Tenant Maintaning Garden

BettyDebt

I agree with what Doozergirl has said, if you rent the house you rent the garden.

I wouldnt expect a LL to provide me with a hoover because the house had carpets, neither would I expect a lawn mower.

I agree with what has been said about hedges.

Why rent a house with a garden if you dont want to maintain it? It doesnt have to be time consuming or costly.

sooz

Zazen999 wrote: »

About a year before we moved out, the agents contacted us saying that the landlord has driven past and the 10 ft tall hedge was looking bedraggled and could we do something about it. I mentioned the Working at Heights regulations, asked if they were providing a BS standard ladder, and could they provide details that we were insured to do so, and asked when we were being booked on a training course to use the ladder.

If the hedge was 10ft tall when you took on the tenancy - I quite agree. I'd love to have seen the look on the agents' faces when you asked them about the training course
If, however, the hedge had been 3 foot when you took over the tenancy, & you allowed it to grow to such a height, & the LL had asked you (in writing) to keep it trimmed, it's a very different matter. Then, I'd expect a you to pay for someone 'qualified' to bring it down to size.

tbs624

sooz wrote: »

If the hedge was 10ft tall when you took on the tenancy - I quite agree. I'd love to have seen the look on the agents' faces when you asked them about the training course
If, however, the hedge had been 3 foot when you took over the tenancy, & you allowed it to grow to such a height, & the LL had asked you (in writing) to keep it trimmed, it's a very different matter. Then, I'd expect a you to pay for someone 'qualified' to bring it down to size.

Sooz - if you are letting on an AST and your tenant stays for maybe two or three years you would be talking Leylandii rates of growth there & if that was the case then a LL should perhaps cost for the services of a gardener. Trimming the sides of a hedge, cutting the grass and maybe doing a bit of hoeing now and again are about all a LL can reasonably expect from a T. Fencing and boundary hedging should be the LL's responsibility, as should the pruning of large shrubs and trees.

Zazen999

sooz wrote: »

If the hedge was 10ft tall when you took on the tenancy - I quite agree. I'd love to have seen the look on the agents' faces when you asked them about the training course
If, however, the hedge had been 3 foot when you took over the tenancy, & you allowed it to grow to such a height, & the LL had asked you (in writing) to keep it trimmed, it's a very different matter. Then, I'd expect a you to pay for someone 'qualified' to bring it down to size.

No, it was 10 foot tall when we arrived, it had just got a bit straggly.

calm_down_2

Must admit that I'm a little suprised at the judgemental responses that I've got, especially since no-one answered the question. I didn't say or even imply that I had no intention to tidy it.

In the end the landlord said that the garden was fine. I strimmed it and weeded it pretty well.

QTPie

Eeerrrr, how did I not answer your question and how was I judgemental???

You lost me...

QT

QTPie wrote: »

Yes, some do require you to keep the garden... When I was looking at rental properties recently, there was quite a variation: some LLs provided a gardener to do everything (I liked the sound of that!), others expected you to maintain the garden (and didn't even provide a mower). The ones that required you to maintain them were fairly low maintenance: a bit of mowing, keeping a patio clean and trimming a few shrubs (LLs are generally responsible for big hedges/trees).

Gardens SHOULD be very low maintenance over the Winter IF you trim them down in September/October (since nothing grows much over the Winter) - I haven't touched mine since October and it still looks great. If you have more money than time/enthusiam, get someone in to tidy it for you. Get a few people around to quote for a basic tidy/clean up.

pawpurrs

pawpurrs wrote: »

It is normal to expect the Garden to be maintained, yes.
You could just get somesome to come and do half an hour mowing, it wont cost much, rarther than run the risk of having some of your deposit taken off.

Nor mine QT, infact I cant see any Judgmental responses
A thanks would be nice, so many people came here to answer your question! Perhaps you wanted us all to say that you shouldnt mow the lawn?

Zazen999

calm_down wrote: »

Must admit that I'm a little suprised at the judgemental responses that I've got, especially since no-one answered the question. I didn't say or even imply that I had no intention to tidy it.

In the end the landlord said that the garden was fine. I strimmed it and weeded it pretty well.

Oh yeah, mine was REALLY judgemental....'always check the contract, see what it says and work from there'....gosh - tsk tsk - norty me.

tbs624

Check the OP's user name.

Clearly s/he needs to.;)

pawpurrs wrote: »

... Perhaps you wanted us all to say that you shouldnt mow the lawn?

Got it in one