Find a Landscaper you can trust in County Down.

What Do Landscape Gardeners Charge?

If you’ve decided to hire a landscaping professional for your gardening, you’ll probably be wondering how much it’s going to cost so you can start planning. A landscape garden serves a wide range of purposes from beautification of your surrounding and building to serving as a perfect spot for family and friends’ get-togethers and to brighten up one’s life. However, we must also note that the garden landscaping does not come cheap. In order to make it look great and send a clear message, there’s need for a effective and careful planning as well as consideration which perfectly combines both beauty and utility ( as not every landscaping idea works perfectly for every house). So just how much will landscape gardeners charge?

Just like most home improvement efforts, the cost of landscape gardening is influenced by a wide array of factors. These factors include the scope of the project, the size of the garden, the type of material and size of your patio, the cost of the plants and mulches, the professional daily or hourly rate as well as the unique treatment of the aesthetics of planting.

In general, landscape gardeners can charge as little as a price ranging from £15 to £20 and £45 per hour greatly influenced by the location as well as the gardening services required. As a daily rate, professional gardeners tend to charge about £140 to £200 per day. However, it should be noted that the major factors influencing the price that a gardener will charge is based on the area you live in as well as the size of your garden. For instance, if you live in an area with higher demands like London, you can expect to be charged a lot more than anywhere else.

Our gardens are often our pride and joy, so we want them to look their best. If you notice that your garden is uneven, you’ll probably want to do something about it. But how do you level your garden or lawn? A gardener can help you do this and will get the best finish, but if you want to have a go at doing it yourself there are a few steps you can take. Before you start, make sure you’ve got all the following equipment to hand:

• String line
• 4 rods & string
• Tape measure
• Flat shovel
• Water sprinkler or watering can
• A rake
• Earthmoving and compacting equipment
• Spirit level
• 2 x 4 piece of wood
• Wheelbarrow
• Protective gloves and shoes

Then, you can get ready to level your garden.

1. Mark out the area Push 4 rods into the ground around the area you want to level out in a square or rectangle. Tie your string around the rods to connect them all together, ensuring that the string stays tight. Then use your string line to any of the 4 sides to check that it’s level. You’ll then need to measure the height from the ground to the string on all four sides to check how much you would need to adjust the ground to make it level. Make sure you take note of the high and low spots and measure the difference between these spots.
2. Water the ground to soften it If you want to level your lawn, or the part of your garden that you want to level has grass on it, you’ll need to uproot the ground underneath it. To make it easier to dig and lift out the grass, sprinkle some water over the area before you begin. It’s a good idea to do this over a few days to really soften it – but make sure you don’t do it so much that it becomes too heavy and soggy.
3. Remove the grass Push your flat shovel into the ground, around 3-6cm deep, then slide the shovel horizontally to lift out the soil and the grass on top. As you repeat this process around the entire area, make sure you try to lift out the soil evenly to avoid making your levelling task even harder.
4. Add soil Fill low spots with nutrient-rich soil and spread evenly over the area with a rake. If you’re levelling out a large area of your garden, consider renting earthmoving equipment to make it easier.
5. Flatten the soil Next you’ll want to compact the soil to protect it from erosion. If you’re working on a small garden or area of your garden, simply use your feet – get stomping on that ground! You could also use a rake, but for larger gardens consider hiring a compactor. Then, leave the soil to settle for around 3 weeks before doing anything. If you’re doing this in the summer, you can water it sparingly to keep it from drying out.
6. Adjust until you’re happy It might take you a few adjustments to get the level of your garden or lawn right. Use a spirit level along a long 2 x 4 piece of wood to see whether the ground is even, then adjust by adding a little more soil or removing soil until it’s at the level you want it.

That’s it. A gardener or landscaping company will be able to level your garden or lawn perfectly, so consider getting some quotes from local companies.

1. If you’ve not got an overhang or it’s a fixed deck, fit starter clips along the outside edge of the frame and secure with screws provided with the composite decking. If you are working with an overhang, put the first board into position not exceeding 25mm. If you’re adding a fascia, put an off-cut of board under the overhang so you know it’ll be flush with the fascia.
2. Pre-drill all fixing points, measuring in 30mm from the edge of the board. Secure the board to the joist below with composite decking screws.
3. Slide a hidden fastener clip in so it sits within the groove of the deck board. It needs to be in the centre of the joist to keep the boards secure and ensure an expansion gap of 6mm. Tighten the clips until just tight, and repeat so there’s a clip at every joist.
4. Add the next board, ensuring that the fastener clips sit within the groove – make sure you don’t force it. Repeat step 3.
5. Continue steps 3 and 4 until you’re at the final board, which you should secure in the same way as you did the first.

First and foremost, to save your time and money when it comes to lawn renovation, there’s a huge need to figure out why the lawn isn’t doing well in the first place. A lot of times, when changes are made to the basic lawn care practices, cultural practices or site conditions, any need for a renovation would be thrown out the window as the lawn would be given a new life with good health and vigour. However, if you feel renovation is the best option for your lawn, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post, we’re going to consider the best time to start a lawn renovation to help put you on the right path. Let’s take a look!

There are two times during the year that are most suitable for lawn renovation. Firstly, the best time for renovation of a lawn is usually from mid-August to mid-September. Secondly, another great time to achieve this goal is normally during early spring as the lawn is starting to turn green and grow.

So, when do you consider lawn renovation?

• When the quality of the lawn is simply poor and unacceptable.
• During the introduction of lower maintenance turf varieties into an existing lawn.
• When 30% to 50% of the lawn is dead or is experiencing sparse growth which may be due to several factors like drought and heat, low soil fertility, insect damage, moderate soil compaction and more.
• When the lawn is soft and spongy will walking across. Plus, if it also responds terribly to the application of fertilizer and water.
• When grassy weeds or broad-leaved weeds covers about 30 to 40 percent of the lawn area with insufficient turf cover to fill in the bare areas once the weed removal is done.

Being a strong and durable product requiring little maintenance and expected to last over 2 decades, it’s little wonder resin is now a popular material amongst homeowners in the UK to build their driveways. However, there’s always the issue of the driveway fading, cracking or even becoming worn and tired. So is it possible to repair resin driveways? The answer is yes, a resin driveway can be repaired, however the best approach to use largely depends on the issue being faced. As a confident DIYer it’ll be very easy to do, but if you lack the confidence then calling in a professional for help would be a better option. So let’s take a look at how you can repair your resin driveways.

For cracks, the best reparation approach would be to chisel it out. Once done, then you can proceed to breaking the stones to form a rough edge. It’s important to make sure that the matrix of the stone remains unaffected. Make a new mixture of resin bound stone and pack it in tightly to the gap. While doing this, we’ll recommend making use of a plastic trowel to avoid burnishing. This fresh mixture will then create a smooth and perfect surface by interlocking with the edges. You can follow similar procedure for patches but these are larger holes or damages than cracks and as the name suggests are mostly likely to remain noticeable but will prevent further crumbling of your resin driveway.

For homeowners, who aren’t so keen about the patch repairs, you can opt for an overlay especially in the event whereby the majority of the surface has failed. Although many usually shy away from this approach because of the perceived high expenses, but the fact is that the approach is actually cost effective as you won’t have the need to spend more money in the long run.

Patios do not require lots of maintenance. They will only need occasional cleaning to make sure that the material keeps its original appearance. It's always best to clean your patio with a pressure washer and occasionally tap each slab or brick just to check the sand underneath hasn't washed away.

How To Landscape A Garden

Are you thinking about landscaping your garden? Well, not only will this make your property more visually appealing, but can also go a long way to add value to it. Landscaping a garden can be a very difficult project which should be left to a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results the first time, especially if you lack proper training or experience in the field. This way, you get to save time and extra money that can result due to possible costly mistakes. However, if you’re confident enough about your skills, here’s a step by step guide to help you through the garden landscaping process.

• Start from the front yard. This is the first place you’ll see when you get home and visitors will admire when they stop by.

• Hardscape first. Tackle all the handscaping projects before setting out the plants. The hardscapes include the sidewalk, drive way, porch, decks, fencing and the likes.

• Toil in the soil. When it’s time for the garden, you can start by amending your soil with organic matter before you set out the plants.

• Plan next to your house. When it comes to landscaping a garden, functionality is just as important as the beauty. With that in mind, never allow your foundation planting to cover your house, but to embrace it.

• Selecting the right plants. Study the landscape, observe when the sun rises and sets and determine the best plants for those conditions, you can consult with a local garden centre for more information.

• Plant shapes and textures. You can include some design elements to your landscape simply by taking advantage of the plants’ shape and texture.

• Finishing touches. These includes adding stuffs like containers, window boxes, hanging baskets both to add a little more functionality and a bit more colour to your landscape.

• Maintenance. To enjoy your beautiful landscape for a longer period, it has to be maintained.

For a lot of home and property owners in the UK, a common courtesy is being neighbourly and several people find it relatively easy to get along with the folks next door. However, for most individuals, where the major dispute arises most times is due to boundaries which can lead to impasse that may only be resolved through legal action. But since nobody wants that, when boundary issues become more than just passing a comment about the current condition of the fence, you may want to clue yourself up on what to do to get the desired action. If attempts have been made to talk to your neighbour to no avail, there are a couple of things you can consider to make “them next door repair their fence. In this post, we’re going to give you a good insight on these things to help you make informed decisions. Let’s take a look!

Firstly, it should be stated that if the fence poses an immediate danger then the usual legalities doesn’t apply. In this scenario, you may need to report to the local council who’ll take the necessary action on your behalf.

• Offer assistance. Since the cost of repairing a fence isn’t the cheapest thing to do, a lot of people might not be too eager to carry out this project and any friendly suggestion to do so may not be taken kindly. So if you feel that the this may be the issue, you can try offering some assistance to lessen the financial burden on your neighbour.
• Put up your own fence. If all attempts fail, you can consider erecting your own fence. However, this must be on your own property and as close to the boundary as possible.