Garden Care & Maintenance
Small Gardens & Large Gardens
I cover all sizes and types of gardens but most our clients opt for basic gardening services to keep the garden under control and whilst some clients enjoy taking over the gardening whilst resident in their house, others keep with the "I'm on holiday" idea which is fine with us, either way as we are happy to operate to your requirements.
We can carry out most general garden duty's,
Cutting lawns, Clearing paths and even cutting down the odd tree. (Visit our photo gallery)
Welcome home
I know what its like turning up to your property thinking "I wonder
how long the grass is ?" hoping it hasn't grown only to be meet by a
jungle as you drive up to the house, Not forgetting what your neighbours
must be thinking, They have to live with it whilst your back in the UK,
Ideally I would like to become your regular gardener with planned visits to your property.
Which normally includes checking your property for free, (if you want me to) I pride ourselves on
my work and believe this shows in our end results.
Help our gardens overgrown
If your garden is in a bad over run state to start with there will be a garden clearance fee
to cover costs which will be mutually agreed before any work commences.
Then if you want to, we can agreed a fee for me to visit regularly to keep your garden under control.
Whether you are looking for tree surgery, hedge maintenance or garden restoration, I aim to satisfy ensuring that your garden looks good and health all year round
Extra Notes
I have all the necessary machinery to carry out most gardening work,
Lawn mowers, chain saws and rotovator, etc. which I use but
this will incur a small addition charge to cover petrol, oil and wear and tear, etc.
So to keep costs down for our clients I offer the option for me to use
their equipment, ride on lawn mowers etc,
I always use my own hand tools and this will not incur any addition
costs.
please note: I reserve the right to refuse to use equipment which is dangerous, incomplete, or not fit for the task in hand
About your garden
The Lawn (field)
Most so called back gardens in France are more like fields to us English, unless you live in town where space is tight, otherwise your probably blessed with more then enough land, most are not lawns as such its a mix of grasses, weeds and moss, but mostly green throughout the year which needs keeping under control as the weeds grow quicker then grass and can take over in quite a short time, and when they do its double hard to get the grass cover back over any bare patches, so all cutting is weather dependant but the ground temperatures and climate are a lot different then the uk and so the cutting season is a lot longer March/April to November/December with less cutting in the hight of summer if its a hot year,
Leaving grass longer between cuts don't pay, as lawn mowers can't get through this and it takes much longer strimming it and cleaning up afterwards and also cost much more in labour and looks messy, as a rule of thumb grass should be cut every two weeks but this will very according to the weather, some years its less others more.
Hedges and Fencing
Hedges around a property create a beautiful, interesting and environmentally sound boundary but must be maintain as they can quickly grow out of control, and should be looked over at least once a year we also remove overgrown or unwanted hedges if needed.
Leylandii;
can make a very good hedge, if maintained annually. (See the photo Gallery)
However turn your back and they can quite easily outgrow their locations,
turning into large trees, and making sunny gardens shady and cold,
at this point you have two options:
- Height reduction
- Total removal
Height reduction;
This is cutting the trees to an appropriate height which is not normally done in the UK but is
common practice here in France (just look around) the main draw back is it takes a while for the top to grow
over and some times never does which is not a problem at ground level but if you can see the hedge from
a top window or you are placed on a hill looking down on the hedge it can look a little unsightly.
This will probably be the cheapest option!
Total removal;
Says what it is, Total remove all the hedges and start again, with the
same or different trees or change to panel fencing, the down side to
replanting is the long wait for height if the hedge in needed for privacy.
Pollarding your Trees
In your garden you probably have some trees close to the house or around BBQ or seating areas that are Pollarded.
Pollarding is an old, well established technique. It involves the cutting of branches back to the main stem this encourages new growth and keeps the tree low for shade and maintenance. the new branches should not be left the grow for more than a year or two depending on the tree, as these are quite weak and can snap of the main tree in the winds, so once created need to be maintained due to the poor structural strength of the branches. This is especially important if the pollarding has been done at high level as the weight of branches falling off can cause considerable damage.
Ivy
Ivy is a problem in any trees because the added weight in the tree canopy
can cause the tree to become unstable, the evergreen leaves shade the
leaves of the host tree causing lack of light and poor growth. This can
eventually lead to die back of the host tree. Ivy can be stripped out
of the crown and from the stem, allowing the tree to recover. However,
it should be noted that ivy is an important source plant for many
wildlife species. The decision to strip out the ivy should be based
upon your own personal preference, the location and the health of the
tree.
Note: Trees close to houses should not be allowed to become ivy ridden.