Site design and content copyright ©December 2006 Chris Garnons-Williams.

DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site.  

 

Extra Information

 

Honda Mowers, Scarifiers and Stihl Chainsaws are available from
G.C Stevens & Son.

 

The Midibag (1 cubic metre) and Megabag (1.5 cubic metre) Hippobags are a skip alternative for Household, Garden or Building Waste from Hippowaste.

 

Bell Glass will replace glass in your home.

 

Plantex is a geotextile used to separate materials from combining with each other and is available from Travis Perkins builders merchants.

 

red leaves picture

Ivydene Gardens Case Studies:
Case 1 - Prepare Property for Sale

When a property is to be maintained, then you need to know for what purpose.

I was asked to mow the lawns, prune the shrubs and weed the beds for a property that had had no garden maintenance for a year.

After the first day of cutting the overgrown lawn and weeding the front garden; knowing that the property was going to be put up for sale, I wrote the following email to my client in the left column with work done after the client's response in the right column:-

Some observations, suggestions for you and possible actions by me about the external part of your property and your neighbour's (to improve the visual look of this property before it’s sale)

Client requested that I carry out the work for all 29 of the observations, suggestions for you and actions by me.

Front Garden:-

 

1. Action - Your neighbour at No 6 did say that the verges were the council’s responsibility, but that they have not cut them this year. I asked her whether I could cut her verge and she agreed; since she has not cut hers. I hope you agree that the cut verges do provide a better first view, since I intend to keep on cutting them as well as the lawns until they look like lawns.

The verges, caravan parking area, vegetable garden, front and back garden lawns were cut using a 21" Honda Self-Propelled Mower every fortnight.

The front and back lawns were scarified using a Honda Scarifier by scarifying along the lawn, vacuuming the lawn with the lawnmower, scarifying at 90 degrees to the last way, vacuuming, scarifying along the diagonal, vacuuming, scarifying along the other diagonal and finally vacuuming.

2. Action - Your tarmac drive has weeds and moss growing in it. I intend to use my high pressure hose to clean them off and brush off the loose tarmac shingle.

The drive was swept, the weeds removed and the moss removed by high pressure hosing it. The loose material was put into into a Hippo bag.

3. Observation - Your top pane of glass in the front door is broken. The draught excluder at the top of the side on the door frame is not on the door frame.

Bell Glass of Gillingham replaced the glass in the front door, the cracked glass in the scullery window and the workshop window.

I painted the door before replacing the draught excluder and the respective windows after their glass replacement.

4. Action - I intend to remove the ivy from the door and its frame between the drive and your internal patio.

The ivy was removed.

5. Observation - The garage door handles and the side door to the internal patio are not the same colour as the rest.

The garage door handles, garage doors and side door was repainted.

6. Observation - The caravan parking area has concrete slabs and small pea-shingle directly onto the clay earth below. This has no Geotextile at the base with no 8” deep Type I MOT foundation above or no 2” of washed sharp sand on top and below the slabs to prevent the underlying clay from heaving or depressing the top surface to the detriment of any weight of caravan or vehicle placed on top.

The weeds were removed, Plantex laid on top and a fresh layer of pea-shingle (supplied by Allsand Supplies Ltd who sell by the cubic yard as against by the ton - 1 cubic yard of stone is 1.8 tons) applied.

Creating the correct foundation etc would not have been cost effective from the point of selling the property.

7. Observation - The middle post on the fence between you and next door is broken at the base and it’s metal support is not keeping it upright.

A wooden stake was inserted into the ground alongside and screwed to the post.

Replacing the broken post would have required replacing the fence sections on each side of it as well, which would not have been cost effective.

8. Observation - The paint is coming off your front soffits, and next doors soffit. The paint is coming off your front asbestos/concrete downpipes.

The soffits and downpipes were painted.

9. Observation - Next door has asbestos/concrete guttering facing your garden in need of painting (perhaps black to match the black plastic guttering and downpipes which you have). The Windows of Next Door and their wall has ivy root fragments on their glass and frame, from the ivy that was cut down from your garden.

The guttering was painted. The ivy roots were removed using water from a high pressure hose.

10. Suggestion - The Asbestos/Concrete downpipes and guttering along the front fence in the caravan parking area need removing.

This was removed.

11. Action - Concerning the climbers on the front fence: Honeysuckle - leave alone, Clematis – prune to ground, Rose – tie to fence with vine-eye/wire support system below trellis, and Climber at end – cut to ground.

This was done.

12. Action - The 3 remaining trees in your front lawn are to have 1’ radius of grass removed from their trunks, to allow the trees to receive nutrients and water.

This was done. Grass mowings were used as a mulch in that 1' radius to provide nutrients for those trees.

13. Action - The 2 front borders to be weeded, pruned, prunings shredded and shreddings applied round their shrubs before covering with grass mowings to feed the plants.

This was done.

14. Internal Patio:-

 

Observation - if the internal patio climber is removed with its string support system, then the ceiling beams that it is supported by could be stained the same colour as the rest.

This was done.

15. Back Garden:-

 

Action - The buddleia by the external ramp will be removed, as will the grey juniper tree, grey leylandii tree and yellow juniper tree at end.

These were removed.

16. Observation - The paint is coming off your back soffits, asbestos/concrete guttering and downpipes.

These were cleaned and painted.

17. Action - The garage rose needs vine-eye support system.

This was done. The vine-eye support system keeps the plant at least 3" away from the building, thus allowing airflow behind to stop fungal growth on the climber.

18. Action - Back Garden beds to be weeded, pruned, prunings shredded, shreddings with grass mowings on top to be used as mulch on the beds.

This was done.

19. Action - All support systems on fruit trees to be removed.

The tree posts and straps were removed and put into a HippoBag for disposal.

20. Action - Either the rose trellis is replaced and the rose tied to it, or the trellis is removed together with the rose.

The rose trellis and rose from the vegetable garden area were removed.

21. Observation - The back garden slab patio and slab path are laid directly onto the earth with the cement grouting having weeds in it. Either remove cement grouting to replace it with Geofix to allow for drainage, or lay the slabs correctly with correct depth of foundations etc.

The patio and paths were high pressure hosed to clean them and the lawns abutting them were edged.

Creating the correct foundation etc. would not have been cost effective from the point of selling the property.

22. Suggestion - Suggest you eat your raspberry crop and maybe your rhubarb.

The raspberries were eaten by the birds and the forced rhubarb left for the new owners.

23. Action - Remove the 3 gooseberries from the vegetable garden and plant them where the trees, which will be cut to the ground, are.

This was done.

24. Action - Remove raspberries, keep the rhubarb, level the ground to path level and sow lawn seed to create lawn in the vegetable garden.

This was done.

25. Suggestion - The rocks and bricks leaning against the chainlink fence in the vegetable garden are removed together with the material behind the shed.

The Medibags from Hippowaste were used to remove this waste.

26. Suggestion - If the shed was painted perhaps black, it would not look so shabby.

It was painted chestnut brown.

27. Action - Remove honeysuckle climber from shed.

This was done.

28. Suggestion - White emulsion underneath conservatory roof to be removed, to provide more light in the winter.

Deniva Cleaning Services removed this emulsion as part of their cleaning preparation of the house for sale.

29. Action - Prune trees.

These were pruned, prunings shredded and the beds mulched with those shreddings.

Does this help?

 

The cost of materials and labour was half of the increase in value between when the remedial work was started and when it had finished.

The property was sold within a month.

Ivydene Horticultural Services logo with I design, construct and maintain private gardens. I also advise and teach you in your own garden. 01634 389677

Ivydene
Horticultural
Services

As an Organic Gardener, I design, construct and maintain private gardens. I can also advise and teach you in your own garden.

01634 389 677
chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk