Spring and Autumn Clean-Ups That Set Your Garden Up for the Season in Shirley

Twice a year, every garden needs a proper going-over — and the two big clean-ups are as different as the seasons that name them. The spring clean-up wakes the garden up and clears what winter left behind; the autumn one puts it to bed and pre-empts the months of damp and dark. Both are bigger jobs than people expect and both are all about timing, which is why they are worth doing deliberately rather than in scattered weekend instalments that never quite finish.

The spring clean-up: waking the garden up

Spring's job is to clear the way for growth. That means raking out the leaves and debris that settled over winter, cutting back the dead growth left standing for winter interest — done before the new shoots arrive, while you can still see what is dead and what is waking — tidying and splitting borders, weeding the first flush while it is still small, edging the beds and paths that drifted over winter, and giving the lawn its first proper treatments of the year: a gentle first cut, aeration where the ground has compacted, and a spring feed when the grass is actively growing. It is also the moment for mulching beds, which suppresses the summer's weeds before they start and keeps moisture in the soil through the dry months. Timing matters everywhere: cutting back too early can expose tender new growth to a late frost, and feeding too early does the lawn no good at all — we work to the season as it actually is, not the calendar's theory of it.

The autumn clean-up: putting the garden to bed

Autumn's reset is about prevention. Leaves are cleared from lawns while they can still be lifted easily — left lying, they smother the grass underneath and invite the moss and disease that make spring harder. Spent summer growth is cut back where cutting back is right, and left standing where seedheads and stems earn their keep through winter. Hedges get their final trim of the year, timed after the nesting season and before the hard frosts. The lawn gets its most important treatments of the year: autumn feeding, scarifying out the moss and thatch, and aeration before the winter rains compact the ground again. Beds get a mulch or a tidy, and the whole garden is left with nothing loose that winter winds will turn into a mess. Done well, an autumn clean-up is the single biggest favour you can do your garden — most of what goes wrong between December and March starts in what was or was not done in October.

Checking on the structure while we are there

Both seasonal visits double as a survey, because the garden shows different things at different times of year. Winter damage, broken fences, rotting features, drainage problems and plants that failed during the year are all most visible during a clean-up, and we flag what we find — a fence post quietly rotting is far cheaper to catch in October than to recover from in January. Where a bigger job shows itself, it is quoted separately rather than absorbed into the clean-up, so the costs stay honest.

Waste, the part everyone underestimates

A seasonal clean-up generates serious volumes of green waste — a spring border cut-back or an autumn leaf fall can fill a van on its own — so disposal is always agreed in advance and built into the quote: composted on site if you have the space and want it, taken away if you do not. Either way the garden is left clean, swept and ready, because a clean-up that leaves piles in the corner has only moved the problem.

How to book

Book by phone or website, ideally a few weeks ahead of the season you have in mind, and tell us the garden's rough size and anything you want prioritised. You pay a booking fee when you book, labour is charged hourly at a rate that depends on how soon you need the visit, and the full cost is quoted and approved before we start, with waste disposal agreed in advance.