Garden maintenance

What types of garden maintenance are there?

Garden maintenance consists of many different components. From pruning to scarifying, the gardener performs all these tasks. Read all about the main types of garden maintenance below.

Garden maintenance

Are you the proud owner of a lawn? Then you know how important but also time-consuming lawn maintenance is. Weekly mowing in summer, scarifying, fertilising, spreading lime, spraying, and keeping leaves free; are some of the activities you need to perform to keep your lawn healthy. During lawn maintenance, the gardener will perform these tasks for you so that you can enjoy a beautiful and full lawn.

Plants, trees and shrubs

During garden maintenance, the gardener maintains the plants that are already there, but he can also install new plants, flowers, trees or shrubs. The professional has a lot of knowledge about planting all kinds of trees, plants and shrubs and therefore knows exactly how and when to do this.

Felling trees

Do you have a sick tree in your garden, or is a tree in the way? Garden maintenance includes tree felling and tree removal from your garden. Cutting down trees is a specialist job because you must prevent the tree from damaging your house or garden. Therefore, always engage a specialist such as a gardener or a landscaper. Once your tree has been felled, the specialist will make sure it is removed. Also, for removing tree roots, call in a gardener.

Priming

Are you endlessly pruning every year? Especially fruit trees, butterfly bushes and hydrangeas need regular pruning. Pruning your trees, plants, and shrubs is important to keep the vegetation in your garden healthy and balanced. Gardeners have all the knowledge to perform this specialised and time-consuming task professionally. They prune conifers, trees and shrubs often in spring. Depending on growth periods, the gardener determines when it is time to prune plants and shrubs.

Weed clearance

Weeds are an eyesore for many garden owners. A gardener will make your garden weed-free for you and take measures to keep it that way. Since 2017, there has been a ban on the professional use of chemical control of weeds, among other things. As a result, gardeners are no longer allowed to use chemicals to control weeds in their gardens.

Since this ban, they have used techniques including hot air, hot water and brushes to control weeds in gardens. These techniques are less harmful to the environment and are better for your paving, as they are less likely to become porous.

Fertilise

To keep the plants in your garden healthy and to allow them to grow and flourish optimally, you need to provide the right nutrition. You do this by fertilising your garden every year. This way, you protect your trees, plants and shrubs from diseases and aphids. A gardener often fertilises your garden in spring. This is a time-consuming job and by leaving it to your gardener, you don’t have to go to the garden centre to find out which fertiliser you need.

Healing tree and plant diseases

Do you take good care of your garden but notice that some plants do not grow and flower well? If so, they may be suffering from a disease or fungus. During garden maintenance, a gardener takes care of sick plants and trees to make them healthy. With his extensive knowledge, he knows how to remedy tree and plant diseases. In addition, your gardener will be happy to advise you on preventing tree and plant diseases.

Maintaining paving

Paving the terrace and walkways is also part of garden maintenance. To maintain these properly, the gardener performs the following work: sweeping pavements, cleaning tiles and refilling joints. That way, they look neat and retain their colour.

Why hire a gardener or landscaper?

Outsourcing garden maintenance to a gardener or landscaper offers very many advantages, such as:

• Take care of your garden: a gardener or landscaper has all the knowledge and experience to keep your garden looking neat and tidy at all times.

• Saving time: garden maintenance can be a big job as you have to keep it up on a regular basis. Outsourcing this to a gardener or landscaper will save you a lot of time.

• Safe execution: Besides proper garden maintenance, the professional will ensure safe execution. Some work involves risks such as felling trees. A gardener or landscaper knows how to carry this out safely.

• Tailor-made advice: Because of the professional’s knowledge and experience, he can give you good advice. The gardener or landscaper knows exactly what your garden needs and can answer all your garden maintenance questions.

• The right tools: Garden maintenance requires the right tools, which not everyone has. A professional has the right materials, so you don’t have to buy them yourself.

When do you carry out garden maintenance?

Every month of the year actually offers something to do, but spring and autumn, in particular, are when it is important to pay extra attention to your garden. In spring, your garden is prepared for summer; in autumn, it is prepared for winter frosts. Curious about what needs to be done during these months? Check out this handy overview.

Tips for hiring a gardener

With all the options and choices involved in garden maintenance, it can be difficult to keep seeing the wood for the trees. Here are the most useful tips for hiring a gardener.

Tip 1: compare several gardeners

Choosing a gardener involves a lot of things. Requesting and comparing multiple quotes will give you a good idea of the company and their prices. Here are the main points to consider when looking for a gardener and comparing quotes:

• Does the gardener charge a call-out fee?
• Is the price inclusive or exclusive of VAT?
• Are any guarantees offered?
• Does the gardener have any quality marks?

In addition, you can also look for reviews to see what other consumers say about the gardener. Then you can be sure that you are going with the right gardener.

Tip 2: make a wish list

Before looking for a gardener, make a wish list of the things you want the gardener to do. Here you can also note how often you want your garden maintained. That way, you know beforehand what to look out for before signing up with a gardener. Questions you can ask yourself are:

• How often do you want garden maintenance to be carried out?
• Is a subscription more economical?
• Does the gardener bring his own materials?

Tip 3: pay attention to quality marks

Certified marks help you make a good choice, for example, in terms of durability or quality. To join a hallmark, a landscaper must meet certain standards. If you are looking for a professional to whom you can outsource your garden maintenance, you can look out for the following quality marks:

Tip 4: take out a garden maintenance subscription

Did you know there is such a thing as a garden maintenance subscription? This is often an inexpensive way to outsource garden maintenance. With this subscription, the gardener will do the necessary garden maintenance occasionally, depending on how often you want it done. You draw up a contract with the gardener and see how much and how often garden maintenance is needed. Then the gardener will take care of the garden maintenance on the agreed dates and in most cases, you will pay per year.