How Four Seasons Garden Care works.
Taking someone on to look after your garden is a decision most people make once and then live with for years, so it is worth knowing exactly what happens before you make an enquiry. This page sets out the whole journey, from the first phone call to the review at the end of a season.
Before you enquire
Nothing here is complicated or drawn out.
There is a conversation, a visit, a written recommendation, and then care that settles into a rhythm. At no point are you asked to commit to something before you have seen what it involves, and at no point do you need to work out for yourself what the garden needs.
Stages three and four, the Garden Health Check and a Garden Reset, are where most of the thinking happens. Once a garden is in good order and on a schedule, the ongoing arrangement asks very little of you.
Getting started
From first call to a plan in writing.
1. Initial enquiry
Most clients start with a phone call or the short form on our contact page. We ask for enough to know whether ongoing care is likely to suit you and the property. Roughly where you are, the type and approximate size of garden, what you would like looked after, how often you think you would want us, the condition things are in at the moment, and a phone number. Photographs help, although they never replace seeing a garden in person.
You do not need to prepare a specification or list every job. A few sentences about the property and what is frustrating you about it is plenty. If we can tell at this stage that we are not the right fit, we will say so rather than waste your time.
2. Introductory conversation
Elliott will call you back to talk the garden through properly. This is a conversation rather than a sales call. We want to understand what the garden means to you, which parts you actually care about, the standard you are hoping to hold it to and how involved you want to be in the decisions.
It is also where the practical questions get asked. Access and parking, gates and dogs, whether there is anywhere to compost, whether you have equipment you would rather we used, and whether anyone else is currently working on the garden.
3. Garden Health Check
A proper assessment rather than a quick look over the fence. We walk the areas you want managed and work out what the garden needs now, what it will need as the season turns, and what has been left too long. We look at the condition of the planting, weed pressure in the beds, the state of shrubs and hedges, how the lawns are doing, hard surfaces, and any pond or water feature.
You come away with a recommendation rather than a guess. Whether the garden can move straight into regular care or needs a Reset first, what visit pattern we think fits, and what we would suggest dealing with as a separate project.
4. Garden Reset where required
Where a garden has got ahead of its owner, we usually recommend starting with a Garden Reset. This is one defined piece of work that brings overgrown, overdue or neglected areas back to a point where routine visits can genuinely keep on top of them.
A Reset is scoped and priced separately from ongoing care, and it is recommended where it is needed rather than required of everybody. Plenty of gardens are already in good enough order to begin regular visits straight away.
What a Visit Can Cover
Suffolk Garden Maintenance covers the wider set of jobs that keep a country garden in good order through the year. Regular lawn cuts and crisp edging, careful weeding and considered pruning, seasonal tidy ups, the occasional one off restoration of an overgrown plot, pond cleaning and treatment, and jet washing of patios and paths.
CARE
Garden CareA regular garden care round looking after the whole garden, with grass cutting, edges and beds kept calmly in good order season after season.
CUT
Lawn CutsWeekly and fortnightly mowing rounds on a fixed day, with crisp edges, even stripes and every clipping cleared.
SHAPE
Hedge TrimmingEven cuts and careful shaping for boundary hedges, formal yew, beech, hornbeam, hawthorn and feature shrubs.
PRUNE
Weeding and PruningConsidered pruning of shrubs, roses, climbers and small trees, with beds, gravel and paving kept clean.
CLEAR
Seasonal Tidy UpsSpring resets, a midsummer garden tidy up and a pre winter tuck up for gardens that do not need a full round.
RESTORE
Garden Clean UpsOne off garden clearance and restoration of overgrown gardens, brought back into good order calmly and at your pace.
TEND
Pond MaintenanceRoutine pond care and pond cleaning, koi welfare, filter and pump checks, planting work and wildlife safe treatment.
WASH
Jet WashingCareful jet washing of patios, paths, driveways and stonework, with the pressure matched to the surface.
Start With a Garden Health Check
Tell us a little about the property and the level of care you are looking for, and we will arrange a time to walk the garden with you. Nothing is committed at that stage.