter is for pruning apples, pears and roses, cutting wisteria back to two or three buds in February, clearing the last of the perennials, mulching, and planting bare-root trees, roses and hedging while they're dormant.
Keeping you in the loop
If you're not home, I'll leave a short note of what was done, what's coming into flower and anything that needs a decision from you.
What's included
- Mowing and edging through the growing season
- Weeding beds and borders
- Deadheading and staking
- Pruning shrubs, roses and climbers at the right time
- Feeding and mulching
- Hedge trimming between main cuts
- Seasonal jobs: leaf clearance, cut-backs, bulb planting
- Clippings and green waste taken away
Questions
Weekly or fortnightly?
Fortnightly suits most gardens. Weekly suits larger or more formal gardens, and lawns at their peak in May and June.
Do I need to be at home?
No, as long as there's access to the garden. Many clients are at work when I visit.
Can you look after my own planting rather than changing it?
Of course. It's your garden. I'll give advice when it's useful and keep it to myself when it isn't.
Do you tie people into contracts?
No long contracts. Regular slots are kept for regular clients, so just let me know if you need to pause.
