Grounds Maintenance

Formative pruning of a deciduous hedge is done in late winter, while the plant is dormant, and shaping through the season usually twice — in June and at the end of August. Conifer hedges are pruned more cautiously, only within the young growth, because old, bare wood on thuja, spruce and juniper rarely recovers; yew is the exception and will shoot even from old wood. Pruning is avoided during the bird nesting season and in great heat, when fresh cuts lose moisture quickly.

The standard scope is mowing the lawns and edging, pruning shrubs and trees, clearing litter, leaves and weeds from the shared areas, and keeping an eye on the condition of the planting with work carried out as required. The frequency is agreed in advance, so visits are more frequent through the growing season and adjusted in autumn and winter to the work that actually needs doing. Before we give a quote, we walk the grounds and draw up a schedule of works to the agreed frequency.

In spring and early summer usually once a week, since that is when grass grows fastest, while in the dry part of summer and in autumn the interval lengthens, and the summer cutting height is raised to six to eight centimetres. In areas with a lot of foot traffic, around entrances and car parks, edging and clearing matter just as much as the mowing itself, because tidiness shows first at the edges. The specific frequency goes into the contract, so the management always knows when the team is coming.

The price is affected by the area being maintained, the balance of lawn, shrubs and mature trees, how accessible the site is for machinery, the agreed frequency of visits, and whether green waste is taken away. That is why a quote is only drawn up after a visit, when the real scale of the work across the season can be seen. The site visit and assessment are free, and the quote comes with no obligation.