Did you know you can make your lawn grow fuller, and cover up any unsightly patches by cutting the grass properly and regularly?
Even healthy lawns, whilst lower maintenance, do require some work and care from time to time. From the first mow of the year in spring to hard-raking and top-dressing in autumn, proactive and preventative treatment will ensure you have a lawn you can enjoy all year round.
If your lawn isn't looking so healthy, I can help. Maybe it's compacted, has bare patches, or the thatch has built up and is killing the soil. It's not always as bad as it looks. And if it is, or if you fancy starting from scratch, I offer full turf laying services too.
Our gardens are full of trees and shrubs, and we want them to look their best. Nothing beats sitting under the shade of an old tree on a hot summer day, ice tea in hand. But like people, how we look on the outside, and how healthy we are on the inside are often at odds.
Most trees and shrubs regardless of their apparent hardiness and resilience will need a level of careful annual pruning to prevent problems and to encourage specific growth and behaviour in the future. For example, training your trees and shrubs to branch in ways that encourage ventilation will help to prevent fungal diseases, and deadheading your lavender after flowering will prevent the plant from diverting its energy into seed production, resulting in a second bloom and extra essential oils.
No matter the plant I'm working with, you can rest assured that research will be done to ensure the right cuts and treatment to make sure your garden feels as healthy as it looks.
We know we should cut out the sugar and fizzy drinks, should brush and floss properly, and attend our twice-annual oral exam, but life often gets in the way, and before too long we find ourselves at the end of the dentist's needle.
Much as we neglect our dental hygiene, when we don't deal with small garden issues such as a treetop in need of lopping, or a small and wounded branch being allowed to grow over years into an intrusive or infected appendage, plants too result in the need for tree surgery.
Keeping weeds under control without a sensible and long term treatment plan means a never-ending battle. We all know the score. Weeding is boring, time-consuming and gives you a bad back. We may be a nation of gardeners, but a quick peek across the fence would have you think the humble weed is Britain's favourite plant.
All that being said, the satisfaction of a newly weeded garden is all the greater when you know you've made it so much harder for the weeds to come back. After weeding your beds I can supply and lay the right kind of mulch for the plants you wish to promote while preventing young weedlings from ever reaching the surface. After weeding the grass we can reseed blemished patches and do a trim to promote a fuller lawn.
If things have gotten truly out of control, then your garden is now under the control of the weeds. Removing all the weeds and taking back the land is satisfying as it gets, but it's not the end of the battle. Often the aftermath is a soil that has had its nutrients gobbled up by the vast, unwanted root systems. With a quick, all-natural treatment we can bring an exhausted bed of soil back to life - quite literally, for healthy soil is not just home to worms and pest-eating bugs, but can host many beneficial symbiotic fungi!
Is your driveway looking like a cabbage patch? Are you constantly spraying weed killers only to find the weeds come back over and over? It may be time to consider a weed prevention membrane.
A membrane is a physical barrier installed below the gravel layer. If installed properly, a membrane can prevent the reemergence of weeds on gravel paths, driveways and stone gardens for years, if not decades. We divide the gravel surface into tidy partitions, then section by section we remove the stone layer, deal with any larger weeds manually, lay the membrane and restore. The weeds will soon die from a lack of sunlight and nutrition.
A note on membranes for flower beds. There's some debate as to whether the method of laying membranes on top of a flower bed, with holes cut for the desired plants to grow through, is a good way to address weed prevention. In my professional opinion, the risk of wear and tear to the membrane, as well as the inherent poor defence it provides against invasive roots that will find their way through any gap makes this option unappealing. A good mulch often prevents weed growth better while also benefiting the soil, locking in vital nutrients.
I'm going to bet that unless you have a resilient grass species, that I could see the very path you take from the back door to your shed, because there'll be a stretch of compacted soil, the occasional sparse patch of grass hanging on to life, and if it's close to the raised edge or a flowerbed I can guarantee the edge is going to show signs of collapse.
What you need is a path. A good gravel or stone path will add value and appearance to your garden, as well as preventing a meandering stream of dead lawn. Indeed, a well-tampered path not only ensures that the rest of the lawn stays protected, but it looks beautiful and can add character to a home.
Beds are fantastic additions to the garden. Whether for growing some organic food, for displaying beautiful flowers or for a humble shrubbery, beds are places where our personal projects can come alive.
Lockdown provided many of us with a yearning to pick up a trowel and get to it. The dig for victory vibe was in full swing. But for just as many, especially those restricted on space or sunlight, making that cut of earth can be daunting.
Beds can be built in your existing garden, perhaps in an unused plot of soil or a neglected flowerbed. But beds can also be built in a planter, which is like a micro garden in a wooden box.
Whether large, small, or by the side of your house in a planter, I can help identify the optimal place for you to build for sunlight and nutrition, can get your bed set up and growing, or can source, supply and install your box. We can then look at what you want to grow, and how to best achieve the results.
Sometimes, the smaller or more awkward jobs get overlooked when you're focused on the bigger picture.
Perhaps your tool maintenance has been a little rusty and they're now in need of a spruce. Perhaps you can't stand how a corner of your driveway turns into a pond, complete with koi carp each time it rains. Perhaps your drains need a clean, your garden paths a pressure wash, or you just want someone to help spruce things up.
These small jobs, little by little, can grow into the larger and more expensive problems down the line. For example, not maintaining your decking once a year can lead to invisible rot, that once eventually noticed is often so far gone that the deck may need to be replaced. An easy and affordable fix if an afternoon is given to it.
Write down all your little jobs, and let's get them sorted. Or, if you'd like me to look out for the little things and provide my top tips, call to book a free survey.