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Gardeners / Landscape gardeners - what you need to know

Gardening jobs can be divided into two – garden maintenance and garden landscaping. Gardeners can help you carry out the sort of jobs that will keep your garden looking neat and tidy, like trimming hedges, mowing lawns, weeding and pruning plants.

Landscape gardeners tend to focus more on the design of your garden. They can come up with detailed drawings incorporating new features and once you’re happy with the plan, bring that vision to life. They’ll let you know which plants will bring some scent or colour into your garden and can add water features, lay woodchip or gravel paths and install lighting (whether that's a couple of uplighters or something a bit fancier like inbuilt LED lights added to a patio). If you’ve got something specific in mind like creating a garden to rival the ones you see on Christmas cards, they can help you make that a reality.

Gardeners tend to be busier during the summer months when the weather’s good and we’re all spending more time outdoors, so it’s a good idea to book a gardener or landscape gardener in before the rush. That way, you’re also more likely to get a better rate for the work. Some gardeners may also offer deals for repeat work, if you wanted to get them in to mow your lawn regularly.

Costs for common gardening jobs

We surveyed our tradespeople to give you an idea of the amount you can expect to pay for common gardening jobs.

What’s garden irrigation?

Irrigation is the watering system you use to keep your plants and grass healthy and help them grow. You can either water them by hand, or you can use an automatic watering system to take care of the watering for you – handy if you’re planning on going on holiday in the warmer months. A gardener can help advise on and install a system that best suits you and your garden.

These are the 4 types of automatic watering systems:

1. Drip irrigation – good for flowerbeds, vegetable patches, hanging baskets and potted plants, this releases water slowly through a drip emitter to give the plant time to soak up the water. By slowing down the release of water, there’s less wastage.
2. Micro spray jets – these spray water over a larger area (covering a radius of up to 2 metres) so they’re great for watering multiple plants at once. They’re ideal for flowerbeds, borders and landscaped areas and can be directed downwards into a greenhouse. A water timer can be added to make it automated or you can turn the jets on and off as and when you want.
3. Mini sprinklers – similar to micro spray jets, these are a lot more powerful. They have a rotating jet which provides a heavy soaking spray, covering a radius of up to 5 metres. Because of this, they’re ideal for larger areas like large vegetable patches.
4. Pop up sprinklers – these are based underground and pop up when they’re being used. They have the best coverage and are the most efficient when it comes to reducing water wastage. You decide when you want your lawn watered and an electronic water timer takes care of the rest.

Planning permission for gardening jobs

Planning permission isn’t normally needed for your average garden job but you may need to review this when building or installing decking, fences, walls and gates.

You’ll need planning permission if:

• Your decking is higher than 30cm above the ground.
• The decking or any raised platforms would cover over 50% of the total area of the garden.
• A fence/gate/wall would be over 2 metres, or over 1 metre high and next to a highway used by vehicles (or a footpath next to the highway).
• The fence/gate/wall forms a boundary with a listed building or land.

If you live in a listed building or want to pave your front garden, you should contact your Local Planning Authority before carrying out any work as different rules may apply.

Insurance for gardening work

There’s no legal obligation for gardeners to be insured but many gardeners choose to get public liability insurance so they’re covered in the case of an injury or accidental damage to a property.

Questions you should ask a gardener

• Do they have public liability insurance and what does this cover?
• How long have they been trading for?
• Can they show you examples of previous work?
• Do they employ or consult specialists? (For example, horticulturalists to know which plants would work best in the garden.)
• If garden design work is being carried out, can they give you a scaled design/drawing of what the finished garden will look like?
• Will they be carrying out the work themselves? If not, what experience does the person have and are they covered by insurance?
• Will they give a guarantee/warranty for the work and how long does it last? Are there separate guarantees for individual plants?

See the latest questions that homeowners have been asking gardeners. 

Gardening ideas

We have a range of garden articles that tackle subjects like choosing decking, replacing or repairing a garden fence and lighting your garden .  If you’re looking for ways to transform a small space, our big ideas for small gardens might give you some inspiration.