When discussing high-end gardens, what comes to mind might be a newly built landscape where high-value specimen trees and shrubs have been lifted in, swathes of nursery-grown plants fill new beds and borders fed by high-tech automated irrigation systems, engineered water features gurgle pleasantly and luxurious hard materials warm in the sun underfoot.
Or you might picture the historic garden setting of a Victorian manor house with ancient trees, a heritage orchard, crumbling stone walls, traditional herbaceous borders, and box parterres. Both scenarios will need expert management and maintenance to ensure the garden will develop as intended into the future and stay healthy while looking its best all year round.
The role of a garden designer
Where a garden designer has been involved in creating or re-generating a high-end garden for a client, they can provide a comprehensive maintenance and management plan for the whole landscape. This will include specific instructions for the establishment of new lawns and new planting schemes in their first year. Garden designer guidance such as pruning instructions, as well as specific cleaning and maintenance instructions for hard landscaping materials used in paving, walling, decking, fencing and other garden structures.
This landscape maintenance plan can be used as a reference point by the client or handed over to the gardeners, estate managers, and groundsmen to follow. Often, a management plan will be issued by the garden designer upon completion of the garden. A garden management plan will enable them to guarantee plants and materials, giving the owner peace of mind, especially where large sums of money have been invested.
The importance of maintaining a high-end garden
Gardens can bring joy, peace, and delight when they are thriving and well looked after. However, as any gardener knows, it can take just one season of neglect for a garden to go from thriving, to declining and tired-looking. Tangled, woody, bloomless roses, rotting fence panels, gappy hedges, weed-filled driveways, patchy lawns, incongruous planting combinations, and blurry lawn edges rapidly deteriorate the overall appearance and feel of a garden.
Keep on top of the weeds
Regularity is key to avoiding this decline. Even 30 minutes of weeding and deadheading once a week is more effective than only 1 day, once a month. Weeding is an incredibly therapeutic exercise and helps to keep lawns looking manicured and healthy. For flowerbeds, weeding is not only essential for plant growth but a satisfying activity for a quiet Sunday afternoon.
A professional garden maintenance team can provide a comprehensive maintenance schedule for existing gardens and go a step further by working with the client to draw up a short – and long-term development plan. When you’re sure of exactly what is required and when garden maintenance becomes almost as joyous as the garden itself.
Leave the big tasks to the professionals
Knowing an experienced and trained gardening team will be arriving for regular visits takes the stress and worry of garden maintenance away. With all the professional equipment required to expertly manage beds and borders, prune trees, climbers, hedges and topiary as well as upkeep all the hard landscaping and planting, you’ll be allowed to just sit back and simply enjoy your garden.
Having professionals operate any miscellaneous machinery is also better for the client’s safety, as garden maintenance teams are trained to operate tools like trimmers, mowers, chainsaws, and strimmers in a much greater capacity than some clients. A high-end garden shouldn’t just be a project you pick up every now and then. You’ll reap more aesthetic rewards when you put in the time and love your garden deserves.
Seek advice before making changes
Like many garden owners, clients can get a tad enthusiastic about what plants to include in your garden. Professionals have the necessary knowledge and experience available to them to know which plants will work best on different landscapes and in different environments. In addition, it’s vital to understand the relationship flowers, herbs, grasses, trees and shrubs have with one another. A garden maintenance professional will be able to offer assistance in this regard too. Always seek advice from your team of professionals before introducing something else into your garden.
Follow a watering schedule
A good, professional garden maintenance team will give clients a watering timetable which will inform them when to water certain areas, how much water to give, and what food or nutrients need to be in the water for specific areas of the garden.
Watering will, of course, depend on environmental factors such as the weather. With enough rainfall, watering will not be necessary but in severe heat, there may be more watering required. This should be all factored into a maintenance schedule, to give the client to information they need for sufficient watering upkeep.
Spend time on your outdoor furniture
Whether you have garden furniture or a patio suit, making sure these are in tip-top condition can make or break the aesthetic appeal of a high-end garden. Set aside time in the week to make sure the furniture or any other physical garden features are cleaned and repaired if necessary. This is especially important if you’re after the classic English manicured look for your outdoor space.
Outdoor decor is also essential to the overall appearance of the garden, so consider interchanging outdoor pillows, cushion covers and accessories with the seasons. In the summertime, this will make the garden look more inviting for guests, and having robust outdoor decor during the winter will keep the aesthetic of the garden in line, without the worry of anything becoming damaged.
Your garden maintenance matters
Taking the time to be in the garden does wonders for the soul and making sure the space is well-maintained shows. The grounds of your property deserve the same care the rest of your home gets and this is easily done with the help of a professional garden maintenance team, and getting into a few good weekly habits. With these expert tips for maintaining a high-end garden, you’ll get to enjoy watching the roses bloom and your shrubs flourish.