What to expect in a garden maintenance visit?

What to expect on your garden maintenance visit?

Why book garden maintenance?

We all want to enjoy and feel proud of our gardens. Whether it’s the first thing you see coming home after a day at work, or somewhere to sit out and entertain friends, or where the kids can go out to play! Everyone has different needs of their outdoor space, and not being green-fingered should not hold you back from making the most of your space. That is where HP Landscapes can step in to help. We offer garden maintenance services and this blog will break down, what to expect on a visit, seasonal extras and motivation to get your garden maximising it’s potential.

One of the core values of our maintenance department is that we offer flexibility with your visits. You can have the team come ad-hoc, just give either the office a call on 020 7731 3552 or an email to maintenance@hplandscapes.com with some dates that suit you and the team will do their best to fit you in to the schedule, or we can put together a contract which spreads the cost evenly throughout the year to keep your garden maintained with the seasons.

How to book a visit?

Once you’re ready to book in there are two routes;

1. If you know what you would like doing and have a list of garden tasks you need tackling we can book the teams in to get this done for you.

2. Or, if are looking for a refresh, a garden clearance or you are not sure where to start, you can either book in for an in-person quotation visit or send us photos.

Then we will work with dates that are you available and get you booked in to our schedule. You will receive notifications from our online booking system 4 days and 24 hours before your visit. If for any reason you need to reschedule, or cancel, please give us as much notice as possible.

What can I get done in my garden?

We send teams of two, for a minimum of two men for two hours to look at your garden. At HP Landscapes we pride ourselves on our teams work ethic, passion for gardening, and commitment to creating and maintaining beautiful gardens. We have a rotation of gardeners to visit your garden, which can be important to cast fresh eyes on the space and ensure nothing is missed visit to visit.

Your garden visit can last from four hours total labour, to half a day, to a full 16 hours total labour in your garden.

Tasks included in regular garden maintenance;

• Jet-washing of hard surfaces - patios, decking, garden furniture

• Mowing and edging of real lawns

• Jet-wash and rolling of astro-turf

• Pruning, deadheading, trimming, and training of plants

• Leaf blowing - we use electric tools to minimise noise disturbance

• Weed removal from borders and hard surfaces - weed spraying is an additional extra

• Watering, feeding and application of natural pest repellants

• Hedge cutting and topiary

• General clearance - ideal for end of tenancy or if the garden has become overgrown.

By booking in with our teams, you will also benefit from the expert advice and team management by our maintenance managers Anna and Jamie, they can assist you; setting out plants and designs on the day, provide specialist advice on garden pests or problems, or overseeing the work by the teams.

Anna is also available if you need a bespoke planting plan or redesign of your borders. No planting scheme is too small, and we can can design anything from a curated selection of pots and plants for your patios, to full-scale cottage garden borders in a variety of styles and schemes.

What if I want more than a one off visit?

The most cost effective way, and to ensure your garden looks it best throughout the seasons, we recommend a contract for regular garden maintenance. Some of our contract options;

1 - One visit a season - this is recommended if you keep on top of the mowing, pruning and general tidying of your garden throughout the year, but need that seasonal refresh of your garden. If you have a wisteria, seasonal bedding plants such as; geraniums, begonias that need replacing when they die off, need to have an annual jet wash of hard surfaces, to keep on top of slow-growing plants of things that need a long-ladder or specialist trees, including hedges, trees under 6ft.

2 - Monthly visits - if you are busy and don’t have time to take care of your garden, or just need that extra attention to your space

4 - Flexible monthly visits - this would mean more visits over the growing and busy Spring, Summer and Autumn and either no or less visits in the Winter when plants are dormant. 

What about extras? 

Seasonal extras are chargeable on top of you regular maintenance, but as we can incorporate the labour with your regular maintenance;

• Spring Bulbs

• Mulching of pots, beds and borders

• Buxus spray to prevent buxus moth and caterpillar infestations

• Plants - we hand pick these from our supplier to ensure you get the best of the bunch

• Wiring systems - to train plants to walls, fences or other vertical spaces

• Specialised cleaners for your patios and specific to the stone you have

• Painting of garden walls, fences or trellis’s

• Oiling of wooden components - garden furniture, battens, or fences

• Irrigation systems - system repairs or installation for pots, borders, and lawns

• Lawn maintenance - scarifying, fertilising and over-seeding

We also have our highly-qualified landscaping team. You can submit snagging requests for hard-landscaping aspects and as a regular maintenance client you will receive preferential treatment to resolve issues that arise in the garden. This can be anything from, replacing or repairing a trellis or fence panels, new paving and more.

What areas do we cover?

Wimbledon, Wandsworth, Balham, Merton, Morden, Mitcham, Clapham, Putney, Fulham, Chelsea, New Maldon, Sutton.

We look forward to seeing you and your garden soon!

Real Lawn Care

Now that you have laid a brand new lawn, there is plenty to do to keep your lawn looking green and lush over the course of the year. Lawns typically take up a large part of garden design, and have a big visual impact which means it is pertinent to keep on top of regular maintenance. Here below is our guide to looking after your newly laid lawn to ensure it looks it best through the seasons;

1. One of the most important part of ensuring your lawns longevity is to water it regularly for the first few weeks. As with any new plant, water will allow the roots to bed into the soil below. If you have a sprinkler head, set a timer for every 30 minutes and move it around the lawn during the first few days. Then you want to water it a minimum of twice daily for the first two weeks at a minimum.

2. Your lawn will take around two weeks to bed down, so until then keep foot traffic off the lawn so you don’t damage it. At the end of this, your lawn will be ready for its first cut. Cutting the lawn helps to stimulate growth, similar to when you cut for example hedges, when you remove part of the plant, it stimulates new growth and encourages a healthy lawn.

3. First cut - we recommend you cut on a high blade - approx 1/3 of the length of the grass. You’ll want to leave the cuttings on the lawn on this first cut (no mower basket, this is optional as the cuttings will stay on the lawn until they either decompose or blow away.) This will act as a feed for the lawn. As the new turf is grown with a good fertiliser with high nutrients, as it breaks down it will act as an extra feed for the lawn.

4. Next is to keep up regular lawn maintenance, you’ll want to do regular cutting and watering to your lawn. Ideally cutting every week, if you leave it for longer than two weeks it will turn your lawn into a meadow.) If you have been away and the lawn has grown a little longer - you’ll want to cut it down in stages, take off just 1/3, leave it for a few days and then do another cut. If you do it in one go, you could shock the grass and cause it to die off. It is still important to do regular watering if your lawn, it will dry out and turn brown in hot weather and unless watered soon after it’s cut it is less likely to recover.

5. Ideally you would be laying a new lawn in early Spring - this is when there is more rainfall to help water the lawn on top of your manual watering. The lawn maintenance annual programme is the following;

Mid - March - first cut on a high setting after winter

April - start weekly cutting on your lawn

Beginning - June - summer lawn feed and and extra watering if there is a dry spell

End - August - end of summer feed, continue to cut and water if there is a dry spell

End - September/October - winter lawn feed and weed - this is to prepares the lawn and slows growth over the winter to allow the roots to establish over winter to protect it

November - move to fortnightly/monthly cuts of your lawn until December if it continues to grow.

Mid-November/March - restorative work on your lawn, which could include

• Relaying - use turf rolls to patch up bare patches

• Scarifying - this is the process or removing moss/thatch from the grass, typically in shady sections and to be followed by;

• Reseeding

HP Landscapes offer annual lawn maintenance care for your garden - please enquire at office@hplandscapes.com for more information

Biological Pest Control

Wildlife in the garden can be wonderful and welcome, and there can be aspects of garden planning and maintenance that encourage the right kind of wildlife in your garden. One of our favourite garden wildlife encouragers are wildflower meadows; not least because they make for beautiful soft landscaping, but they which contain a wide range of colours and scents to attract important pollinators. Birds are also a fantastic form of ‘pest control’ They feed on the grubs and insects we do not want, so think about adding a bird feeder or bird bath to your garden and enjoy the wonder of nature!

 On the flip side, there are pests and insects that we want to discourage. It can be a horrible feeling looking out into your garden and seeing your favourite shrubs decimated, and leaves full of cut outs, or dead. Or your hard work on the veggie patch taken out by a hungry slug.

 We have put together a guide to some of the popular biological solutions on the market, that are most importantly safe for your other garden visitors such as pets, children and encouraged wildlife.

 If you are unsure of what pest you have, you can take a photo and send it to maintenance@hplandscapes.com or click on this helpful link from The RHS https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/common-pest-identification-guide

Nematodes

Pest it deals with: Ants, fruit flies, leather jackets, chafer grubs, slugs, vine weevils

How to use: Mix into a paste, dilute in water, then water over problem area

 Nematodes are microscopic parasites that essentially latch on to a host and then kill them from the inside out so there is nothing left behind. This is a much more effective approach than a chemical spray which can get caught in the wind and can cause collateral damage on other plants. 

  If you don’t use them straight away, you need to store them in the fridge. When they’re in season our office fridge has a few boxes handy so you need to double check before you pull out a snack!

There are two types of Nematodes that we are using in our London gardens;

Nemaslug - Biological

Time of year: Autumn/Spring

Pests it deals with: slugs

Time frame of results: needs reapplying every 6 weeks 

Toxicity: harmless to wildlife, pets, birds and children

A solution for slugs particularly on veggie patches. It is completely safe you just need to wash the fruit and vegetables as you usually do before enjoying. This is also the only slug solution that works in wet weather which is when slugs thrive and do their worst.

Vine Weevil Killer - Biological

Time of year: September or April. This is very important to stick to otherwise the nematodes can be killed before they can get to work.

Pests it deals with: Clue is in the name! Vine Weevil larvae. These are white legless small grubs.

Time frame of results: You’ll need to make applications over two to three years to completely eradicate the problem. A single application will make a small difference, depending on the level of infestation, but realistically it can take up to 3 years (or longer) to completely remove the vine weevils. Regular applications will be needed if the problem has reached  the soil, If the problem is in the pots it can be much easier to deal with.

Toxicity: Harmless to children, pets, birds and wildlife. Also suitable for edible crops. 

Vine Weevil’s need to be dealt with at their larvae stage and on damp soil. This solution needs to be put down in a cool evening on well watered soil where the larvae is present. It’s difficult to completely eradicate as they are such a prevalent pest in UK gardens, but one treatment a year is more than adequate to keep the problem at bay.

One of the best ways to prevent pests is to feed your plants, because a health plant is less prone to infestations. 

Another ‘pest’ or source of trouble in our London gardens are foxes;

Foxes will always be a nuisance in London and nothing will completely stop these garden visitors, but there are methods to reduce and discourage the damage they can cause. Here are some of our tried and tested solutions.

Lighting - motion sensor lighting can scare away foxes.

Silent Roar - Whilst it’s marketed as a cat-repellent to stop them using your beds, it is an effective fox repellent. 

Gravel boards- stop your garden being a through way by sealing gaps at the bottom of fences where foxes can dig to get through.

Gaps - you need to close up gaps under sheds, decking to prevent nesting

Regular Garden Maintenance – keeping your garden tidy, open and free of rubbish makes it less attractive for foxes, as there are no places to hide and nest.

Planting ideas

With Mother’s Day coming up this weekend, we have put together a list of some of our favourite flowers and plants which will make either a lovely gift for your mother, sister, grandparent, a neighbour, or just to put in your own garden! With the days getting longer, the smell of freshly mown grass in the air, and little more sunshine after the grey we’ve had, it’s not hard to get excited that Spring is just a few weeks away. If you are inspired by our list please get in touch for a bespoke quotation! With garden centres busier than ever we can help you source the plants you need at competitive prices and of excellent quality to ensure you get the best your garden deserves!

Lavandula (lavender) - a plant that needs no introduction. It’s hardy, evergreen and adds colour to a border. It also gives off a lovely scent and is known to be attractive to bees and other pollinators. It’s easy to grow, and is a fool proof lovely addition to your garden. Being low maintenance it only needs annual pruning to ensure it doesn’t grow wild and woody, but you can use these cuttings to propagate more plants! We recommend planting a border of these as an alternative to easy destroyed buxus. Our top tip, if you can put them in a sunny spot to keep them happy all year round.

Roses - one of our favourite things about growing roses in the garden is that in addition to adding scent and colour to the garden, their cuttings can make for beautiful home grown arrangements. Repeat flowering roses in particular provide multiple beautiful blooms all summer long which will make an ideal table topper. Our top tip is to cut your roses in the morning before the heat of the day and put them straight into water. For a bespoke rose selection for your garden, please get in touch so we can best advise based on the soil, sunlight and space you have. Roses are typically chosen to spark memories so they are a very personal aspect to your space so take time in choosing. In the meantime, some of the roses we recommend and have seen gardens enjoy are;

Iceberg (Climbing rose) - a firm favourite in our gardens. A repeat flowering climber of medium size this rose has white smaller blooms with a light sweet scent. It’s easy to train and can be planted in all soil types.

Gertrude Jekyll - this rose has a phenomenal scent, however what you get in fragrance you lose in longevity, this is a single flowering rose. It is one of the first to flower each season and it a quintessential Old Rose fragrance.

Gabriel Oak (English Shrub Rose) - deep pink almost fluorescent flowers with a strong fruity scent, also a repeat flower but big impressive blooms.

Adelaide d’Orleans (Rambling Rose) - a white elegant rambler with dainty white blooms with a light delicate scent. Growing up to 6ft these can create an impressive flower across the front of your home or over a structure like a pergola

Malvern Hills (Rambling Rose) - with soft yellow and white blooms this is a more polished rambler that repeat flowers. This has a stronger stem which is perfect for a shady or wind trap area.

Lilium (Lilies) - you can plant these as bulbs right up until Spring so you still have time. Again, these are easy to grow, and hardy to fluctuating English weather - you can even force them to flower by keeping them in containers inside and they’ll flower for you within 6 weeks. There are various types of bulbs so be sure to get the right one for the type of soil you have, as always we can advise. Oriental hybrids are colourful and heavily scented, wheres Asiatic hybrids are easier to grow but are scentless. We can guide you on the right ones for your soil type and garden. Our top tip is to remember to trim off the yellow pollen laden stamens as this can stain anything that’s brushed against it - sticky tape is the best method for getting it off clothes!

Seeds - this is also the month to start sewing seeds such as sweet pea, plant your summer flowering bulbs and put in the ground any indoor forced bulbs which will have finished flowering now. Be sure to deadhead any Narcissus (daffodils) but allow the foliage to die naturally and mix with the soil.

You may have also noticed the abundance of delightful blossom that’s gracing the streets of London at the moment. From the candy floss pink of the cherry trees which usually reaches its peak around April ,but is coming to us earlier after a more mild winter. You’ll also see blooming magnolia trees which will be followed by the wisteria which we look forward to come May. Some of our favourite spots to see this are; Ravenscourt Park, Kyoto Garden in Holland Park and of course lining the streets around Chelsea, Kensington and Hammersmith and Fulham.

If you’re looking for a creative way to get kids involved in the garden, you can always try letting some fresh petals from your plants dry out to create a pot pourri, or dry out some lavender and sew a little bag to pop on a pillow. A natural sleep ease remedy which I think we could all use about now!

That’s all from us for now, we hope you make the most of the blue skies before we head into Spring showers and we look forward to seeing you and your garden soon!

Garden planting design by Anna

Is it just me or is this year going by quickly? Spring is just a month away and I typically keep March as my month for planning; where, how and what will be going in our gardens.

Garden design, I have a flood of enquires for planting plans, design the lot at the moment - there are many things to consider so here is my list of what to keep in mind when it comes to designing your perfect garden oasis;

• When it comes to choosing your plants think about the sunlight in your garden. Some plants need all the sun they can get, whereas ferns for example are happy in those shady corners. Last year, we had the challenge of a terrace which was a suntrap with blazing direct sunshine all day long. Everything the client planted withered and died so we decided to plant rows of Aloe vera. A plant which only needs a few teaspoons of water and can cope in that climate are now thriving, and the client gets the greenery she wanted!

• Small garden? Think height! We can install trellises, climbers, wiring systems to maximise the space. One of my favourite plants to put in a small London garden is a Trachelospermum jasminoides - with beautiful star like flowers this plant, with the right wiring system, can really make the walls of your garden flush with scent. Don't just think of colour, but also the scent of your plants.

• To astro or not to astro! I personally prefer the feel of a lovely fresh green lawn under my feet but that may not be practical if you have children or pets who like to dig! Lawn's can be costly and labour intensive after so bear in mind if you have the patience to keep up with a strict maintenance schedule.

• Think forward - plants will grow so be sure to leave enough room for them and take note of the expected mature size of your plants. You don't want to be having to dig up and move your plants in a few months time when they're taking over!

• Wildlife! We recently did a survey of our regular clients to see what wildlife we have in our gardens, rather unsurprisingly most of the answers were foxes! My recommended fox repellent is Silent Roar, available from our teams or any major online retailer. I highly recommend you get a bird feeder if you haven't already, you may find yourself looking at robins, finches and tits. Of course, you might be visited by one of the many grey squirrels, but don’t be discouraged, they also will enjoy the feeders!

• Watering - I always recommend you to install an irrigation system. These are cost effective and the only way to ensure your plants are looked after, especially during these hot summers we keep having, especially during a much needed vacation.

 In between the hail, snow and rain I've had down on the West coast, I've managed to plant my onions and garlic and given my raised beds a good mulch. If you haven't had this done I highly recommend it. It gives all your plants a good feed and I see so many more buds and blooms and greenery when it's been done. All this topsy turvy weather has done considerable damage to my lawn and all the lawns around London, so over the coming weeks the scarifier will see plenty of action as we aerate and reseed the lawns.

 My top tip for slugs and snails that love to come shred my leaves, is to put down copper bands into the soil and around the rims of pots. I also recommend slug or wool pellets - they are safe to children and pets and keep the pests at bay!

 If you haven't heard the news, I'm back in London from next week! If you'd like me to pop by to see your garden drop me a line or a WhatsApp and I'll be sure to get round. I'm sure we'll have plenty to catch up on.

 That's all for now & I'll see you soon!

 Anna - Maintenance Manager

January gardens.. by Anna

Dear all,

I hope you are all coping the best you can with the madness that comes with this new state of being!

I empathise with you all; with a 6 year old at home it’s certainly been an unexpected new challenge to balance working from home with also being Mrs Brown from school! However, if I give Holly the craft box or a Lego set it’s not long before I’m presented with a gift. That certainly puts a little sunshine into the days!

I wanted to start this blog to take you through the journey of some of the projects we undertake here at HP Landscapes throughout the year and the change in seasons, but also through my own garden, down here in the West Country. We may have a different climate but plenty of the ideas are adaptable to any English garden. After 17 years in London, I made the move down to the farthest South Western tip of the country for a new adventure. I am fortunate get the best of both worlds as I commute up to London every week to oversee the maintenance department and of course visit all your lovely gardens!

Hopefully this blog will inspire you to take on some new horticultural designs or challenges in your own garden which I am always enthusiastic to help guide you through!

Our first topic will be the veggie patch! I will be showing you how easy it is to get into veg and fruit growing with whatever size space you have. You never get over the thrill of putting your own home grown additions to a heart family meal, extras make for a thoughtful gift for a neighbour, relative or a friend - and dare I say - they taste better too!

This month I will be planting my edible garlics, onions and a few spuds. You can do this too, these veggies are happy in any space; small or big pots, borders or raised beds.

This is the time of year to dig your patch over if you do already have one, and remove anything from last year that isn’t growing. You can put some organic matter down to replenish the soil and then we’ll need to wait for some warmer weather before we sow the new seeds! If you already have a patch, or something to keep in mind of next year if you do, you’ll still have some veggies ticking over ready to harvest such as; leeks, kale and swiss chard. If you want any further information drop me a line and we can discuss getting started, current frustrations, tips and tricks and much more!

Some of the other garden tasks I’ll be tackling over the next few weeks before we meet again on my next blog post are;

• Mulch the borders - to feed my plants and expose those early spring flowers. This year we planted thousands across the gardens we look after in London. A good weeding of the border, collecting up any fallen leaves followed by a bed mulch will help expose the fantastic variety as they come up.

• Restore my lawn. In a reluctant water-logged patch in my own garden, we have decided this year to do away with the grass and plant a small 2x3m patch of wild flower meadow. This will certainly keep the bees happy and it creates a more interesting view out onto my garden. I will keep you posted how this develops! For the rest of my lawn I will be scarifying, top dressing and reseeding, so come spring it’ll be lush and pleasant for the family’s lunch break! Scarifying can be an arduous job but the moss won’t go without it! That’s where our team can step in to get it ready! It will look a little raggedy but with patience and a good top dress/reseed it will be green come spring!

• Prune the Wisteria, this is the last chance (your deadline is the last day of February! Otherwise you’ll be pruning the buds that are ready for this year!) I’ll be pruning away any old buds to encourage it into a strong bloom this year.

• Lastly pruning roses, bush roses or vines. A necessity if we want to get the best bloom in June/July!

If any of the above has inspired or reminded you for anything to do in your garden, our fantastic maintenance teams can be sent out to your gardens so you can check it off that list!

You can email me or give me a call via WhatsApp and we can go on this garden adventure together! To keep safe we can video call or you can send photos of your garden.

I look forward to hearing from you and stay tuned!

Anna

maintenance@hplandscapes.com

078155 05149

A snap of my veggie patch this frosty January morning!

Spring Bulbs

Click here for a full list of HP Landscapes 2020-2021 bulbs

This year's bulb collection has been carefully selected by our Maintenance Manager / plant guru Anna 
As a gardener herself she has particular love for spring beauties (as she calls them) here is her curated advice;

When it comes to planting bulbs in the garden it is a bit like planting the whole garden, over the years you layer them for long as it is possible because as the seasons change the bulbs will always come up when it's time, unless a dreaded squirrel will dig them out (but there is a solution to that too - feel free to ask  )

Therefore a typical flowering pattern depending on what bulbs you’ve planted will be;
January/February, with Snowdrops, Crocuses and sweet Narcissus Tete-a -tete and Narcissus minnow, 
March, it time for dwarf Irises and strong Hyacinths in almost rainbow of colours and powerful perfume here also Narcissus paperwhite will flower indoors 
April/May - that is when Tulips will steel the show. Tulip flowers in all shapes and sizes: single, double, or tinged petals. Almost all of them are fragrant/scented and can be cut for the indoor vase to display on the kitchen island/counter for a splash of colour. 
June /July is Allium time - big or small purple or white. These perfectly shaped globes/spheres bring colour structure and interest to the green backdrop of a garden border, great in pots or simply cut and placed indoors for a spectacular display of flowers. 

Have a glance at the list linked above and choose a few for fun. You can't have them all year round for constant display, and that's what we love the best about them. They represent the season and rhythm of life/year, where nothing ever stays the same, especially in the garden.
 
By planting them in various gardens throughout the years (including my own one with year to year over 1000 bulbs planted annually )

Two things that I have learned about the bulbs are: 

1. 'More is better' unlike the well known designing route where  less is more . That simply does not apply to bulbs they look the best if you have sizable clusters, bunches or sways of it , however you don't have to have a massive garden for it either; groups of large numbers like 10-15  will do the trick in small spaces. It's all about the splash or a pop of colour whatever you fancy but you MUST HAVE THE FANCY 

2. Do not be afraid to mix clashing colours or simply mix colours like  2 contrasting ounces.
eg. black and pink, black and orange , black and blue or white  etc combinations are quite endless to me but you get the idea 

Summarizing you absolutely must have them around you because they do flower in the time of the year when nothing else is happening yet because plants need time to wake up after winter rest hence why nature gave us spring bulbs and human hands and technology  has tailored them to our love and liking. 

We have the particular collection that we would like to offer you this season however please do not hesitate to ask for another kind if you have seen them and would like to have in your garden and we may be able to help with that too .
 
I would like you to choose and let us know which bulbs you would like and in what quantities  by Friday 23rd October so I can make sure that I can order the bulbs for you, and we will be planting them in the month of November and December for you . Anna has said it's far too hot for bulb planting still, they will come up too early or not at all!

Lawn Maintenance

Residential lawns can have a very varied usage, and this can hinder implementing the ideal maintenance schedule in order to maintain a healthy lawn.

It will be impossible and a mistake to follow a strict timetable for maintenance, but tasks can be identified by the season, to be carried out when the weather is favourable. 

Firstly, the ground (rootzone) must be kept well aerated. This is an aspect of lawn care that can often be ignored but in the short and long term so many things depend on this, not least the roots. If the soil becomes compacted this will impact on future root growth and in consequence the grass. Depending on the size of the lawn aeration can be carried out by hand or machining .   

From January to March it can be very cold and frosty so when the weather is like this our advice would be don’t do anything.  However, should the weather be favourable then this is a good time for aeration. Also make sure the lawn area is free from debris such as leaves, twigs etc using a wire toothed rake.

Also, it is a good idea to remove any worm casts again using a rake.

Should the weather change and the lawns start to show signs of growth then keep the mower cut height high.  

Insider tip: Get your mower in for a service now before you can’t do without it!

On a similar note, now is the perfect time to start this season’s lawn treatment. We’re going to be focusing on 2 treatments in Spring; the first will be a combination of scarifying (using a special rake, or possibly a hire machine in your lawn is over 100 sq m) to remove built up moss and thatch, along with the application of a specially balanced combination lawn fertiliser/weedkiller/moss killer. This will be carried out in March.

The second follow up treatment will be in April, when it has warmed up a little, and the fertiliser/weedkiller/moss killer has had a chance to ‘do it’s thang’ – we shall overseed and top dress any bald or bare patches of your lawn, or just thicken up the overall coverage if your lawn looks quite thin. So, all going well, come May your lawn should be looking much more lush, thick, weed and moss free. Prices as per below for a rough guide of the costs involved, based on the size of your lawn;

Fertiliser (ICL 9 month slow-release controlled fertiliser)

Small (up to 10m2) - £10.00

Medium (11m2 to 20m2) - £18.00

Large (21m2 to 30m2) - £25.00

Very large (31m2 to 40m2) - £23.00

Lawn (combination fertiliser, moss killer & weedkiller – ICL Sportsmaster Renovator Pro)

MARCH

Minor (less than 10m2) - £5.00

Small (11m2 to 25m2) - £10.00

Medium (25m2 – 50m2) - £15.00

Large (51m2 – 100m2) - £20.00

Very large (101m2 – 200m2) - £25.00

APRIL

Norfolk Graded Top Soil (25kg) - £6.00 – allow one bag per 5 square meters of grass seed sowing

Estate Quality Grass Seed - £20/1kg/25square metres

£10/350g/10square metres

£5/smaller/5square metres or less

Spring has Sprung!

Well Spring has sprung and with it the days are warming up.

Below are a few recent photos of the gardens we planted up last November with Tulips and other spring bulbs. For those of you who didn’t plant last year maybe put it in your diaries to contact us in October.

Bulbs come in a multitude of colours, whether you like the contemporary black and whites or you prefer the more colourful splashes of colour, there is always a rainbow of colours to choose from.

A lot of you will be off somewhere for Easter to either enjoy the sun or take advantage of the last of the snow on the slopes over the Easter break. Wherever you are, we hope you’re having a great time!

We are busy getting gardens ready for what we hope will be a season of sun and fun in the garden just like we had last year. If you find your garden needs some attention to get it up to looking its best just let us know and we will see what we can do to help:

maintenance@hplandscapes.com

0207 731 3552

I look forward to seeing your beautiful gardens again soon, Anna

Between the Commons

Beautiful Spring Tulips and Daffodils

Barnes Beauties!

Crocus blooms in Balham

Spring is Coming

As the days are getting longer, you may find yourself rediscovering the space outside your kitchen window.  Sometimes brown, sometimes green and sometimes …. well, unorganised!  If you have not been out there much since long before Christmas the warm sunny days will encourage you back to enjoying the outside space once again.

It is time of the year to jet wash your patio, add mulch to borders and feed the plants for the upcoming season. Any fence /trellis/bench repairs are easily done on spring sunny days too.

If you happen to have Astroturf that works so well in the summer in a small city garden, perhaps consider giving it vacuum and jet wash to refresh it for warm spring days when the bbq can be lit up for the first time this year, perhaps even before the Easter weekend!

Also it is a great time to refresh your garden plants for the summer months and if you have planted Spring bulbs in autumn they should be beginning to show their shy heads, mulching and tiding the border around them will help to make the most of them.

And of course any roses, wisteria and fruit trees will benefit from a Spring prune too if it's not already been done.

If any of the above sounds good and applies to your garden, please feel free to contact our maintenance manager, Anna, for a quote.

Maintenance@hplandscapes.com