Maintaining Large Garden

cwoolf81

Hi,

We have just seen a property which has a garden of 1/4 acre of land, full of fruit trees, shrubs, ponds. It is all overgrown now.

Once someone has come in and cut everything back to organise the land, how much would you expect it would cost for a gardener to maintain it?

Thanks

lee111s

I'd do it myself.

borkid

cwoolf81 wrote: »

Hi,

We have just seen a property which has a garden of 1/4 acre of land, full of fruit trees, shrubs, ponds. It is all overgrown now.

Once someone has come in and cut everything back to organise the land, how much would you expect it would cost for a gardener to maintain it?

Thanks

1/4 acre isn't that large and you should be able to maintain it yourself if you plan it properly. Don't put any high maintenance plants in for a start. You need to specify. Fruit trees usually just need a yearly prune, shrubs would they just need trimming / are they good ground cover/ are they hardy ie difficult to kill off . ponds again type ornamental/ wildlife again just pull out excess weed and they may look after themselves but if full of fancy stuff more work will be needed.

We used to have an acre wildlife/lawns/herbaceous borders/ fruit/ veggie plot. The pond just needed bullrushes pulling out every couple of years, wildlife area mown once a year,fruit trees pruned once a year it was the veggie patch and the lawns which took the time. Lawns about 3 hours a week with a powered mower. We were managing the whole garden ourselves into our 60s. We also had a 300foot hawthorn hedge which needed cutting twice a year that took the two of us a whole day , cutting and tidying up.

Soundgirlrocks

We have a massive garden at our flats (not sure the exact size but its big!), it costs us £60 a visit and we have 2 visits a month in the summer once a month in winter. For that they cut the grass prune where necessary treat the paths with weed killer, and collect leaves. If they have to take waste away that costs more.

pawlala

lee111s wrote: »

I'd do it myself.

That's the correct MSE answer. Well done!

Riggyman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5499974

:eek:

glasgowdan

£60 a week sounds about right if you're getting someone in to keep things properly tidy, though this is hugely subjective and depends on many factors. But if you're working your budgets I'd use that as a ballpark price. Expect around 2hrs per weekly visit.

MistyZ

Depends a lot on what your vision is for this piece of land. If it's fairly flat and you like a 'natural' look it might well be very cheap to maintain because it sounds as if you're talking mainly pruning (which I think is fairly essential to get a good crop from the fruit tress) and basic cutting back to prevent thickets of weeds forming. The ponds might be a little trickier, how many are there? I have always fancied this type of garden 'cos I love fruit trees and don't mind pruning / cutting back and would go for a semi-wild orchard look (probably a contradiction in terms). If it's neat you're after and don't like gardening at all then £60 a week possibly nails it, though for that I'd expect it super-neat! Sounds like this could be an absolutely glorious garden, especially if it's well-proportioned.

Hoploz

That is certainly a manageable size. I have 2 acres and we do it ourselves. Large lawn area takes 1.5 hours on the ride-on. Woodland round the edge so we have to attend to fallen trees every now and then. We have few flowers due to rabbits, deer, badgers and other unseen wildlife munching. Large compost and bonfire area fenced off.

So the point is, it depends what you do with the garden. If you like neat flower beds with seasonal flowers and beautifully trimmed edges, it'll be worth getting help in. If you prefer a more relaxed view of grass with shrubs and trees around the edge then it'll be easy once you get it organised at the beginning.

melanzana

This is really an "each to their own" issue.

My front garden is parking and nice shrubs. Easy maintained. Tick.

Back is huge. House built back in the day when large gardens were usual.

I am a warrior. I cut the grass and maintained the garden myself for years.

But last year neighbours got an Adonis from Oz in to do their back garden.

How could I refuse to do the same?

Now I just sit back, look at Adonis and think, well that's great, when do I see you again. LOL.

There is only so much maintenance one can do on a garden. OK if you have time and the energy to do it.

Follow my plan. Adonis costs me 25 quid every two weeks. Best ever use of money in my life so far!!

I will be sobbing on Thursday, Adonis is going to do the last cut of the year, and then going back to Oz for the Winter. Boo hoo.

seven-day-weekend

We had decided to get a gardener when we are no longer able to maintain our own large garden, but an Aussie Adonis sounds MUCH better