Employing a Grounds Maintenance Contractor

Darren Bagnall of Flat Living Insurance looks at the role of a grounds maintenance contractor in keeping your outside spaces well maintained.

A great garden maintenance provider can take up a fair chunk of your service charge, but with good reason.

Garden maintenance is a highly skilled, physical job that ensures residents’ enjoyment of your block’s outside space and helps to maintain the safety and curb appeal of the building.

Finding the right contractor to take care of your outside space can be a daunting responsibility but here are some tips and tricks to keep you on track.

What Needs to be Done?

Ideally, the following tasks should be carried out throughout the year (this is not a full list but covers most basics):

Spring 

• Define beds
• Weed and feed grass
• Some pruning of certain hedges/shrubs and starting to cut grassed areas
• Any spring bulbs should be allowed to die off naturally as cutting these back too soon will stop them from flowering next year. 

Summer 

• Weeding and cutting grass will still need to be done but by midsummer the grass will slow its growth and with the heat you should not cut the grass too short
• It is not advisable to prune back any hedges/shrubs that are flowering as this will stress the plant and may cause flowering the next season to be limited
• If you know that the weather is going to be hot and dry for a few weeks, it is not advisable to put down any feed to grass areas as the majority of these require watering in. 

Autumn 

• Sweeping up leaves will take up the majority of your gardener’s time
• The last feed of the year should be done
• The majority of shrubs and hedges should be cut back
• Mowing will be less frequent but with the warmer weather staying longer, it will still need doing until mid November
• Edge all borders and hoe the beds before the winter sets in
• Spring/summer bulbs should be planted at the start of October

Winter 

• Keep on top of any shrub/hedge pruning
• Rock salting and keeping paths clear of snow and ice
• Preparing the grounds for any bad weather

As you can see, there’s a lot of knowledge and skill involved in maintaining a garden or outdoor space – this should not be undervalued.

Understanding Your Budget Constraints

We all love to get as much as we can for our money, but the reality is that your budget will influence the service your contractor can supply.

If your budget is very limited, you’ll need to accept that your gardens may not be pristine all year round. Your contractor should be able to suggest a schedule of maintenance that will keep things ticking over, but you may not be able to satisfy your residents request for perfection, 365 days a year.

Questions You Should Be Asking

It can be tempting to go with a lower-cost option, but before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you ask your contractor the following questions:

• What experience do they have?
• Do they have any references?
• Do they have a local site you can look at?
• Do they have the correct insurance?
• Do they have a spraying licence (PA1 / PA6)?
• Do they have a complaints procedure?
• What is their customer service policy?

A great company will happily answer all of the above as well as being able to advise what maintenance they can provide on your budget to make sure you’re doing as much as you can to maintain your outside space.

Always opt for a probationary period as part of any annual contract in case the relationship doesn’t work out but bear in mind that the fruits of your contractor’s labour may not been seen until the following season.

Flat Living Insurance provides specialist insurance policies for blocks of flats and apartments. For more information or a quote, please contact a member of the Flat Living Insurance team on 0333 577 2044.